One thing I don’t understand across the board in all sports is why athletes yell at the officials. Bad calls, shoddy spots, poor eye site, it doesn’t matter, there’s never a right time to harass those calling the game.

When I dabbled in high school and college sports, I treated the refs with respect and at the end of the day, they took care of me. That doesn’t mean I had calls given in my favor, but they also never really kept an eye out or tried to screw me over with a bad call.

Coaches, however, are on their own wavelength with officials. What they do is on them, and I’m not going to upset any past, present or future STACK contributing coach by telling them how I think they should coach. As for athletes, just let it go.

I think the biggest mistake when it comes to complaining to officials is that athletes think that there are three outcomes that can occur, but in reality the call will either change or it won’t.

The first one is that a ref’s decision can actually be reversed if the athlete complains enough about the call, but that just doesn’t happen. Sure, it’s okay to point out an issue like, “He pulled me down” or “I didn’t hear the whistle,” but do it in a calm manner. Address the ref as “Sir” or “Ma’am.” A little bit of kindness can go a long way. Still, the odds are that a change in the calls probably won’t happen. The only way a call will get changed is if another official saw the play from a different angle or with the modern technology of instant replay that’s allowed in some pro sports. If you committed a foul, and you know you were at fault, why complain and yell? It’s only going to make things worse.

The next and more common outcome to complaining to a ref is that the call on the field will stay the same. Yell and scream all you want, the official is going to look at you and do nothing, except maybe make a mental note to keep an eye on you for the remainder of the game.

Lastly, the worse outcome when it comes to complaining to a ref is that they’ll hit you with a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. So now after already getting a penalty or having a call go the wrong way, you are going to get hit with another one and put your team in a bigger hole. Plus, the ref will be sure to keep an eye on you now for future altercations.

So, out of these outcomes that are more than likely going to happen, none of them are positive for you or your team. It just doesn’t make sense to complain and yell at an official when you know deep down that the call is not going to change unless another ref had a better view on the issue. Leave the yelling and complaining for the coaches—that’s part of their job. I’m even pretty sure that most coaches have to sign a contract stating that they will yell at the refs at least once a game.

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