I checked TSN.ca on the morning of Dec. 17 and there were two headlines that had my attention: “Hitchcock vents on McDavid not getting calls” and “Raptors coach Nick Nurse: ‘Refs ignored fouls on Leonard.'”
As you can guess, both the Oilers and Raptors lost the night before. Coaches Ken Hitchock and Nick Nurse were of the mind that their stars were being abused.
Questioning the ability of referees or umpires is nothing new in sports. However, it is important in these days of social media and intense opinion that criticism of officials does not become the norm in the post game scrum with reporters.
Like athletes, officials train and work hard to get to where they are. They also don’t get the pros without showing a tremendous amount of integrity. Like athletes, officials will make mistakes. That doesn’t mean that their talents should be undermined.
Coaches will have it out with referees, and in turn, vent to the media.
It’s alright on occasion, but not all the time.