Editorial -- Unprofessional Conduct by Officials at Stanberry Game

There was an astonishing lack of professionalism by the referees Friday night in Stanberry. The officials threw out Dylan Kinsella, a force on both the offensive and defensive lines for the Tigers this year for no reason whatsoever. They claimed that he kicked a Stanberry player; however, numerous witnesses to the play saw for themselves that he did not do what the referees claimed he did. The bad thing about it is that Dylan has to sit out a game -- all because of the lack of professionalism that was on display by the referees in Friday night's game. That's not Coach Chuck Borey's rule and it's not a school rule; it's a state rule and they generally don't reverse the decisions of officials made on the field. What makes the act by the officials worse is that this is a senior who is playing in his last few high school games.

We agree, of course, that the officials have to have control on the field. But that's exactly the point. When the officials made their arbitrary and capricious call, they lost control of the game for the rest of the way. There has got to be no maybe about it before an official ejects a player or a coach from a game at any level. To do otherwise lowers the referees to the level of dictators, not officials. Once they made that call, they lost control of the game the rest of the way. There were other bad calls as well, like missing an obvious late hit on a Stanberry player that happened right in front of the official. It accumulated to the point where they stopped the game for 20 minutes trying to decide who should have possession of the ball following a late hit on Stanberry on a fourth down play by Worth County. At that point, even the Stanberry PA announcer started taking swipes at the officials.

It is ironic that the players did a better job of setting an example of conduct on the field than the officials. Both Worth County and Stanberry are well-coached teams and their players know not to do something stupid out on the field and risk getting tossed out of the game. 

Officials have a responsibility to call the games fairly the way the rulebook states, yet let the players play. When the game is over, the conversations should be about the players and the plays made on the field. When the officials start calling attention to themselves, it makes a travesty of the game. Officials have to constantly study the rulebook and familiarize themselves with the coaches and players. Above all, they should focus on preventative officiating and work on preventing such situations from happening in the first place. It was obvious that the officials were not properly prepared to officiate Friday night's game.

It's simply a matter of common sense. Worth County has not been involved in a fight in a football game since 1994, when a one-win Stanberry squad was playing the Tigers in the final game of the season and one of the Stanberry players got frustrated and tried to pick a fight. Most of the other teams in the area are the same way; they know not to do that sort of thing. Sometimes, you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt.