Tom Canterbury once said, “The trouble with referees is that they just don’t care which side wins.” For many sports fans—actually a great majority—it is, obviously, incredibly important which team wins. But seemingly more important is that SOMEONE wins.
Just a few months ago, the National Football League was embroiled in discussions over shortening the overtime period from 15 to 10 minutes. The logic behind the proposed adoption of the rule was to protect player safety and even the playing field for teams facing overtime in a “short week” where the team has played on Sunday and again on Thursday night, or vice versa. The most immediate and vehement opposition to the proposed rule was the prospect of more tie games.