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How can fans and players seriously respect umpires when they affect the result of a match through their decisions?
Today at Werribee, Coburg gave away EIGHT, yes EIGHT, 50m penalties in the reserves game. Werribee scored no fewer than five goals as a direct result of these. In the end, the umpiring probably determined the result of the match. All because a couple of men in white don't have the guts to tolerate a bit of backchat? If they're so sensitive maybe they should take up ballet.
The shear inconsistency of the umpiring department was highlighted in the senior game where a Werribee player clearly yelled out the "F word" at the umpire but the umpire just accepted it (as a man should) and let the game proceed without intervention.
Generally the VFL umpires are not too bad, but I hope the performance of those umpires from today's reserves match is reviewed thoroughly.
While you could argue that the Coburg players should have been more aware of the umpires preciousness on the field today and zipped their mouth, I would expect that the actions of the umpires only create frustration and magnify the problem.
Nobody goes to the football to watch the performance of the umpires. If umpires want respect from fans then the best way they can do this is to not rediculously intervene in games and show some spirit. Fans too often get painted as the villians for heckling and abusing umpires, often the villians themselves are the men with the whistles.
And I'd be more than happy to hear a reply from Football Victoria if someone reads this.
Oh, and I wasn't barracking for any side in the game today.
