Interesting that one of the best reffed games of the year was all women, and one of the worst refs is male. A takeaway here is that women refs understand that women can be athletic and play a physical game. That's what makes a game exciting. Sad that some male refs have a different viewpoint.
I started paying attention to the refs listed at the bottom of game summaries on the ESPN page. Sadly, certain refs pop up on games that have unusually high calls. I assume there is some process for coaches to go through to report abuse, but the same refs return year after year. I wonder if anyone has done an official study?
I wonder if there is a way for regular fans to protest refs, or games that we perceive to have been adversely affected by ridiculous calls. The WVU game was in my all time top 5 least favorite games that we won. The ref(s) had a lot to do with that. I re-watched the game last night and actually didn't finish it. I think that's the first time with a game we won.
It’s a shame and I think it is preventing the sport from growing a larger fan base. I’m not saying don’t call fouls, but so many games have 40+ fouls. Over a foul a minute?. That’s just ridiculous. Slows down the game. Prevents any sort of rhythm for either team, etc. But then you have the Finleys and Vanderveers out there whining because someone looked too hard at a player. Beats me what the solution is other than really enjoying the games like the one against OSU.
It wouldn't get far, and it wouldn't be right. Advocate for better training for the refs who do work women's games, and advocate for actual penalties against refs (suspensions, etc) who consistently make poor calls.
It seems that the referees tolerate a much more physical game with the men than they do with the women. Again, there doesn't seem to be a lot of consistency. Sometimes they call body fouls on layups and sometimes they don't. Home court advantage also seems to be a big factor at at some locations, like Lubbock, and sometimes not. I'm also starting to wonder how sports betting may affecting some games. They don't have to necessarily throw the game one way or the other, they just have affect the point spread to win money. Am I becoming too cynical?
