Current crisis in officiating is man-made

Athletes are trained not to show up the officials. It’s well past time fans in the stands adopt the same mentality.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen an official attacked, physically, as a result of a call in my time covering high school sports, now more than a quarter century along. But verbal abuse from the stands? Oh yeah. All the time. That abuse reared its ugly head Friday during the Burlingame-Carlmont baseball game in Belmont Friday afternoon when a lone voice of a Carlmont fan rang out following a play on the field. That led the home plate umpire warning everyone in the stands that he would clear them all out if they continued to harass the officials.

It takes a strong will and knowledge of the game to issue an edict like that but, in this day and age, it’s more than necessary as more and more fans think it’s their god-given right to ride the referee or umpire or any official when a call goes against their team.

And therein lies the rub: for every call you disagree with because it went against your team, the other side thought the play was called correctly. So on every close play, half of those in attendance agree with the call and half don’t.

There are a handful of officials I know who won’t put up with nonsense for long and simply have the … gumption, let’s say … to speak up about it. But there are a lot of officials who won’t say anything and then when they quit at the end of the year, will give their reason: not worth the money to take the abuse they receive.

In professional sports, Major League Baseball umpires make an average of $275,000 a season. An NFL referee makes an average of $188,000. A high school umpire? If working a varsity game, just over 76 bucks in the Peninsula Athletic League. It’s $60, if it’s a JV game. As you can see, these guys and gals are not doing it for the money. For many of the officials who work on the Peninsula, the money supplements their retirement. Yes, I’d say a majority of officials in San Mateo County are of retirement age or very close to it. As they start to hang up their whistles and their ball-and-strike counters, it’s leaving leagues in the lurch.

We’ve already seen the lack of football officials affect the season as a number of games during the 2021 season were played on Thursday so as to ensure coverage of all games during the weekend. But we are dangerously close to having two teams on the field ready to go — and no officials to work the game. It’s already a major problem in the games of water polo and lacrosse. But other sports aren’t far away.

I’ve rung this bell several times over the last couple of years, trying to encourage those whose athletic careers are over that they can remain in the game as an official.

But that’ll never happen as long as Joe and Jane Blow think their kid was wronged on a play at second base and they’re going to let the umpires know of their displeasure. So the first step to growing the ranks of officials is for the fans to encourage their kids and their team, but save your rude comments about the officiating to those sitting around you or complaining about it to your kid on the way home. No, the ref is not out to “screw” your team. And yes, the official does know what she is doing.

As parents and as adults, be better. Because when you chase off the last of the officials, little Johnny won’t be able to play anymore and little Kayla won’t get that scholarship her club coach promised — no matter how much money you spend.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com.