Should we reprimand Officials?

Steve Walentik, writer for the Columbia Tribune Blog, asks an interesting question in his latest post,Should we be reprimanding more than just the coaches and players when it comes to "Awful Officiating"?

Here are a few highlights from Dave's article:

Look, it's a tough job. Things happen quickly and you can't see everything. I just think officiating should be a lot better than it is. That means not anticipating calls when you're out of position. That means calling the same things in the second half that you do in the first. And it means not ignoring contact in the last minute, like when Darryl Butterfield smacked Taylor Griffin's arm to jar the ball loose on Tuesday night.

I also think if the Big 12 is going to issue reprimands for criticizing officiating, as it last week to Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight and Kansas State senior Cartier Martin, it should require more accountability from the referees themselves. In Missouri's season-opening loss to Iowa State, Stefhon Hannah appeared to be calling timeout long before he hit the floor and was whistled for traveling in the final seconds. So why no whistle? And why did Curtis Shaw blow his whistle with 3:26 left in Missouri's loss to Kansas, run across the floor and yell at MU assistant Matt Zimmerman? In Kansas State's loss to Kansas on Monday night, why did the officials T up Bob Huggins for complaining about a missed call the entire ESPN audience saw in real time?

Last week we brought up the Bob Knight situation where he blasted officials after his team lost in Overtime to Oklahoma State. This week he had this to say during the Big 12 coaches' teleconference:

"I've always said, for 40 years, I've said that there's no way officials should work more than three games a week," he said. "They have plenty of other places they can go. They can go to the NBA. They can go to the NAIA. They can go to junior college. They can go to high school. And for years, the NCAA has hid behind individual employment contractors.

"I think that's all bull----. You just say, 'All right, if you're going to work in this league, this is how you're going to work. If you don't want to work in this league, fine. You've got other leagues to work in.' To have some guy 54 or 55 years old referee six times a week is a real disservice to the kids who are playing."

"I've seen it all year long for years and years,"

Does Bob Knight think the individual leagues should hire officials?

"I think that would be fine and they only work that league. But these guys are so greedy that they end up trying to work these six games, and they're not capable of doing that. I mean, just check schedules and you'll rarely see where kids play three games a week. And these kids are 19, 20 and 21 years old."

I actually agree with Bobby Knight and Steve Walentik on this one. I feel like most times the officials have too much control and there's no accountability. Maybe there is, and we're just not seeing it, but to me it seems like they can get away with bad calls, and "it's just part of the game". However, if it wasn't for Awful Officiating, it wouldn't give me something to write about over here.