It’s official: If you blame officiating for your team’s loss, we know who real loser is
I don’t remember an NCAA tournament in which coaches, commentators and fans have complained about officiating as loudly and as constantly as they have this one. The last time I heard so much officiating angst was – well, Jan. 1, when the Panthers played their final game of the 2016 season.
Maybe it’s natural to presuppose that officials are out to get your team. With the Panthers, some complain there’s a mid-market bias against which Carolina must weekly contend.
In related news, the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants and New York Jets, which represent what I consider large markets, were last season a combined 23-41. Only one of the teams, the Giants, made the playoffs. They lost by 25 in the wild-card round to the teeny, tiny, pint-sized, puny, small-market Green Bay Packers.
Maybe it’s the idea that if your team loses somebody is out to get it and you – officials, conference commissioners, the media and the dark forces that meet in underground bunkers and secretly rule the world.
Players miss shots and officials miss calls; we see that in every game. We’ll continue to.
Tom Sorensen is a retired Charlotte Observer columnist. Sign up for his newsletter, and follow him on Twitter: @tomsorensen
More from this issue of the Tom Talks newsletter:
[SIN CITIES: NFL’s franchise locations cause for concern ... but not in Charlotte, and here’s why]
[FOUR TOPS: Thrilling Final Four features Sindarius, Frank and the Gamecocks’ wild ride]
[KNEE TO THE ... : NFL franchises to notorious quarterback Colin Kaepernick: It’s not us, it’s you]
[SCHOOLED: Here’s the only way celebrity dad LeVar Ball should even attempt to be Jordan-esque]
[SORENSEN CLASSIC: Augusta National, the last place fans don’t check their brains at door]
This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 10:02 AM.