Let Them Play

I may have posted about this in the past but I can't remember for sure. If I have, too bad. You're gonna read it again.

In hockey and soccer, we often hear people say the officials should not be the star of the game. If they are, then, so goes the argument, a poor job of officiating took place.

I subscribe to this theory.

The other night, the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins played game one of the Stanley Cup finals. The part of the game where the officials were zealotic in their calls, was atrocious. There was no flow. The players were not permitted to set the tone of the game and to determine the outcomes.

The second they backed off, the game found its course and was enjoyable to watch. The players governed themselves.

In my experience, a ref that tries too hard to control tempers and emotions, more often thant not will lose control of the game. No doubt about it.

I've seen it a million times, a ref digging a deeper hole trying to control tempers and emotions by looking for a call rather than just let the game unfold. Not saying they should not make calls because clearly they should. Infractions should be cited to protect the integrity of the game. However, to me, when done too much, that too wrecks the integrity.

Some of the greatest hockey, soccer and even basketball games I've ever seen were the ones where the refs managed to let the players settle the game free of excessive officiating.

Guess what?

I see this as a perfect analogy to life and the relationship between the state, private citizens and business. The less intervention, the smoother the ride will be. Too much of it, and you ruffle all sorts of feathers needlessly and nothing flows.