Sports Officials

Asked for an assessment of NFL officiating this 2008 season, a league spokesman said, "Same as it normally is. Outstanding, not perfect. That's the nature of sports." The nature of sports can be difficult to stomach . . . for coaches with jobs on the line; for players with playoff bonuses at stake; for fans heavily invested, psychologically and financially, in their teams.

In 2002, consumer advocate and current presidential candidate Ralph Nader quickly criticized the NBA referees who worked the Lakers' controversial Game 6 Western Conference finals victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Put on your workout clothes and sensible shoes. Grab a whistle and a yellow flag. Now, try straddling lanes on the Golden State Freeway while looking for expired registration tags on cars as they race past. Welcome to the life of a football umpire. Of the seven officiating positions, none is more in the line of fire than the umpire, who stands unprotected in the middle of the defense, just behind the linebackers.

International sports officials, in apparent rebellion against an antidrug enforcement system increasingly regarded as harsh and inflexible, are calling for major rule revisions, according to documents released Monday by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Among their principal targets for change are rules that treat the unwitting ingestion of trace amounts of any banned drug the same as intentional drug use, often imposing identical penalties in either case.

A ban on booing? The idea has drawn a lot of jeers here. Amid concerns that unruly and profane fans are degrading high school sportsmanship, the association that oversees competition in Washington state is considering revisions to its code of conduct for spectators. And, after one Seattle newspaper reported over the weekend that it was considering a new "boo ban," the organization found itself enmeshed in controversy -- and flooded with phone calls -- over the concept.

The NCAA tournament selection committee has been sequestered on the 15th floor of the Indianapolis Westin since Wednesday night, with a security guard on duty. Friday morning, Appalachian State found a way inside, paying $10,000 for a full page ad in the Indianapolis Star touting the barely on-the-bubble Mountaineers' NCAA tournament credentials. "Stating our case," it read.

Weber State Coach Randy Rahe has to be careful when he fusses at an official. He thinks twice before he questions the power of an official's eye sight. And he never, ever makes a derogatory comment about the spouse of an official. Rahe, after all, is married to one. Thursday in the first round of the West Regional in Sacramento, second-seeded UCLA (26-5) will play Rahe's 15th-seeded Weber State Wildcats.

Unlike the Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences, the Pacific 10, Big West and West Coast conferences do not do background checks on people who officiate their games. They rely instead on the NCAA, which conducts such checks -- but only on the officials who work bowl games and the men's and women's basketball tournaments. With accusations an NBA referee bet on games he officiated reverberating through college sports, administrators are considering what more they can do to protect themselves.

DENVER -- Sports officials from across the nation ended a three-day summit Tuesday determined to rebuild their credibility, despite the industry being shadowed by what one official described as "the dark cloud of Donaghy." The sports community gathered less than two weeks after reports that veteran NBA official Tim Donaghy gambled and provided inside information on league games he worked. "We should feel ashamed by what happened, but not ashamed of our effort," National Assn.

In a darkened meeting room at a Jacksonville, Fla., airport hotel, nine men huddle around a video projector, intently studying the screen. The image of an Oakland Raiders linebacker is the center of attention. He has just made a tackle, but it's what he does next that's being scrutinized. Acceptable reaction by an excited player? Or taunting? During a game six days earlier, this NFL officiating crew considered the reaction acceptable. But now a supervisor was telling them they got it wrong.