[EricH]

Originally Posted by Ozuru

This is a common circlejerk that I see being posted whenever anyone criticizes the quality of refereeing that occurred this year (and is quite frankly the definition of a straw man fallacy). It's entirely illogical. All because someone feels the quality of refereeing this year wasn't exactly exemplary doesn't mean they have no respect for the hard work put in by referees.

Publicly dissing the refs' calls is most likely a very major reason why refs are so hard to find. 2014 was a stressful year for refs; quite a few did not return. 2016 scared off potential refs!

Let me put it this way: If you know the rules better than the refs, then you're probably needed on the ref crew. If you think your judgment is better than the refs' judgment, you're probably needed on the ref crew. I understand that you think that "the quality isn't up to par" != "no respect", and I agree with that, BUT, 90+% of the time, it's expressed as "The refs screwed up, and it cost us the match!!11!" That's not exactly showing respect for the refs and their hard work! Which is why, almost every time this comes up, the response from the refs (and, in this case, a Volunteer Coordinator who has to RECRUIT them) is, "if you don't like the reffing, come on down and join us!"


And, in all seriousness, we need more refs anyways. Gotta replace all the ones that got scared off by Stronghold, and allow for more expansion...