Fans love to hate referees.
And one of their worst suspicions about officiating in sports was just confirmed.
That’s because this NHL referee was caught on video saying the one thing that cost him his career.
“Make-up call” is a common refrain during any game.
Fans long suspected that refs will try to even out calls if they think they hosed one team earlier in a game.
NHL referee Tim Peel’s career is finished because a hot TV mic caught him admitting that a penalty he just awarded was a makeup call during a game between the Nashville Predators and the Detroit Redwings.
“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the –,” Peel was caught saying after issuing Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson a minor tripping penalty.
NHL came down on Peel like a ton of bricks with Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell blasting Peel telling reporters that “nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” and that Peel’s conduct “is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand from our officials and that of our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve.”
The NHL soon announced Peel was fired.
But North Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour explained why the make-up calls may be in the best interest of the sport as it gives the losing team’s fans a reason to watch the rest of the game on TV.
“Watch what happens at the end of games,” Brind’Amour stated. “It seems to always get a power play, the team that’s behind. I think it’s just human nature. It’s hard. I know they’re not trying to do that. I don’t believe that that’s how they go about it. It’s just human nature to maybe look for the team that’s down, but it seems to happen all the time.”
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
