Referee not knowing the rules

[Siri]

Originally Posted by ToddF

I myself have had the experience of seeing a ref miss a penalty which I thought was clear as day. Then I go back and review the video and see that the ref was right after all.

This is especially terrible this year. The differences in sight lines between refs and drive teams are incredibly difficult to mitigate. I've watched (and video reviewed) fouls that are clear from the alliance station but just plain impossible to see from the ref stand. In most of them, we'd have needed a perfect storm of a different ref looking into the area from their angle and the close ref being several feet to either direction for the foul to get called.

I've felt this as a ref, too: seeing an interaction that I know can be diagnosed by every coach on both alliances, but I just plain could not see. At the same time, I've been yelled at by teams for what basically amount to optical illusions for them. Every incident type has happened more this year than in any other game whose field I've stepped on. It's painful.

Refs at a level like MSHSL know the rules, they just have to interpret them based on what they see on the field and what they understand them to mean. Particularly with so many "intentional/purposeful/consequentials" this year, it's really hard to say that a call is wrong...or right. Do be careful of accusing anyone of not knowing the rules without having checked them yourself, though.