12/21/24
August 03, 2006
Refereekonomics: - a paper about referee bias and the effect of incentives on the decisions of referees and players by The Sports Economist's Skip Sauer.
posted by Ufez Jones to general at 06:43 PM - 9 comments
I have to admit, I read that as "reefer-nomics," which put a decidedly different spin on the article. I kept wondering when they were going to get to talking about Mary Jane.
posted by Joey Michaels at 07:52 PM on August 03, 2006
yeah, i thought it was reefer-nomics too... thats why i clicked here to be honest
posted by MsohPit420 at 09:45 PM on August 03, 2006
Maybe the "incentive" for referees could be reefer??? ;) Yeah, definitely an interesting post, UJ. I think that this is something that a lot of people either don't know, or often overlook, but referees in many sports do have "incentives" motivating their performances. I think that NCAA basketball would be a great example. e.g., the 64 (okay 65) teams in the Tournament aren't the only ones vying for the Final. A lot of people don't know that although the star players in pro leagues (and coaches) make the headlines for berating the officials, the refs can and do get fined or suspended (or released) too. I'm not really familiar with European "homer" soccer officials, but I'd say that "incentives" are already an existing component of most elite sports on this continent. Hell, I'd take all kinds of shit and abuse for the kinda dough big conference NCAA bball, or NBA refs are making!!! I don't think the bankroll is big enough to make me even consider a run on the CFL field though. Anyway ... you can take your instant replay and kiss my @$$ ... LONG LIVE THE REFEREE!
posted by Spitztengle at 11:07 PM on August 03, 2006
Being from Minnesota, I long for the good old days when we could just throw a beer bottle at the ref's when they made a bad call. (ancient Viking's story, sorry) Personally, I love the instant replay as it keeps the officials honest, it just needs to be sped up. Why does it take the NFL official so long to see what was plain to us all on the first replay? Actually, I think the replay official ought to be in a room watching Leave it to Beaver reruns, and when there is a disputed call, he is notified. He then watches the replay, and has to make a call without knowing what the on field judgment was. It just seems to me that some officials are hesitant to overrule their own calls. By the way, I don't care what tv show the replay official watches, I just wanted to work the word Beaver into my reply.
posted by dviking at 12:22 AM on August 04, 2006
Still waiting for Weedy to make some sort of comment.... : )
posted by redsoxrgay at 12:32 PM on August 04, 2006
Man, dviking, that's a great idea. An unbiased official....um....lemme think that oxymoron over again. I throw beer bottles at the refs these days, unfortunately I keep having to replace my tv afterwards.
posted by Thisguy at 01:06 PM on August 04, 2006
Heh heh, dviking, I have a close friend from Mankato, and if I so much as mention "Drew Pearson", he turns purple... (somehow, a fitting color!).
posted by mjkredliner at 02:31 PM on August 04, 2006
The posterboy of a potentially biased official: the Big Ten's Dick Honig. Part of his office is reportedly a shrine to Michigan, he has $15,000 set to go to UM when he dies, and he's married to a UM season ticket holder.
posted by SummersEve at 02:50 PM on August 04, 2006
Nice, informative article.... plus I have a new favorite word- "Refereekonomics".....it has a good ring to it.