Do out of town teams get the benefit of the doubt from local officials?

[theguru]

Home cooking is always suggested when it comes to teams/officials/etc. when someone is from out of town but what about the reverse?

 

Of course I am speaking about the Henry Clay/Boone County game (and no I am NOT saying the officiating cost anyone anything) but I did get the feeling that the local officials were very careful with the laundry to make sure they were not accused of any type of bias/home cooking.

 

I am asking the question in general, do out of town teams get the benefit of the doubt from local officials?

[Hearsay]

Depends on where you travel. And . . . I will remain quiet.

[theguru]

^ In other words yes.

[DragonFire]

I think it's in the eye of the beholder and it probably depends on the rep of the team. For instance I wouldn't be surprised to see BG, or Highlands, or Trinity, etc. get the benefit of the doubt on some calls when out of town simply because an official knows how good they are (unless they've been hiding under a rock). They might be more apt to see a strong block instead of a hold. Of course, fans of those teams might tell you how they get jobbed when they go on the road, so like I said, eye of the beholder.

 

I had a game this season where I had to endure listening to coaches complain about the country cookin' of a game they were winning. They questioned every call, every spot, etc. So they clearly didn't feel they were getting the benefit.....

[Bluegrasscard]

When there is blatant bias it may be that one or some of officials are from local but rival schools to the home team.

[Jumper_Dad]

We have one local crew that bends over backwards to not appear to be "Homers". I hate to see that crew on the field in a tight game, I graduated with the White Hat and he even played football here. But he absolutely kills us...:lol2:

[THUNDERBIRDS]

Reversed......

 

There isn't one official in the state that Officiates a HHS home game that wouldn't like to them lose. Especially at home! Where I stand at Home games you hear more than the average "Bird" is supposed to. JMHO!

[BlueChip]

NO WAY!

 

Officials are too busy during a game to pull for one side or the other. Also, I honestly think they could care less who wins. They just want to call a good game so that when they watch the film the next week, they look good to the entire association.

[BIG BLACK JACK]

I think it's in the eye of the beholder and it probably depends on the rep of the team. For instance I wouldn't be surprised to see BG, or Highlands, or Trinity, etc. get the benefit of the doubt on some calls when out of town simply because an official knows how good they are (unless they've been hiding under a rock). They might be more apt to see a strong block instead of a hold. Of course, fans of those teams might tell you how they get jobbed when they go on the road, so like I said, eye of the beholder.

 

I had a game this season where I had to endure listening to coaches complain about the country cookin' of a game they were winning. They questioned every call, every spot, etc. So they clearly didn't feel they were getting the benefit.....

 

You didn't tell me you went to a UK football game! You at least could have stopped by!

[fatsnbul]

Reversed......

 

There isn't one official in the state that Officiates a HHS home game that wouldn't like to them lose. Especially at home! Where I stand at Home games you hear more than the average "Bird" is supposed to. JMHO!

 

Trinity never gets the benefit of the doubt no matter who they play...

[theguru]

NO WAY!

 

Officials are too busy during a game to pull for one side or the other. Also, I honestly think they could care less who wins. They just want to call a good game so that when they watch the film the next week, they look good to the entire association.

 

I am not suggesting the officials are pulling for one side or the other, I am suggesting either consciously or unconsciously local officials give out of town teams the benefit of the doubt so that they are seen as fair when in reality it is a disservice to the local team.

[sidelinedoc]

I am not an official but I don't envy their job. If they miss a call, and they all do, the team that was on the wrong end of the call automatically thinks the officials are against them. Very few blown calls effect the outcome. I hate to see missed calls or blown calls but I do feel the officials are trying to do their best.

[Bengal Maniac]

This is a thread that will be all over the place due to allegiances and experiences. I officiated high school soccer for one year before I moved out of the area. I can tell you I never once cared who won the game, even though I knew who the better teams were, didn't matter. I did miss calls and I misinterprted a rule once and that was inexcusible, but never were they intentional. Every game I officiated there were fans, mostly, who thought I was homering their team. Most coaches were fine and argued on those "either way" close calls. All of that goes with the territory and I would believe most officials understand that. I believe the vast majority of officials were the same. However, I am not naive enough to think there aren't a few outliers. But I do not believe it is as prevalent as some might think.

[Toothpick]

No and I am a former official and I have never once witnessed it. We were sometimes guilty of letting minor things go to get a running clock game to its end but I have never witnessed any official while I was working be biased one way or the other. My crew was not allowed to call home town games unless the opponet was out of state

[plantmanky]

I'm with toothpick, and I've seen a lot of games in my day. I will say though, that certain parts of the state have better officials than others. Just is what it is. I work with the HS assignors for all the middle school state playoff games, and there are 2 areas of the state that I will not use there officials because they just are not up to par IMO and several of our members teams. Were fortunate enough that crews from outside the area will travel a bit to cover those games for us.