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Defending the mice
Another game and another week in which we are questioning the officiating in the Elite League.
To put this entire article into context, I am Steelers fan. You may disregard everything I say on those grounds if you wish.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch last Fridays game its worth trying to catch it on SKY, If only to watch the last ten minutes. Watching the game, mid-way through the 3rd, I remarked to my colleagues that Belfast were playing the text book road game. Getting the early goal, being physical and defending deep. Every time the Steelers skated forward Belfast packed up behind the blue line, Two pairs of skates blocked every shooting lane. It was the performance you would expect from the would be league champions. ‘#Thisistheyear after all.
Then, spectacularly , Tait scored with seconds left on the clock. Cue euphoria in the stands, towels being waved and fury from Belfast. The Giants claimed that Finnerty hand passed the puck, the ref’s disagreed. (As did the television replays).
Into overtime and more controversy. A pass to Legue sets up the winning goal. A cool finish from the number 11, just lifting the puck over the flailing Stephen Murphy (who was outstanding all night.) He looked for all the world like he was off-side, even Dave Simms agreed on commentary that the linesman had got it wrong.
Pandemonium. The fans delirious, the Giants furious. As Legue was being swamped Aaron Clarke vented his fury on Carson. He swung for, and missed, the ref (you can see it here http://i39.tinypic.com/2yl0eie.gif), earning himself a 6 match ban in the process. Giants coach Doug Christiansen decided to get in on the towel waving act by throwing his (along with other objects) onto the ice. He then proceeded to argue with the refs, holding up the game ending ceremony before storming off himself.
Twiiter then blew up. Giants players , retweeted by others, called in to question the integrity of the officials. ‘#3blindmice’ ‘This is why the EIHL is in the state its in’ ‘Poorly Officiated... cost us the game’
Less than 5 hours later we have the word from SKY, after a frame by frame review of the play in question, it looks on-side. The linesman had got it right. Or to be precise the linesman, who was in the best position to call it, saw it as on-side.
No apology came from the Giants camp. No ‘whoops what was I doing blowing up over Twitter sorry, I forgot i’m a professional’ . Nothing.
What was worse was the fans reaction. A ten page thread on the Cage forum. Giant fans up in arms over Facebook. Quote of the night ‘ bad calls resort to bad reactions’ (I haven’t corrected the grammar) .
Really? The ref’s get it wrong they deserve whats coming to them? People are even defending the swing ‘ You can see he falls over’ ‘He’s not aiming to hit him’. That, boys and girls, is besides the point.
Your officials have to be untouchable, how can they make any calls if they fear any kind of reprisal by the players? They are the most important part of the game and they should be treated as such. A 6 match ban for such an act is a joke. That's neither a deterrent not a punishment for the Giants, especially now they have drafted in Awada for the games Clarke will miss. The EIHL has failed to send a clear message that our ref’s are the blood of our game and they are to be protected as such.
Fans calling for Carson’s resignation or calling for an overhaul of the ref’s in the EIHL are just idiots. End of story. Who would replace them? You? These guys are hardworking, good people. Officiating is just one part of their very busy lives. Most of them, like us, have full time jobs away from hockey. They get paid very little for the work they do and for the abuse they get. We should be thanking these guys every time they hit the ice, not saying they deserve the lumber being thrown at them. I don’t see a queue forming at EIHL towers of young fans eagerly wanting to be officials. These are guys we've got, and they are bloody good at what they do.
Technology is the bane of all ref’s. Thanks to technology we can now make every call and tell you if they got it wrong or right. It’s led to a culture in all sports that we think officials are crap. The NHL, the Premier League, top leagues that still have fans questioning the level of refereeing. These are multi-million pound industries and they still haven't got it spot on. When we try and believe that our officials should be flawless then we are only setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Fans from all over the league need to suck it up and get over what they perceive to be bad officiating and remember that on the night they, probably, got it right.
The EIHL has bigger things to worry about...
Dows - @thedows
0-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
