Football Referees: Friends Or Foes

Per. 1 AP English

October 7, 2004

Football Referees: Friends or Foes?

In football referees can be categorized into three types -Blind, Deaf, and Dumb. Being a football player myself, I have experienced all of these different types and I am still trying to discover which one I like best.

The referees categorized as blind were cursed with the inability to see more than two feet in front of their faces. No matter how blatantly obvious a penalty appears to be, this type of referee will flabbergast the stadium by making no call. In fact, the absence of penalties has led fans of the game to speculate as to the real cause of these referees' optical challenges. Some suggest that perhaps their eyes have nothing wrong with them at all. Just maybe, the bright stadium lights draw in all of their attention. While they focus on the lights, watching the game becomes nearly impossible. Another suggestion is that they left their glasses in their other striped shirt and the whole game is nothing but a blur. Regardless of the cause of their visual disturbance, blind refs continue to shock the crowd with their inability to see the game as well as any fan seated in the cheap seats of the stadium.

The referees labeled as deaf I like to consider as the aristocrats of all the referees. These refs believe that they were born with a superior ability to see the game. They believe that wherever they position themselves on the field, they have the capability to see the game better than any other individual. This "ability" of theirs results in them turning a deaf ear to the fans, the coaches, and even their fellow referees when it comes to deciding on a penalty. They are very capable, however, of reading lips and hand gestures and will penalize any angry player or coach who goes too far in their attempt to rectify the bad call.

The third type of referee is the dumb ref. This type actually falls into two sub-categories. The first of these is the "absent-minded" referee. For these referees