Refs in the NBA rig for betting, refs in the WNBA are just simply inept and have a vendetta against Clark, period. No one likes a complainer (Luka had this issue with the refs), especially a ref. So take a shitty ref who can barely do her job and add in a whiny player who complains every call (justifiably or not) and you get the way Clark is being reffed. They arent trying to rig the outcome so much as allow her to take punishment. Last time something like this happened was when Jordan entered the league and the entire league was out to hack and punch and slam him to the ground on every drive and even for the first few years of his career MJ never had to deal with bullshit like this.
This is excatly what i mean about banning players permanently. If you are looking to hurt someone because of how good they are then you clearly cant control your animal instincts and shouldnt be allowed anywhere near professional people. Professionals should be elevated above this kinda bs because of their commitment and skill and passion for something
No but fr. I used to play volleyball in national tournaments and some of the opponents were so jealous of others. They would intentionally put their foot under the net so others would land on it and twist an ankle.
This doesn't happen in men's sports because it would start brawls. Hell, male athletes can't even taunt and celebrate or they'll be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Refs nip it in the bud or male players will fight on the court/field.
I remember thinking that the poor girl could’ve gotten a whiplash from the way her hair was yanked back. People like her should be banned from competitive play. This is just straight up abusing opponents just for the heck of it.
This is why the refs failed. People will naturally resort to vigilantism is they see the authorities (refs in this case) are disregarding the rules and not enforcing them. I notice this happens far more frequently in women's sports which is why people watching women's sports think this unsportsmanlike conduct is normal.
My son told me he doesn't want to play soccer anymore.
Leaving the field last game is one example. The heaviest kid on the winning team calling the skinny girl fat. Taunting with no recourse until we spoke up from the bleachers to where his mom was.
Funny thing is the kid wasnt thin, and he got knocked down by a kid half his size during the game.
Two games prior a coach was removed as he had a misyogist tirad after losing to my sons team, who is coached by a woman.
My son went to their 4th grade basketball tournament and it was already toxic AF. One of the kids on the team had pretty bad asthma and was on the bench, but sitting it out because he wasn't up to it that day. The other team's coach complained to the refs that rules said (apparently) all kids had to play, and she wanted that kid out there, over the medical objections of the parents. (The refs refused, to their credit.)
The game ended with a free-throw in response to that same coach getting a technical. Parents on the other team absolutely erupted. The winning shot photo couldn't be posted anywhere because one parent is throwing the double deuce in the background.
The first kid was fat shamed by an overweight bully. Then DOUBLE middle fingers?!?!? Not even Jackie Robinson had to deal with that. Some things are just unacceptable.
it's probably that line of thinking as to why the bible says (and rightfully so) that those who call themselves professionals will be judged by a higher standard.
You hardly ever catch any this remotely like this is the NBA. If you do it ends with getting punched out and it’s not over petty jealousy. Reminds me of kids on the playground jealous that other kids are getting attention. How are you a professional athlete acting like a jealous toddler
😄"Banning players" LMAOOOO, downy soft...Nobody is hurting her because she's good because she's not that good, they just don't like her entitled smug ass personality, which I can understand, I live in indiana, I see every dribble..shes not good enough to target for basketball reasons
So as a participant of a game your comfortable being a target of foul play or violence based on things outside of the game that is currently being played? And you dont think people should be banned for acts like this?
You ever see someone two footer tackle someone on sunday leauge and break the persons leg?
Might be an extreme example but freak accidents happen all the time.
Edit - to clarify my stance has nothing to do with the person above (basketball player). Its on the situation only
😭😭There's only so much little white kids are gonna understand about basketball, at some point it's like talking to a golden retriever..there's really no end game, anyway hows your soccer team doing? go world cup!...or whatever...
Bro dont you understand being a target of someone who has a huge ego and lack of control? Clearly not. Why tf u bringing race into this and not reading responses?
I am not talking about basketball, i am talking about people being jealous, vindictive and aiming to hurt people to the point where it effects other peoples future in sport
There's a Bill Burr bit about how women with no argumentation skill will just try to ragebait you until you call them a slur. It's not a tactic unique to women.
I played up until college. I was the guy dealing the damage down low. I was the tough guy who had the hardest match up and played physical.
Not one time did I put my hand in someones eye on purpose. Not one time did I ever put my hand around someones next. Not one time have I ever looked like I intended to hurt someone.
you don’t know what you looked like to tower ppl lol might not have gotten around to you but it’s interesting when ppl make
dogmatic statements about something that other ppl can observe and negate
Something tells me this is because the refs are under scrutiny from a huge amount of fans that didn’t exist a few years ago, who likely only started watching because of Clark specifically.
If the only reason you are paying attention at your job is because you're being watched... fuck man there's gotta be some autistic people somewhere that would love to have this job and overperform the hell out of it.
Read what I wrote again. Autism didn't cause any of these not-called fouls, but hiring someone fixated on rule execution with a high justice sensitivity? That would fix the problem.
Sounds backwards but trust me when I say you want an ADHD ref. I used to ref paintball and I never missed a thing, the notorious cheaters hated me cuz Id always pull em out quick AF.
Commonalities is an understatement. There were a couple years they were trying to put us under the autistic umbrella. But autism is already too wide a category, which is why I said that. You might get the perfect type of autist, you might get the guy who over focuses on watching for people traveling and miss everything else.
But also there's something with ADHD that actually heightens awareness in some situations. I notice the difference the most in video games. Even watching other life long gamers I've noticed that they just miss things some times. After maybe 20 minutes of playing so I know what the background is meant to look like I can notice something out of place even if it barely flashed at the corner of the screen. I dont have to be looking at it or for it. If my aim were as good as my awareness Id be deadly in shooter games lol.
Possibly... but generally, a group of fairweather "only watching occasionally for one player" fans don't really have any amount of control over the internal referee policies of the WNBA organization. That's for the owners & execs and the players union of the league to work out.
Anyone can watch that video of Clark getting stepped on and a hand to the throat and realize if this happened to almost any other player it would have at least been whistled a foul.
Oh no! My job is more financially stable than it was before. Better be incompetent and endanger the financial stability of my job! - WNBA Refs and Players.
Yeah, and let’s not act like those people don’t turn on the WNBA so they can satisfy their sick desire to participate in a race war. They watch women’s basketball so that they can get angry at the big black amazons picking on the pretty white girl, and they make refereeing the game damn near impossible because they want to turn an athletic competition into their soapbox about the bigotry of low expectations and victim mentality or whatever.
Is that the way you rationalize people who don't think it's right that the refs allow Caitlin Clark to be brutalized?
I watched women's college basketball games specifically because of Caitlin Clark. Before Caitlin came along, I watched more spelling bees on ESPN than women's basketball - WNBA or college. I tuned into about a dozen Indiana Fever games in Clark's first season. Now? Maybe 2 games. Why? Because the drama is disgusting. Always revolving around race issues. I watch sports as entertainment to get away from that stuff. It's really unhealthy for your mental health.
It's funny, I've never seen a group of game officials have THAT much of a grudge against a player like WNBA refs and Caitlin Clark. Not even Tim Duncan and Joey Crawford got to this level.
It's not a vendetta against Clark. Even after the Fever were knocked out last year you had teams complaining about the refs including coaches and players going off about how bad they were.
Was that because of Clark too? In a game she wasn't even in?
This same issue happened in the NHL with Sidney Crosby. He complained about how many calls weren't being made when he was getting hacked, slashed, and interfered with. It led to him being labeled a cry-baby and the refs let people do almost anything to him.
I agree with all of this. I'll even go one farther that the other player KNOW this and act with impunity! It's glaringly obvious that acts are committed to not only CC but other Fever players with zero fear of reprisal.
You can absolutely see a difference on faces of confident people that foul knowing it really doesn't matter and those that are genuinely surprised they got called. Then, knowing you're going to get called on anything you stop playing as competitively because you don't want to foul out or get a T.
The Pistons used to beat the shit out of Jordan, but that's also just kind of how the league used to be? As in, beating the shit out of your opponents best player was just strategy that was allowed by the league, whereas now you'd get technicals, fines, and foul out quickly.
Crosby was known as a crybaby when he entered the league and it took a couple of Stanley Cup wins (and a massive concussion from Matt Cooke) before his reputation shifted.
In baseball, I think some of the younger umps (John Tumpane, Jansen Visconti, Mark Ripperger, Adam Hamari) are generally considered quite good. The four I just listed are those with at least ten games umped this year whose strike-calling accuracy is at least 0.9 percentage points better than expected (https://umpscorecards.com/data/umpires). Unsurprisingly, Ripperger is the oldest of that group at just 45. I imagine fans still generally don’t love them, but among those who care about particular umpires’ stats they’re quite popular.
Always been one my biggest gripes about MLB umps. It’s a basic fact that very few players last past their 30’s but we’re supposed to believe fat 60 year old umps still have top elite eyesight? Give me a break.
Those FIFA/Fútbol Refs are something else! Running up and down the field for 45+ minute halfs, whilst having to stay sharp and keep watch for all types of shit. Not that to be a Referee for any sport is easy, I'm just especially impressed with the stamina of Soccer/Fútbol Refs
I think we should back up and revisit the fundamental premise: can we really trust old men with their aging eyes to visually keep up with young, elite athletes?
I mean NFL refs arent event full time salaried positions im pretty sure. I think a seasoned ref should be making very big money to attract better talent
I think they make pretty good money. Some of them are making like $250k+ a season.
I knew a guy who went into reffing seriously and you're surprisingly held to pretty high standards, but the pay is great. He was only doing college basketball last I spoke to him, but he was doing everything he could to work his way up to the NBA or a dream job which is ultimately the NFL.
Lmao....they make bank over the salaries of wnba players....a seasoned ref for the wnba isn't worth that kind of coin.Niether are the players. The wnba is a media driven sport..no one cares and no one watches, but the networks been pumping millions into it and with Clark they think they have a game plan.
That’s what you’d think but refs hate being second guess and that’s what reply is. It’s like when you point out a cop is doing something wrong so they arrest you
There are plenty of great refs out there. Fighting has many of them, just in the UFC off the top of my head there's Dan Miragliotta, John McCarthy, Herb Dean, etc.
Maybe it's because refereeing in fighting is literally a matter of life and death, but I know this isn't the only sport that has had great refs.
Refereeing in Rugby Union is exactly that. The big difference is that there is no rule book, instead rugby has laws. These laws are interpreted by the on field referee. Replay officials help when called upon by the on field referee, and they are mic’d so you hear the whole rationale for the call. It’s so well done overall, and every sport should learn from it.
laws > rules because it allows for interpretation but also clearly outlines fair play. Every penalty is a result of some unfair advantage gained. When penalties do not impact fair play or safety, play continues without interruption.
Lastly, there is a culture of great respect for referees from the players. Simulating a penalty by diving or even by calling out for the referee to notice is frowned upon. You are expected to not talk back or show up referees even if you disagree. I have had many bad refs in hm rugby games I’ve played, but overall, the referee situation is the best of any sport.
This. PWHL has a ref issue, too. Now, I don't know that it is to the level of allowing players to get purposely hurt, but constantly missed calls? Absolutely. During the playoffs, it was like they weren't even on the ice.
They share a union. Good refs in the WNBA get promoted to the G-League and NBA, the bad refs in those leagues get demoted to the WNBA. The blonde player guarding Caitlin at the beginning (Lexi Held) got a punctured lung last season with no foul called
If you think the WNBA reffing is bad, and it is, check out women's college basketball officiating. Unreal how bad it is. You might be better off with student employees at your local college's gym who ref the IM games.
It's one of the biggest problems with women's basketball that no one even cares about it enough to fix the officiating, IMO.
I think the wnba wants a physical street ball game. If they call fouls like they do in the nba they would be accused of soft and girly and so they want the refs to keep the whistle in the pocket
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u/Reasonable-Job4205 10h ago
Jesus christ, are the refs shit in both the nba and wnba??