- Sep 27, 2013
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This year has been the worst for some time for howlers by the umps in closing stages of close matches. If the talent is not there they need to revert back to 3 umpires as the fourth has not really made any significant difference. The more umpires on the field the more there is confusion as they all have their different intrepretation of things like no sufficient intent, holding the ball, etc. On the weekend the umpire obviously told McDonald that he couldn't arc off his mark, yet he clearly went outside a direct line on his mark to goal and it should have been called as play on which is game over.This will make me perhaps the most hated man on Bigfooty but...
I think the umpiring is actually pretty good
Don't get me wrong, I bellow and shout blue murder at 'You cheating ^#$% a**holes' as much as the worst of us.
But perhaps 50% of the time when I have blown my stack and rewatch the offensive incident I have to eat humble pie, having to acknowledge one of a) it wasn't as clear cut as I thought or b) surprise, surprise, the trained, dedicated professional on the spot was right and way better than the one-eyed purple a***hole hurling the abuse. (One-eyed, purple a***hole, I truly only just realised what I said. There's a delightful image. Even before it starts hurling abuse. )
The bottom line is the nature of our game. It is fast, intense, lots going on, highly combative and complex. The things we love about it make it hard to adjudicate.
I could list a dozen rule/interpretations that piss me right off and SHOULD BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY. Many have been mentioned in this thread.
TLDR: let's talk but not be too hard on the umpys, they are better than all of us, and without them we'd have nothing to do on the weekends.
If the money's so good and you can do a better job, go ahead and sign up! LFG!