Dornbirn vs VSV in EBEL 2013-09-07 (9705158137)

Massimo Busacca, Referee, Switzerland (10)

A "bad call" is an informal term used in

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

to describe a referee decision, or "call", that is incorrect or perceived to be incorrect. Bad calls have been associated with all sports involving referees or judges. A bad call is made by a game referee when: # An incorrect application of a game rule is made. # An incorrect interpretation of a specific game event is made. # An infraction of a game rule is unseen or ignored and the specific rule violation is left unaddressed. Public outcry following a highly visible and questionable call might lead to a public clarification of existing rules or in rare instances, an actual change in rules. Author Andrew Caruso notes that "Bad calls or bad breaks are part of every sport. That's life." "Bad call" is used outside of sports colloquially to quickly label a bad decision: "His promotion was a bad call.", "He took her to dinner with his mom; bad call."

Video review practices

Because of the accusations of bad calls involving plays in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, starting in 1986, the league began adopting rules to allow the use of instant replay in settling disputed calls by the on field officials. Other leagues (including

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, FIFA,

ULEB Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB; french: Union des Ligues Européennes de Basket-Ball) is a sports organization within basketball created for growth of professional basketball in Europe.NBA) have come up with differing systems to utilize video replay or to limit its usage. The NFL did not innovate the process, rather they followed the lead of their competitor at the time - the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

- which tried to differentiate itself from its more established rival by several rule differences, including the

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

, a faster moving clock based on

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

rules, and the use of replay when challenged by one of the teams.

Compensation practices

Sports fans have frequently commented on what they perceive as "make-up" calls, in which referees compensate for a questionable call by penalizing the other team during the course of the game. One analysis focused on strikes and balls in baseball, finding that the zones shifted soon after what the authors refer to as errant calls.

Notable examples

*At the 1961 Dixie 400, NASCAR made a bad call and declared Bunkie Blackburn the winner, after not counting one of David Pearson's laps. Most spectators had left before they gave the win to the correct person.AMS' last September race cause for late celebration
at NASCAR.com *At the

1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was the last game of that year’s Olympic basketball tournament, and became one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the ending mired in controversy, the Soviet Union defeated Team U ...

, the clock was reset to give the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

three opportunities to win the game over the previously undefeated United States basketball team. Team USA refused to accept the silver medal. Captain Kenny Davis has written into his will that his heirs cannot accept the silver medal on his behalf. *In 1985, organ player

Wilbur Snapp Wilbur Snapp (August 5, 1920 – September 6, 2003) was a self-taught American musician who was the stadium organist for the Clearwater Phillies, a minor-league baseball team, and for the Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies ar ...

was ejected from a baseball game, after playing Three Blind Mice in response to what he saw as a bad call by the umpire. *In the

1985 World Series The 1985 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1985 season. The 82nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals and the N ...

, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

lost to the Kansas City Royals, in part to a bad call made in Game 6. Umpire

Don Denkinger Donald Anton Denkinger (; born August 28, 1936) is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1969 to 1998. Denkinger wore uniform number 11, when the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980. He is best remembered ...

called the Royals

Jorge Orta Jorge Orta Núñez (born November 26, 1950) is a Mexican former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1972 to 1987 for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los An ...

safe when TV replays showed he was out. The Royals eventually would score 2 runs in the inning and win the game 2-1. *In 1990, the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

was given five downs due to a counting error by the officials. Colorado beat the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

on the fifth down, the last play of the game. *During the 1991 Philippine Basketball League season, a bad call during a game caused the fans to begin pelting the court, and the game was halted for 20 minutes. *In the 1997 National League Championship Series Game 5, umpire

Eric Gregg Eric Eugene Gregg (May 18, 1951 – June 5, 2006) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1975 to 1999. He was known for being a pioneering black umpire, for his longtime weight problems, and for ...

gave

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

pitcher

Liván Hernández Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (; born February 20, 1975) is a Cuban-born former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. Over a 17-year career, he played for nine different teams and was named to two All-Star Games. He was nam ...

an unusually wide strike zone. Hernández set a record 15 strike outs against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

throughout the game. The final out of the game came when

Fred McGriff Frederick Stanley McGriff (born October 31, 1963) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 through 2004. He was one of the most consistently productive powers hitters of the 1990s, post ...

was called out on a pitch that TV replays showed was a foot outside of the strike zone.

References

{{reflist, 30em Sports culture

Video review practices

Compensation practices

Notable examples

See also

Further reading

References