When I am watching a GAA match and the opposition gets a player sent to the line , I always freak out as my experience to date has been that the 14 men usually ( not always ) gets the bulk of the decisions thereafter. Likewise when my team both at club and county go to 14, I usually do not get worried.
I know refs have an impossible task but they are always trying to 'even a match up'. It infuriates me.
Referees do not feel secure in their decision and it turns into a mess of a game . One bad decision subsequently leads to another. Refs cannot seem to handle opposing players, managers and supporters giving out .
Refs need more support - this will help them.
I am fan of most sports however it does not seem to happen as bad as the GAA.
Replying To TheRightStuff: "When I am watching a GAA match and the opposition gets a player sent to the line , I always freak out as my experience to date has been that the 14 men usually ( not always ) gets the bulk of the decisions thereafter. Likewise when my team both at club and county go to 14, I usually do not get worried.
I know refs have an impossible task but they are always trying to 'even a match up'. It infuriates me.
Referees do not feel secure in their decision and it turns into a mess of a game . One bad decision subsequently leads to another. Refs cannot seem to handle opposing players, managers and supporters giving out .
Refs need more support - this will help them.
I am fan of most sports however it does not seem to happen as bad as the GAA."
I've suspicions that O'Shea incident was due to the ref evening things out. He hadn't given Cillian O'Connor a penalty earlier in the half. I think he was going to give Mayo the benefit of the doubt with a next one that came around.
I'm not questioning the refs integrity here. I just think it's somewhat human nature to do a bit of evening out, I'm not even sure they're doing it on purpose.
Id consider whammo's example to be more understandable - i.e. the ref makes a mistake and then rectifies it. I wouldn't be completely against that actually as it is reasonably fair on everyone involved.
I cant fathom the evening out that goes on when a team gets a man deservingly sent off though.
You see other examples of it too. When an underdog is putting up a spirited fight and a favourite is malfunctioning, the ref often awards decisions to the underdog. The early Kerry-Tyrone finals are good examples. Similarly, when a team is big favourite and they start well, they tend to get a lot of decisions. You see Dublin get a lot of them and Kerry in the past.