[Kevin Leonard]

Wow this thread fell apart quickly.

Referees are definitely underappreciated. But it's really easy as a competitive person to throw the blame for your loss somewhere else, especially if it seems like a controversial call made all the difference.

My final year as a student in 2014, we were eliminated at the championship event on foul points alone. I was furious at the time, and I ended up crying in the pits, snapping my safety glasses in half, etc. (Not my proudest moment)

In my mind I had put in hours and hours of work with the goal of a championship in mind, then we lost because of "stupid fouls".

In hindsight I know it wasn't any referee's fault, and upon reviewing match footage and such, I can see why a referee called what they did.

And I think that last part is key- looking at the situation from the referee's point of view. Referees are just trying to enforce a set of rules handed to them. Some are subjective, some are based entirely on intent, and some are called differently event-to-event.

And there aren't a ton of sports where referees never make controversial calls. Even seasoned referees at sports that have been around for ages make mistakes, and you expect referees that learned the game less than 5 months ago, oftentimes a day or two prior to be infallible?

Criticism is okay, as long as it's constructive and considerate, not fueled by anger. Referees are people too, and I don't know a single referee who isn't doing their best to make the right calls at all times.