AND THE TOUGHEST SPORT TO OFFICIATE IS . . . HOCKEY (2024)

You make the call.

Which pro officials have the toughest jobs?

Baseball umpires, for the most part, focus on one play at a time-a called ball or strike, a play at first base or a diving catch in the outfield. Everyone notices the call, and the result is duly recorded.

A football official may have to concentrate on a variety of infractions from illegal procedure to holding (which many refs admit could be flagged on nearly every play from scrimmage). Crucial plays are subject to instant replay.

Basketball referees are instructed to whistle while they work, chasing up and down the court for indiscretions ranging from a loose-ball foul to a double dribble. Their late-game foul calls can decide championships.

And hockey officials, one slap shot to the face from retirement, must keep up in what is arguably the world`s fastest team sport. Following the puck is even harder on the ice than on television.

''A lot of times, the puck will be out of the rink and already in the stands and we are looking around, watching the players,'' said National Hockey League referee Mark Faucette. ''We still think the puck is in the rink. If I got paid for every time I lost sight of the puck, I would be a millionaire.'' - - -

If we are to call referees and umpires to task for an occasional inadvertent whistle or botched call, perhaps we should at least grant them due process before we boo.

Several variables define the jobs of officials in professional hockey, baseball, football and basketball-speed and difficulty of the game, the susceptibility to injury, the demands of traveling, the requisite physical skill and accountability all factor in to who has the toughest job among pro officials.

''Every referee says his sport is the toughest sport, but a hockey official is involved in the only sport where he is required to have a skill,'' Faucette said. ''If you are not a good skater, you are not going to be out there.''

Interviews and research support Faucette`s claim. Professional hockey is the most demanding sport to officiate, ranking above basketball because of required skills and injury risk (see accompanying chart). Being on top of the action in hockey sometimes means getting out of the way before you`re checked into the boards-or worse.

''The hockey referee has got to watch everything, so he takes his eye off the puck quite a bit,'' Faucette said. ''It`s not just the three guys going across the line with the puck anymore. It is dumped in, and what happens is that they don`t dump it in low, they dump it in high. They shoot around the glass high.

''There is constantly that fear of getting blasted by the puck as it takes a bad bank off the boards or off the glass. . . . You get the odd, stray stick or bump every now or then. But that really isn`t as bad as getting hit by the puck.

''One of the reasons I am no longer on the ice is that the players are so much bigger and faster,'' said Dave Newell, a 23-year NHL official who now is a league supervisor. ''They shoot the puck over 100 miles an hour. In the last week I have been with probably six officials who have so many bruises over their body . . . most players wouldn`t be playing with these injuries.''

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Like the athletes themselves these days, basketball and hockey officials are involved in a year-round condition regimen.

NBA officials must be in peak shape, even with three men assigned to each game. Floor-length passes and Denver Nugget-orchestrated fast breaks will wear down the best of the crew.

Of course, all officials and umpires go through some type of conditioning. In the last several years, even baseball umpires have been urged to lose weight and at least appear fit and trim.

Some of the physical demands are less obvious to the casual fan.

Recently retired NBA official Earl Strom worked 33 years in the league and chronicled his feelings in a book entitled ''Calling the Shots.''

''Someone once described refereeing as eye-brain-whistle coordination,''

Strom wrote. ''We work with the whistle always in the mouth, ready. That`s why you have inadvertent whistles on occasion. But for every call that`s instantaneous, there is one where you have to suck on the whistle, wait it out, see what`s really happening.

''In college and high school, if you see an infraction, boom, you`re supposed to nail it right there. The beauty of refereeing professional basketball is that we can delay a half-second to determine the outcome of a particular incident. Five people go up in the air for a rebound. Do they bump? Sure. But did the guy with position who jumped the highest get the ball? If so, why call anything?

''Fans see lots of things, and say we missed them. But the challenge is to determine what is really affecting the game, and the let-goes are part of it.''

Travel can also be grueling. The NBA and NHL have the most draining assignments in that category. Baseball umpires at least have the luxury of remaining in a city for three or four days. Officials from the NFL are hired on a part-time basis and have only one game a week to work.

''Travel is an everyday part of our job,'' said Newell. ''As you get older the fatigue really shows. Toward the end of the season and into the playoffs you find yourself dragging your butt and you become mentally tired.'' Being mentally prepared as an umpire or official can be just as important as physical conditioning.

''As president of our association for 10 years, I had many discussions with the powers-that-be. I fully agreed that the physical conditioning was extremely important,'' said Newell. ''We were able to talk them into dealing more with the mind.

''The biggest knock on officials at every level is inconsistency. We try to explain to the coaches that when you are dealing with 12 referees and 23 linesmen, every one is a different personality.''

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Knowledge of the rules of the game is an admired attribute of the better officials.

NFL referee Bill McElwee, who visited the Bears training camp in Platteville, Wis., last summer for a rules seminar with the players, also cited the nebulous penalties he and his peers must make, increasing the degree of difficulty in his profession. Holding penalties, for example, are often in the eye of the beholder.

Of course, McElwee and his colleagues are the only pro officials subject to formal instant-replay review of their work, which leads to a high accountabilty factor among pro referees.

Even the replay officials in the booth are subject to scrutiny. The Bears whipped the Green Bay Packers twice last season, but Bears fans are still grousing over the instant-replay reversal by Jack Fette in 1989 that allowed the Packers to eke out a last-second 14-13 victory at Lambeau Field.

The ability to use proper judgment and restraint is also desirable among pro officials.

National League umpire Joe West holds the dubious honor of being the first umpire to eject two cameramen from a game. It happened in 1984 when the cameramen were in the New York Mets` dugout showing the players an instant replay of a contested play that West had called. After viewing the replay, the Mets let West know he had blown the call. West reacted by tossing the cameramen.

Baseball umpires and officials in basketball, football and hockey can help regulate the pace of a game.

''I hate it when they try to speed up the game because they have a plane to catch,'' said third baseman Gary Gaetti. ''All of a sudden the strike zones get bigger than normal.''

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Basketball officials seem to tolerate as much verbal abuse as they can before they whistle a technical foul on a coach or player. Football coaches are generally too far away from the middle of the field to have their invectives heard. If they are, the NFL official can step off an

unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.

Hockey officials, who take plenty of verbal abuse, take the chance of physical abuse when breaking up fights.

''That is part of the job,'' Faucette said. ''I played the game, and when I knew something had been taken from me through an inability of an official, I got worked up. The players aren`t out there to carve your eyes out or make you look bad. You can penalize them for doing that.

''But you can`t expect them to go out there for 60 minutes and be hit all over the ice and not get worked up. A lot of it is emotion and adrenalin. You`ve got to expect that. Nobody is going to thank you for giving them a penalty.''