officiating's affect on the outcome of the game

My belief is that, of the professional sports listed, NBA games are most affected by officiating. Both in terms of covering the spread and in terms of straight-up wins or losses. This belief is due the fact that I think that the NBA feels that it needs to have "Stars" in order to be popular and in order for fans to more readily pick and have a topic of conversation rather than to try and discuss the intricacies of team play.

The general concensus is that an NBA team needs to have 3 stars in order to win. I say that what is needed is a well coached team......if the officiating is even handed.

What say you?

I'd go with football. A single pass interference call or no-call can in and of itself determine who wins or loses. Also the questionable holding call that brings back an 80 yard run. Since there are 100 scoring plays in a basketball game a single bad call tends to be diluted. It is even rarer that I see a baseball game and I think that umpiring had a major factor in the outcome.

I'm going with football, specifically NFL, due to huge defensive pass interference penalties on deep balls. These penalties often lead to 7-points and are not reviewable. The college rule, 15 yards, these penalties obviously have less of an impact.

Soopoo and HowMany, thanks for the input.

I would like to expound a bit on my opinion. My belief is that in trying to create stars, and in trying to protect stars, there are many bad calls in an NBA game.
I certainly do not think that there are just one or two.

None of the game I work can be wagered upon but I'd say that soccer is right up there. There are many times that a referee can call or not call a penalty kick and often that is the difference in the result.

slyther,
Thanks. Not being a soccer fan, I neglected to include them. Apologies.

Personally, I think football is the LEAST game influenced by refs. Don't get me wrong, a ref can change an outcome with one call, but that is rarely the case. However, basketball and baseball are affected on virtually every play be the refs. I know guys who bet baseball regularly and only look at two things, starting pitchers and home plate umpires. I don't know anyone who looks at the refs in football before making their pick. Just the other day in basketball a team went to free throw line down 5 or 6 with only a few seconds left, after the first free throw a technical foul was called on the non-shooting team, meaning two more free throws and ball, after the made free throws (3 of 4) they took the ball out, other team I believe up three still, decided to foul, the player inbounds the ball and immediately shoots it from half court, or tries to, ref calls a shooting foul, the team that fouled their coach loses it and gets tossed from the game more technicals. In all the team shot something like 9 free throws and ended up winning. (I am not sure of all the details, but that was the jist of it, look it up on youtube or something, craziest ending ever).

Quote: SONBP2

Personally, I think football is the LEAST game influenced by refs. Don't get me wrong, a ref can change an outcome with one call, but that is rarely the case. However, basketball and baseball are affected on virtually every play be the refs. I know guys who bet baseball regularly and only look at two things, starting pitchers and home plate umpires. I don't know anyone who looks at the refs in football before making their pick. Just the other day in basketball a team went to free throw line down 5 or 6 with only a few seconds left, after the first free throw a technical foul was called on the non-shooting team, meaning two more free throws and ball, after the made free throws (3 of 4) they took the ball out, other team I believe up three still, decided to foul, the player inbounds the ball and immediately shoots it from half court, or tries to, ref calls a shooting foul, the team that fouled their coach loses it and gets tossed from the game more technicals. In all the team shot something like 9 free throws and ended up winning. (I am not sure of all the details, but that was the jist of it, look it up on youtube or something, craziest ending ever).

SONBP2,
Thanks. What you've stated is a bit closer to my perceptions of the games. I don't know that I agree on baseball though. I think that the umps are a little more even handed in their calls, even if they're bad calls. I think both sides, for example, will get called on the same inside strike even though it may be out of the zone.

Quote: steeldco

SONBP2,
Thanks. What you've stated is a bit closer to my perceptions of the games. I don't know that I agree on baseball though. I think that the umps are a little more even handed in their calls, even if they're bad calls. I think both sides, for example, will get called on the same inside strike even though it may be out of the zone.

I think you are missing the mark with baseball umpires. Some umpires have smaller/larger strikezones than others. It changes the way a pitcher pitches to each batter and in each situation. The umps are generally even handed, but if an ump is notorious for having a larger strike zone and you have two above average pitchers on the mound then it really affects the Total of the game. So the ump in baseball has an affect on the hitters and pitchers of every game. Believe me when I say that both pitchers and hitters know the reputation of certain umpires and adjust their play accordingly. In contrast, I have never heard a discussion on how Aaron Rodgers likes Joe Throw the Flag Referee because he tends to call more pass intereference calls. I am sure it is a consideration, but not like it is in a baseball game. Baseball stat guys spend hours on umpire tendencies, even covers.com has a section devoted to baseball umps. Covers.com doesn't have a section devoted to football ref stats, as far as i know anyways.

SONBP2,
You may be right, but I still lean towards believing the net effect in a baseball game is near zero.
Also, and I know this is a tiny sampling, I'm rather surprised that football has received the most votes.
In any case, in any sport, I think that human officiating needs to be eliminated. There is too much involved to have an official have a large hand in
determining the outcome.

Bring on robotics and other equipment.

If I may inject another sport....horse racing......Steward calls that would make you believe that Helen Keller had 20/20 vision

Quote: treetopbuddy

If I may inject another sport....horse racing......Steward calls that would make you believe that Helen Keller had 20/20 vision

Now that's funny. Thanks and you're probably right.

Again, the decision making throughout all sports needs to automated and made evenhandedly.