Nigel, You are right, the refs have taken a bashing lately and I'm as much to blame as anyone.BUT... you can take this to the bank,when someone says ref or official you are there like a fireman headed off to a code 10 fire!! Well in away I don't blame you. I recently made a comment in the highschool forum about officiating and official1 had responses diverted to ASK THE REF FORUM, where as you know different rules apply. When I tried to divert the subject matter back to the HIGH School Forum either Moderator1 or Moderator2 deleted it. You see different rules for officials than anyone else. Please don't take offense to this cause I find 99% of your post excellent reading but you are as guilty as anyone, by being over extreme in defense of an official, or any comment made about an official at all. I'm beginning to think that if you was the second official in a match that no matter what official1 said right or wrong official1 is right in your eyes no matter what. No mistakes , you guys don't make them. And if you did make a mistake, by god you didn't and its the OPINION that matters,or your JUDGEMENT, and if everyone doesn't AGREE, to damm bad. Seriously you tell me, baseball umpires take more crap than any human on earth, ohh haven't been to a basketball game lately go listen to that abuse of an official, HOCKEY ohhhhh don't even go there, football watch that abuse from the sidelines in case you have never been there... Wrestling officials will boot a spectator so fast it will make your head spin, eject a coach when he feels like it, and if he happens to make a mistake that cost a kid a match that he worked his astrical off to win its like, DON'T EVEN BRING IT UP. How did wrestling officials become so thin skinned in such a tough, tough, brutal sport.

I apologize to anyone offended
Mike Church Sr.
KANSAS WRESTLING IS GREAT
JUST MY OPINION YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE