Study shows shorter referees call more fouls

[Bad Zebra]

A total waste of time. The concusion being that a "short" referee would call one more foul over a period of 480 minutes (10 games?). The only thing I find surprising is that it wasn't funded by the federal government. It's useless and dumb enough.

[Freddy]

Smart coaches yell at the referees less.

[Raymond]

In deference to APG, I refuse to comment on this article.

[youngump]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

A total waste of time. The concusion being that a "short" referee would call one more foul over a period of 480 minutes (10 games?). The only thing I find surprising is that it wasn't funded by the federal government. It's useless and dumb enough.

It's a foul rate per player. So one more foul per two games. It appears to just be some graduate school research. Why the strong negative reaction? Personally I find studies like this a fascinating window into how the sports are officiated.

[bob jenkins]

Study: Taller Officials Let the Game Get Out of Control by Calling Fewer Fouls

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Study: Taller Officials Let the Game Get Out of Control by Calling Fewer Fouls

Not quite. It's: Taller Officials Don't Call Game Interrupters And, Therefore, Do A Better Job At Keeping The Game Flowing

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by youngump

It's a foul rate per player. So one more foul per two games. It appears to just be some graduate school research. Why the strong negative reaction? Personally I find studies like this a fascinating window into how the sports are officiated.

I agree. I find these things interesting -- and I agree with Rob as to why this is the case. It makes sense that officials who see things from slightly different angles would have slightly different frequency of calls.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by youngump

It's a foul rate per player. So one more foul per two games. It appears to just be some graduate school research. Why the strong negative reaction? Personally I find studies like this a fascinating window into how the sports are officiated.

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

It causes me to wonder why the variable (height) was chosen. Why not skin color? Baldness? Birthdate? Weight? Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

It causes me to wonder why the variable (height) was chosen. Why not skin color? Baldness? Birthdate? Weight? Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

I mostly agree. The choice of the study is nothing more than a veiled attack suggesting that people that were likely not high level players (that being a somewhat reasonable assumption since height is clearly and advantage for players) can't understand the game.

If instead, they had broken down the foul rate by 20 different criteria and presented it as a whole, it might have been a valid study.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Birthdate?

So? What's your sign good looking?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

So? What's your sign good looking?

Mine is Scorpio.

MTD, Sr.

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

I would hope coaches are not reading the Journal of Sports Economics. We have enough on our plate dispelling rules myths, we shouldn't have to deal with this BS too.

On the other hand, one man's silly waste of time is another man's masters thesis.

[Rob1968]

Originally Posted by AremRed

I would hope coaches are not reading the Journal of Sports Economics. We have enough on our plate dispelling rules myths, we shouldn't have to deal with this BS too.

On the other hand, one man's silly waste of time is another man's masters thesis.

Ahh, so true!

[rockyroad]

If this was a study on the number of calls calls made by officials based on the officials height, why would they have to adjust the study based on race and experience???

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

If this was a study on the number of calls calls made by officials based on the officials height, why would they have to adjust the study based on race and experience???

I'm sure there are others with more statistics background who can give a better answer ... but basically, in order to make a claim that is statistically significant, they need to eliminate other potential causes as not significant.