Why Is It That Fans of Every Sport Blame a Team's Loss to Reffing?

Especially in football. It seems like in every single Superbowl, people blame their team's loss completely on the Reffs. And it isn't just football either, it happens in every sport which requires reviews and penalties.

Can't fans just congratulate the other team and acknowledge a loss?

The only team that I can think of off the top of my head that can legitimately make a gripe would be Seattle in Super Bowl XL. That was some piss-poor, one-sided, officiating.sith_acolyte15

Totally agree! The Seahawks have a huge gripe. This Super Bowl had fine officiating overall. The Cards made some very dumb decisions at first but then the Steelers did the same. I thought it was fair. But to answer the topic question, I think the main reason fans complain about the refs (in some instances because it doesn't always happen) because it's the one obvious thing in a game. And it's also more of a controlled thing because the refs are making calls based on rules and their own judgement so fans can get mad at them because they feel that they may have used poor judgement on a call or multiple calls that ended up hurting their teams chance of winning. It's just something people like to do because they don't want it to be that their team didn't step up, they want to have a different reason/excuse.

Who do you feel is the best team then? With football, it is who shows up that day and makes it to the end, that makes them the best. The steelers took it, this year, they are the best team in football. Plain and simple in my mind.

Who do you feel is the best team then? With football, it is who shows up that day and makes it to the end, that makes them the best. The steelers took it, this year, they are the best team in football. Plain and simple in my mind.

soundmanager216

This. And people really need to stop invoking Seattle in SB XL as if they got a royal screwjob. They may have gotten 2 or 3 calls that went against them, but they also had opportunties to score and didn't. I could see if that game was as close as this one but it wasn't. Seattle was a soft NFC champion that couldn't hang with a more hard-nosed team. The Cards manned up when needed last night, but just couldn't make that last stand. Nonetheless, they've earned the respect of everybody in the league. Hopefully the notoriously cheap ownership spends $ to keep them together.

The only team that I can think of off the top of my head that can legitimately make a gripe would be Seattle in Super Bowl XL. That was some piss-poor, one-sided, officiating.sith_acolyte15

I can see why it makes so many people mad, cause you spend all season rooting for your team and when they get so far only to be sent home with a loss because a ref blew a call, or just made bad calls for the entire game. Who ever mentioned Seattle's Super Bowl loss a couple years back is right about that game. I felt really bad for the Seahawks (never have been a fan), they really got screwed over big time there. Refs are there for a reason, and that is to make fair calls and take the heat when the going gets tough. Maybe the NFL should should just have them wear black ski masks so no one knows who they are and that way they won't receive death threats at home (this actually happens) and can make the calls without fear of blame.Lostboy1224

I can understand the Seattle game, but I thought XLIII was called pretty fairly, with each team dodging a few bullets.

So many things can be called as penalties in a single play of a football game that I'm sure it is tough to call every single play. Football is definitely the hardest sport to be a referee.

99% of the time, a close game is the team's fault.

There's the common argument that, if you'd have played better before, then you wouldn't have to make a huge buzzer beating play at the end.

The only problem I've got with this year's Game, the play should have been reviewed since it was close. But it looked like a good call.

Anyway, I don't like the Steelers, but they won, you gotta give it to them. But that doesn't make them the best team in football. In fact there's no team in almost any sports this year I could call the "best", whether it be the Gators, the Celtics, the Steelers, the Red Wings. Most of the time, the winning team is simply on a (very) good stretch. That was not the case with the '01 Lakers or the '96 Bulls. They were simply the best.

Who do you feel is the best team then? With football, it is who shows up that day and makes it to the end, that makes them the best. The steelers took it, this year, they are the best team in football. Plain and simple in my mind.

This. And people really need to stop invoking Seattle in SB XL as if they got a royal screwjob. They may have gotten 2 or 3 calls that went against them, but they also had opportunties to score and didn't. I could see if that game was as close as this one but it wasn't. Seattle was a soft NFC champion that couldn't hang with a more hard-nosed team. The Cards manned up when needed last night, but just couldn't make that last stand. Nonetheless, they've earned the respect of everybody in the league. Hopefully the notoriously cheap ownership spends $ to keep them together.

I don't really think a ref can lose the game for you, if you play good enough in the first place, then theres no way they can.duckiesarefun

I don't really think a ref can lose the game for you, if you play good enough in the first place, then theres no way they can.duckiesarefun