[Football1]

The way I look at it, officiating is as much a part of the game as offense and defense. We all have seen very good officiated games and very poorly ones just as we have seen good teams play poorly on offense or defense. Much of it is a matter of perspective as well. I might say my team has a great offensive effort on one night; opposing fans may say their team just had a poor defensive night. I have had the opportunity to play many football games in seasons where wins were scarce as well as the wonderful experience of starting both ways on a 10-0 regular season. As both a player and a fan, I have experienced games where I felt all the calls were going against us. I also have experienced games where it seems like all the breaks were coming our way. In either situation, I have never truly felt an official was intentionally calling a game in a fashion to try to sway the outcome.
As I said earlier, officiating is as much a part of the game as offense and defense thus it is open to criticism and debate as much as anything else. We as fans just need to accept it, debate it, argue about it sometimes but then move on.

Just to make sure this dead horse gets what it has coming to it...

While I agree officiating is "just part of the game" that does not make it ok to accept poor officiating wheter due to inaccurate or missing calls, or worse, unethical refs. It is easy to argue that no other game relies so heavily on accurate and ethical officials. In baseball, if they swing and miss its a strike no matter what. If you miss the basket in basketball it is never good for 2 points. In football - EVERY single play hinges on whether or not the ref "allows" the play to stand. To that end, refs are as big a determinent in a game as the players themselves. No other sport endures that type of authority from its officials. That makes it especially harmful to football as a sport when refs miss calls, or call things that simply were not accurate.

In this game a championship was on the line. And while there will never be a reversal of calls nor will anyone paint a white hat next to the year 2011 on the District banner for Russell - everyone knows at this point that the officials, rightly or wrongly, played a critical role in the outcome of this contest. If the calls they made and didn't make were accurate - then those of us who feel different are just wrong - so be it. If, on the other hand, those calls really were inaccurate then at least maybe this discussion will continue to increase the pressure on refs to do the right thing to the best of their ability. So be it.