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Good referees should remain 'invisible'
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
DAVID GOLDMAN/AP PHOTO
Panama's Alberto Quintero, right, makes a point to referee Mark Geiger at the conclusion of a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal playoff soccer game against Mexico on Wednesday, July 22, in Atlanta. Mexico won 2-1 after a controversial call.
"I didn't celebrate because that penalty call left me with a bad taste."
Those were the words Mexico's Andrés Guardado said to Fox Sports following his country's dramatic semifinal win over Panama on Thursday. Guardado was awarded a penalty kick after a questionable handball call against Panama in the 89th minute, which allowed the Mexican side to tie up the game and force extra time nearly 10 minutes later.
You read that correctly.
Following the penalty call by referee Mark Geiger, the furious Panamanians surrounded the referee. There were fights on the field and fights in the stands. Things were thrown onto the pitch, and ultimately the incidents would delay the match for more than 10 minutes. The final whistle in regulation would not blow until the 105 minute mark.
It was an absolute disaster.
Eventually, Mexico would go on to win the match against a 10-man Panama side, which had lost a man earlier because of another questionable red card call.
Immediately, following the final whistle, the Panama players stormed the field and went right after Geiger, who would be ushered off the field by security.
The public was furious. Fans were all over Twitter talking about how the match had essentially been fixed by CONCACAF, and before long, Geiger's Wikipedia page was changed to give him the nickname "Viva Mexico."
It was a sight to behold.
After the incident on the field, the Panamanians took the pandemonium to a whole new level. They posed with a banner that read "CONCA-CAF LADRONES," with the word "corruptos" written three times across the bottom.
The translation: "CONCACAF
thieves. Corrupt. Corrupt. Corrupt." Later that night, "Mark Geiger" began trending on Twitter, capping off an eventful night for soccer fans, but this called a greater point into question.
Why would you want to be a referee?
At a glance, being a referee seems like a thankless job, and that's because approximately 99 percent of the time, it is. Even when a referee is praised, like Mark Geiger was at the 2014 World Cup, where he became the first American official to referee in the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup, not to mention the fact that he has been voted MLS Referee of the Year twice, the praise is often short lived.
Time after time, the preferred officials in sports, at least to fans, are the ones who simply stay out of the way.
So can there be good referees? Perhaps.
To illustrate this point, I'd offer up the example of the NBA's Joey Crawford. Crawford is by all accounts a good referee. He has nearly 40 years of refereeing experience under his belt and has officiated more than 2,000 NBA games.
However, people dislike him, and there's no secret as to why. Any quick Google search will show you that Crawford puts himself in the spotlight. Whether he's ejecting Tim Duncan for laughing while sitting on the bench, or yelling "shut up" at Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov, Crawford has the propensity to act — well — un-official-like, to put it nicely.
And people flat out hate him for it. For example, if you search his name with the word "kill" on Twitter, you'll see that people offer up what are essentially death threats left and right.
Every single bad call he makes is amplified to the 1000th degree because of the way he puts himself out there, which brings me back to the central point: People want 'invisible'
referees
More often than not, referees are going to make the right call. However, when a referee gives out a harsh red card or a technical foul, and then continues to argue with players and coaches about it, he or she makes the game about the call, not about the play on the court, field, pitch or ice.
are poor officials or officiate a game poorly on a big stage, or (2) put themselves in the spotlight. Regardless, the end result is the same — ruthless, unadulterated hatred.
Ultimately, bad referees typically become known as such for one of two reasons: either they (1) truly
People want 'invisible' referees. It's as simple as that.
It's like a longtime referee once told former University of Washington athletics representative, Pat Dobel:
"I know I have done my job when I am invisible."
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