Ever since the game of hockey was invented and a referee called the first
penalty there has been disagreement by players, coaches and fans
associated with the penalized player.
The difference from then and now is the intensity of the
disagreement. It seems that almost on a regular basis you hear of a
referee’s life being threatened. The
most recent story in the news of a threat on an officials’ life is
taking place in Montreal, Quebec.
The shocking news is that the fan on trial is a Montreal Police
Investigator, Jean-Francois Cote, who threatened the life of a minor
hockey referee Eric Bouchard. Before
hockey fans make up their minds on whether or not they feel that the
referee has gone too far, just think about your own hockey experiences.
Have you as a fan ever had even a single thought of wanting to
cause bodily harm to an official? I
would hope that 99.9% of hockey fans would never have had such a thought,
but that number is probably not quite so high.
It is that 0.1% of hockey fans that are giving hockey a bad rap!
As a hockey official for over 12 years myself, I have had my life
threatened once or twice but never thought anything of it.
The problem in recent years is that we constantly hear of people
assaulting one another, referee’s being assaulted, hockey parents
fighting and murdering one another and people threatening to kill referees
over a simple or apparently not so simple judgment call.
Referees have been threatened for decades. The only problem with
this decade is that you never know if that fan threatening to kill you is
actually crazy enough to follow through on his word.
I personally would like to commend Eric Bouchard for not taking a
threat to his existence on this earth lightly.
As well, if I am ever threatened again I will most definitely call
the police. You just can’t
take the chance; it’s your life on the line!
Put The Shoe
On The Other Foot!
What would happen if a referee were to threaten a fan who had been
yelling at him all game? Most
likely this official, if not dealt with in the courts, would have a
complaint against him followed by an investigation on his behaviour and if
found guilty then he would be suspended from refereeing for quite some
time. So why should it be any
different for a fan? Shouldn’t they lose or at least be suspended from
their jobs? Should they be banned from arenas?
Should there be a monetary fine paid to the referee for the
emotional scaring caused by the threat?
What do you think should be done?
Don’t Cross That Line!
As hockey officials, players, coaches, parents and fans, we must
not cross that line from being civilized to being criminals!
After all, is it really worth the lawyer fees? Lost work hours?
Having your named dragged through the media? And above all, losing the
respect of your peers? Remember,
it’s just a game! As
emotions tend to increase over the upcoming playoff run, don’t let them
take you across the line!
