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Who’d be a referee/umpire?

by Matt Smith

The goal that was, but wasn’t and shouldn’t have been, at Wembley in the F.A. Cup Semi-final between Chelsea and Spurs would normally be a shoo-in for strangest officiating moment of the weekend.

Referee Martin Atkinson took it upon himself to mock what the eyes and cameras dared to tell us and instead forced his own version of reality onto everyone present. The result was a second goal being awarded to Chelsea in the curious situation where the referee hadn’t seen the ball cross the goal line because a) the ball hadn’t crossed the goal line,  and b) even if it had, Atkinson wasn’t in a position to definitively see it anyway.

It will be of little consolation to Atkinson, who has received more than a little criticism for his mistake, that he wasn’t the only sporting official being part of an unfortunate moment on the day.

Home plate umpire Dale Scott helped to make the 2012 Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium memorable by causing confusion on the basepads and allowing the Dodgers to turn a triple-play.

Whether it was his intention or not, Scott’s actions clearly made the Padres believe that he had called the play foul and left them sitting ducks for an alert Dodger defence to turn the triple play.

The Padres undoubtedly should be reminded of the baseball equivalent of the school-boy football rule ‘play to the whistle’, but you can understand them being annoyed all the same.

Still, it was one further reminder – if one was needed – that there’s always a chance you’ll see something you’ve never seen before when you watch a ballgame. That truism was made all the more powerful by the presence of veteran Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully being back in the booth to call the play after missing several games due to illness.

It’s also true that the life of a sporting official is rarely easy.

I can just imagine Atkinson and Scott slouching into a couple of chairs, giving each other a knowing look and then saying in unison ‘who’d be a referee/umpire?’.

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1 comment

Damien April 17, 2012 - 1:30 pm

That triple play was both awkward and hilarious!

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