TheClipper wrote:Seek,
You say you hate dirty play, you say we need to clean up the game, you say we need to make the game safer, but you clearly don't want to do this too quickly. How, exactly, would you make the game safer? What exactly is your time frame? Gimme a number.
Knee jerk reaction? Aren't two devastating spinal cord injuries in one week enough reason for change?
The MSHSL issues a blizzard of memos every week. How is one more going to make a difference? If someone was threatening your physical well being would you send him a memo?
Every night, in every rink in the state, referees threaten to call a close game Every one of these games looks exactly like the previous game, and nothing has changed in twenty years.
I would make the game safer by making sure the refs are encouraged to call penalties by the rules (already in place). I would also encourage the refs to make the tough calls including the 5 minute major as already written. I would tell the coaches to keep their mouths shut (or they will get a penatly) and encourage fans to support cleaning up the game.
My time frame for everything above is immediate. It already had started BUT the MSHSL jumped in early to change the game and take the ref discretion out of the equation. In my opinion, that was not a good decision and, at very least, should have waited until the off season to have a full discussion and to give option 1 above a chance to work.
Why would it possibly work now when it hasn't worked (according to you) for 20 years? You answered it yourself...because two tragic accidents in one week is enough reason for change.The media attention has been HUGE and will likely continue at least through the State tourney. There is a very close eye being given to head contact (in all sports) and now checking from behind has been added in our sport. It has been all over the papers this year and is now reached a firestorm due to these tragic accidents. That attention would have (in my opinion) made this a different time then any other time in the last 20 years and caused support of making tough calls.
I also agree with others that next year, when the glare of the spotlight is gone, refs will start avoiding having such a big impact on the game by having to call 5 minute majors. It will be critical that we keep reminding them (and supporting them) that they need to make the right calls all the time. I think the old set up was good enough and could have worked with some encouragement...but now that they've made these changes, we have to support the new set up.
One final point, in the video above you can hear the fan complaining about the call. I think it was the right call but you can already see that fans are quick to have a change of heart when the calls start going against them. Being a ref is not an easy job!