Referee Quotes

The institution of monarchy developed during the Middle Ages against the backdrop of the previously endemic struggles between feudal power agencies. The monarchy presented itself as a referee, aa power capable of putting an end to war, violence, and pillage and saying no to these struggles and private feuds. It made itself acceptable by allocating itself a juridical and negative function, albeit one whose limits it naturally began at once to overstep. ~ Michel Foucault

Tell them it was a foul. ~ Shaquille O'Neal

The objective of a referee is not to get mentioned. I tell a lot of young referees that not being mentioned is king. If you can achieve that, that then it has been a pretty good game. ~ Alan Lewis

There was something unfair about a system in which a little kid was brought into a courtroom and surrounded by lawyers arguing and sniping at each other under the scornful eye of a judge, the referee, and somehow in the midst of this barrage of laws and code sections and motions and legal talk the kid was supposed to know what was happening to him. It was hopelessly unfair. ~ John Grisham

It's a game of integrity. There's no referees out there. We all respect each other. ~ Jordan Spieth

I wanted to have a career in sports when I was young, but I had to give up the idea. I'm only six feet tall, so I couldn't play basketball. I'm only 190 pounds, so I couldn't play football, and I have 20/20 vision, so I couldn't be a referee. ~ Jay Leno

Hockey lends itself to special events, including the Olympic competition: a glorious tournament of the best players in the world, putting on their national jerseys and playing on big rinks with no-goon Olympic rules and referee enforcement. ~ George Vecsey

The pressure for conformity is enormous. I have experienced it in editors' rejection of submitted papers, based on venomous criticism of anonymous referees. The replacement of impartial reviewing by censorship will be the death of science. ~ Julian Schwinger

Some people say hockey is like religion, but that's wrong. Hockey is like faith. Religion is something between you and other people; it's full of interpretations and theories and opinions. But faith...that's just between you and God. It's what you feel in your chest when the referee glides out to the center circle between two players, when you hear the sticks strike each other and see the black disk fall between them. Then it's just between you and hockey. Because cherry trees always smell of cherry trees, whereas money smells of nothing ~ Fredrik Backman

A stupid question," said Badmouth King on the left. "Nothing at all to the point. Off we go into the wild blue yonder. Oh well, was there ever an action hero who was an intellectual?" "Prince Hamlet of Denmark," said Referee King quietly from behind them. "But since he's the only one who comes immediately to mind, he may be no more than the exception that proves the rule. ~ Stephen King

First female referee can't play probably, either, right? But you're thinking the game like you know it? Okay, see ya. ~ Duncan Keith

He will be England captain one day. Jack Wilshere is a real leader. I saw how he spoke with the referee and the other players [against Denmark]. It is difficult to find someone so young with such a big personality. I remember two defenders, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, and one attacker, Raul, but for personality and confidence on the pitch he is the best young midfielder I have seen for his age. ~ Fabio Capello

Referees and linesmen are killing teams. ~ Ashley Cole

After referees negated a line change that led to Tampa Bay"s winning goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: After all these years in the league, am I that stupid that I would put four forwards and one defenseman in a 3-3 tie, in the third period? I think everybody that knows me here knows I"m not that stupid. I might be halfway stupid, but not that stupid. ~ Pat Burns

Chavez will hit the canvas. He will be sitting in his corner, or with the doctor or referee stopping the fight. There's no other outcome. ~ Sergio Martinez

I think making the referee aware of a situation, there is nothing wrong with that. ~ Abby Wambach

I always liken it to being a referee - if you notice the referee, that's not a good thing. ~ Chris Harrison

I am so sorry to hear of Asher's passing. I will miss his scientific insight and advice, but even more his humor and stubborn integrity. I remember when one of his colleagues complained about Asher's always rejecting his manuscript when they were sent to him to referee. Asher said in effect, 'You should thank me. I am only trying to protect your reputation.' He often pretended to consult me, a fellow atheist, on matters of religious protocol.

{Charles H. Bennett's letter written to the family of Israeli physicist, Asher Peres} ~ Charles H. Bennett

Anyhow, isn't it a bit wrong to think happiness is all smooth and serene. Isn't it mostly a great energetic struggle - you against the universe - a great whopping opponent, with the referee in its pocket? ~ Margaret Mahy

One rule that will work if it is used everywhere, is that when you have a free-kick, the referee puts the mark on the floor to make sure the defenders keep their distance. ~ Cristiano Ronaldo

The Football Association have always acted more as a referee than a governor. And the FA, aware the Premier League provide players for the England team, have always had too gentle a hand on the tiller. The result is that the Premier League are the tigers in the English football jungle everybody's scared of. ~ Gordon Taylor

I was surprised we were playing in Manchester and have a referee from Greater Manchester. ~ Brendan Rodgers

Once the referee throws the ball in the air, it's either your ball or their ball and you have to just take your shot. ~ LL Cool J

I love how the soccer guys just fall when they get kicked and go baby crying.They try to explain to the referee like he's their mother: "Wah! Did you see what he did?" Then they get back to playing soccer again. ~ Pablo Francisco

The efficiency of a President at the beginning of his term depends on their capacity to get everything under control. That was my case. But once the institutions have been put in place, and the responsibilities delegated, the leader becomes a reference, a referee, a symbol and unifying figure for the nation. The issue is how and when to recognize the moment when staying in power becomes counterproductive. ~ Paul Kagame

I remember an incident overseas about five years ago where a player punched a referee and knocked him cold. I don't think anything like that will ever happen in the NBA. Emotions run rampant. The games are so intense, and the stakes are so high. (But) At the end of the day, players and coaches really respect officials and really appreciate that they try to do a good job. ~ Jalen Rose

But then southern hemisphere teams are more skilful than their northern hemisphere counterparts, which means games can be easier to referee. ~ Alan Lewis

In short, we all want to be liked. The refs, like all humans, are all social creatures and assimilate the emotions of the crowd. Every once in a while, a referee will subconsciously make a call that will make the crowd happier. ~ Harlan Coben

This bill would renounce the safe, proper, and acceptable role for Government as a referee of disputes between the governed. It would interpose the Government as a biased protagonist, armed with the awesome authority of the Federal Government, in addition to rulemaking and umpire powers. The broad grants of power to the Attorney General to initiate and intervene in civil actions would go far toward transforming him into George Orwell's 'Big Brother' of '1984,' in the year 1964. ~ Strom Thurmond

Even as they are now pointing to God and praising God for that victory, something terrible happens; there's a demonic spirit now that referees, and the officials, and they say Oh did you see that? He just referred to God. We need to stop that and we need to disqualify them! And they're punished for their righteousness by the demonic spirit that's inside the referees. ~ Gordon Klingenschmitt

Q: Which party had wildest celebration and how did it play out?

1) The 1972 Dolphins Super Bowl watching party for the David Tyree catch?

2) The Jack Nicklaus day after Thanksgiving morning in 2009?

3) The NFL referee Monday night football watching party at Ed Hochuli's house for the Seattle/Green Bay game?
- Steve G., Salt Lake City

SG: Here's my theory on the day after Thanksgiving in 2009: I think Jack Nicklaus heard the news, went out and bought a bottle of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle, found an antique shotgun with 300 rounds of ammo, then drove to a secluded spot in the woods 25 miles away from any other human being. He got out of his car, started jumping around and screaming like he won the Super Bowl, did this for 20 solid minutes, then started swigging whiskey and shooting at things while whooping it up. Eventually, he drank the entire bottle, got back into his car and just started happily ramming into trees until the car stopped moving. Then he passed out in the driver's seat, woke up the next morning and walked home. Anyway, my answer is Jack Nicklaus. ~ Bill Simmons Grantland Mailbag Oct. 28 2012

The fact is that everybody around a college basketball game - the coaches, the announcers, even the referees at a lower level - calculates when the game is really over. They calculate it with intuition and guesswork. ~ Bill James

I allow people to create, but I'm also marshalling everybody, which is difficult for my creativity, as I'm like a referee. Everybody else is kicking a ball. It is very messy. From the mess, though, you refine what is there. ~ Simon McBurney

If UEFA will not embrace video technology, then we need two more officials behind the goals to help the referee. ~ Andy Townsend

You know, I'm a father. I'm a brother. I'm a son. And I'm a grandfather. So many times I have to be the intermediary, the person to referee and help solve disputes and to protect and to guide. ~ Ruben Santiago-Hudson

No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal. ~ Bill Cosby

If you're good enough, the referee doesn't matter. ~ Jock Stein

The Uruguayans are losing no time in making a meal around the referee. ~ Mike Ingham

Referee Norlinger is outstanding in the sense that he stands out. ~ George Hamilton

I don't know that the referee can be watching holding on the offensive line and get back to the quarterback. I think watching the quarterback is a full-time job. ~ John Madden

New Rule: Designers of women's Halloween costumes must admit that they're not even trying. They just choose a random profession, like nurse or referee, and put the word "sexy" in front of it, thereby perpetuating the idea of Halloween as a day when normally shy women release their inner sluts and parade around like vixens, and I just completely forgot what I was complaining about. ~ Bill Maher

Life was a damned muddle ... a football game with every one off-side and the referee gotten rid of - every one claiming the referee would have been on his side ... ~ F Scott Fitzgerald

It annoys me when people who don't know what they're talking about boo the referee. ~ Jonah Lomu

As all of us with any involvement in sports knows, no two umpires or no two referees have the same strike zone or call the same kind of a basketball game. ~ Herb Kohl

Violence never settles anything should be debated by the ghosts of Hitler and Stalin, with the city fathers of Carthage as referees. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

Don't you think it's strange how many referees work at Footlocker? ~ Jim Gaffigan

I don't understand referees. It appears like some players can't even be touched, but in my case, everyone can hit me as hard as they can. ~ Cristiano Ronaldo

Referees are the law. They have a whistle. They blow it. And that whistle is the articulation of God's justice. ~ Harold Pinter

If you take a needle and stick her in the booty and take a needle and stick me in the booty, we're both going to say ouch. ~ Shaquille O'Neal

I play the game as honestly as I can. If the referee gives a penalty there is nothing you can do. ~ Wayne Rooney

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

If she were in a race for her life, that roar was the starter pistol. If God were the referee, He had just shouted Go. ~ Jim Butcher

She call me the referee cause I be so official. My shirt aint got no stripes but I can make that pussy whistle. ~ Drake

The club supporters' old practice of shooting arrows into the air from their wands every time their Chasers scored was banned by the Department of Magical Games and Sports in 1894, when one of these weapons pierced the referee Nugent Potts through the nose. ~ J.K. Rowling

Golf requires only a few simple Rules and Regulations to guide the players in the true nature of its sporting appeal. The spirit of the game is its own referee. ~ Robert Harris

Men over 60 often think that if they wear athletic shoes - soft-soled referee shoes or hiking shoes or actual running shoes - then they will look more youthful. The contrary is true. ~ Russell Smith

A difficult decision for the referee's assistant. I wouldn't beat him up over it. ~ Kenny Cunningham

The whole world knows that American TV companies have monopolized Olympic broadcasts and in order to please the fans in their country they do everything they can to keep American viewers interested in what is going on at the hockey rink in Sochi. According to their logic, Americans should always win, no matter what. It was absolutely obvious that [Fyodor] Tyutin's goal yesterday should have been allowed. This was clear to the whole world except the American referee, American TV and those officials with American passports who rule international hockey, grossly neglecting all Olympic principles. ~ Ivan Ilyin

There shouldn't be a death in the ring. There should never have been deaths in the ring, because people - deaths in the ring occur because they don't keep up with the records well enough. They are putting mismatches together. The people who are licensed to stop a fight, the referee and the corner, don't do it for fear that the audience is going to object to them stopping a fight. ~ Ferdie Pacheco

We talked to the referees before the game; there's always new situations to adjust, for the refs and for us as well. Even on the ice, it's good for players to talk and interact with the referee. ~ Peter Bondra

Sportsmanship" had been stretched too far. Like "relativity," it had migrated far afield from its original meaning. It used to refer to the kind of behavior that Lance Armstrong showed Jan Ullrich. But over time the term was stretched to include unimpressive, nonchivalrous behavior, like losing without whining too much or making it through an entire game without assaulting a referee. ~ Chip Heath

Coaches do so much research about a referee because they believe refereeing is such a crucial part of the game that the result may hinge on what we say or do. They probably know more about me than I know myself! ~ Alan Lewis

The worst that could happen is you two get into a fist fight, in which I will referee but secretly be in your corner.
Oh really?
Really. I'll even rub Vaseline on your face when he isn't looking.
What would I do without you?
You'll never know. ~ Em Wolf

They were representative of the poorer type of clerk - the type which Woodbines its fingers to a brilliant orange; the type that screams insults at a football referee on Saturday afternoon. And yet to the close observer something more might be read on their faces: a greedy, hungry look, a shifty untrustworthy look - the look of those who are jealous of everyone better placed than themselves, but who are incapable of trying to better their own position except by the relative method of dragging back their more fortunate acquaintances; the look of little men dissatisfied not so much with their own littleness as with the bigness of other people. ~ Sapper

The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher's dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn't fit. ~ Alex Ferguson

What does God look like?'
'Don't ask me. God's God. He's everywhere. watching what we do, judging whether it's good or bad.
'Sounds like a soccer referee. ~ Haruki Murakami

The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters. ~ George Foreman

Referees don't come down here with a particular flavoured shirt on. ~ Steve Coppell

You have to become involved to make an impact. No one is impressed with the won/loss record of the referee. ~ John Noble Holcomb

There's nothing better than a good, blind referee. ~ Bobby Heenan

I got into foul trouble, so I really kind of had to play on egg shells from there on out. ~ Shaquille O'Neal

Why aren't the Nets playing in Newark? ~ Shaquille O'Neal

Their Presidents shall not be their common referee so much as their poets shall. ~ Walt Whitman

The referee jumped in too late in my opinion. He's the champion and he's got to be given every chance, but a lot of people was wincing and cringing seeing the finish cos his head is bouncing all over the place. ~ Carl Froch

I felt Holyfield was using his head illegally. I told the referee I wasn't getting any help, so I went back to the streets. I cannot defend it, but it happened. ~ Mike Tyson

Fifteen referees. I want fifteen referees to be at this fight because there ain't no one man who can keep up with the pace I'm gonna set except me. There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked. ~ Muhammad Ali

In those hours where he'd planned for the [possible future] demise of his family's fortune, he'd settled quickly on the easiest job he could step into: Mechanical Turk.
The Turks were an army of workers in gamespace. All you had to do was prove that you were a decent player - the game had the stats to know it - and sign up, and then log in whenever you wanted a shift. The game would ping you any time a player did something the game didn't know how to interpret - talked too intensely to a non-player character, stuck a sword where it didn't belong, climbed a tree that no one had bothered to add any details to - and you'd have to play spot referee. You'd play the non-player character, choose a behavior for the stabbed object, or make a decision from a menu of possible things you might find in a tree.
It didn't pay much, but it didn't take much time, either. Wei-Dong had calculated that if he played two computers - something he was sure he could keep up - and did a new job every twenty seconds each, he could make as much as the senior managers at his father's company. He'd have to do it for ten hours a day, but he'd spent plenty of weekends playing for twelve or even fourteen hours a day, so hell, it was practically money in the bank. ~ Cory Doctorow

think about it. you're playing survivor with all the people you love. some, by sheer luck of genetic lottery, end up on the right team. this team simply knows how to dominate the game. this team understands there is no referee or rules. in fact, this team is so good at the game, they made up invisible referees and rules for other teams to find. they simply do what they want because they understand there is no such things as rights.

how do you win if you're not on this team?

you don't.

however, the consolation prize for knowing the campground is puppet-stringed by a small herd of psychopaths is there is no one for them to pass the reigns on to. in the end, any evil there is in the universe dies, too.

i recommend not making any more players and enjoying ice cream while you watch the firework show we tend to call:

sun set. ~ Benjamin Smythe

I'm tired, my head hurts, and the last thing I want is to play referee between you two. Get over it. She storms off, unable to stop the smug smile stretching her face at their stunned silence. The way people respond to her demands - all flabbergasted and slack-jawed - will never get old. ~ Laura Kreitzer

Family gatherings were ... um, let's see, what's the word I'm looking for? ... Hell. They were hell. Being the middle child, I served and referee and confidante, hostess and martyr. Did I feel we should get together once in a while? Sure. Did I want my family all together? Theoretically, yes. In reality, dear God, no. ~ Kristan Higgins

You don't notice the referee during the game unless he makes a bad call. ~ Drew Curtis

Single moms: You are a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a maid, a cook, a referee, a heroine, a provider, a defender, a protector, a true Superwoman. Wear your cape proudly. ~ Mandy Hale

Life is a game with many rules but no referee. One learns how to play it more by watching it than by consulting any book, including the holy book. Small wonder, then, that so many play dirty, that so few win, that so many lose. ~ Joseph Brodsky

I did think there were one or two referees who had a personal thing against me. It wasn't them versus Celtic - it was them against me! I just think they wanted to take me on. ~ Gordon Strachan

Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government
in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. ~ Milton Friedman

How long does it last?" Said the other customer, a man wearing a tan shirt with little straps that buttoned on top of the shoulders. He looked as if he were comparing all the pros and cons before shelling out $.99. You could see he thought he was pretty shrewd.
"It lasts for as long as you live," the manager said slowly. There was a second of silence while we all thought about that. The man in the tan shirt drew his head back, tucking his chin into his neck. His mind was working like a house on fire
"What about other people?" He asked. "The wife? The kids?"
"They can use your membership as long as you're alive," the manager said, making the distinction clear.
"Then what?" The man asked, louder. He was the type who said things like "you get what you pay for" and "there's one born every minute" and was considering every angle. He didn't want to get taken for a ride by his own death.
"That's all," the manager said, waving his hands, palms down, like a football referee ruling an extra point no good. "Then they'd have to join for themselves or forfeit the privileges."
"Well then, it makes sense," the man said, on top of the situation now, "for the youngest one to join. The one that's likely to live the longest."
"I can't argue with that," said the manager.
The man chewed his lip while he mentally reviewed his family. Who would go first. Who would survive the longest. He cast his eyes around to all the cassettes as if he'd see one that would ~ Michael Dorris

The referee will now keep track of the time on the field and the shootouts have finally been banned. ~ Cobi Jones

When I was a kid, I got sent off for head-butting a referee: I ran 50m to argue a decision, I was shown a red card, and I head-butted him. I'm really not proud of that. ~ Luis Suarez