Bellwood-Antis fans are still fit to be tied about the errant loss of down in the District 6 Class A high school football quarterfinals two weeks ago.
They have every right to be upset. Had the officials gotten the call right, there's a very good chance the Blue Devils are playing for the district championship Saturday night.
However, here's hoping that when the anger and disappointment subside and cooler heads prevail, people will step back and see this unfortunate situation in fuller perspective.
And that is that all of us can take steps to ensure things like this don't happen again.
It's very easy to criticize officials. Some people will even go so far as say it's part of the game.
Keep in mind, though, without officials, our high school athletes wouldn't have any games to play before packed stadiums and gymnasiums, let alone playoff games.
Someone has to be there to enforce the rules, whether they get them right all the time or not.
This is not these people's full-time job. While they have to get certified, they aren't spending eight hours a day, five days a week honing their skills.
The vast majority aren't doing it for the notoriety. The low pay, crappy hours and the long trips probably aren't much of an incentive, either.
Most of them do this because, like us, they love sports, pure and simple. They just want to take a more active role.
Now, add in the amount of verbal abuse they take in any given game, and you wonder why anyone would want to officiate.
They make mistakes, to be sure, but it seems like on any play, someone is going to have something negative to say about what was or wasn't called.
Those bleacher refs aren't usually any better than the men and women in the striped shirts, either.
Maybe if we weren't so quick to criticize everything, we might have a broader pool of officials from which to draw.
In turn, getting good games and playoff games would be a more competitive process and better officials would be available - and selected - to handle them.
That's not to say that we should accept what happened in the Bishop McCort/Bellwood game. However, a public apology isn't really going to make it better, and if we start banning officials for making mistakes, in no time, there aren't going to be any officials left at all.
They aren't infallible, and errors happen a lot. This one just happened on a big stage at a key moment.
As exceedingly unfortunate as this was, hopefully something can be learned - by all of us - that will make it less likely to happen again.
Cmor can be reached at 946-7440 or pcmor@altoonamirror.com
