As I sit here watching Game 5 of the ALCS and am subjected to yet another blown call by an umpire, I start to think about some of the more famous officiating scenes in movies. Here is what I came up with:
Also check out The Hall of Fame for Coaches in Movies
1. Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun–Dreblin sneaks onto the field as the home plate umpire in an attempt to identify the player who will try to kill the queen. What follows is just too funny to describe, so you just need to watch below.
2. Referee Hannah in Youngblood–Hannah awards the penalty shot for the Hamilton Mustangs in the 1986 Memorial Cup after Carl Racki tripped Dean Youngblood on a breakaway. What made this call so tough is that is took place with only 3 seconds left of a tied game. However, replay clearly showed that Hannah made the correct call and the Mustangs ended up winning the game on Youngblood’s penalty shot. Hannah and his crew also receive kudos for not interfering and letting Racki and Youngblood go at it after the game was over.
3. Carolina League Umpire in Bull Durham–There are just certain things that you can’t say to an umpire and this scene below demonstrated this difficult lesson to millions of Little Leaguers across the globe. This umpire could have backed down and let the star of the Bulls, Crash Davis, violate this sacred rule but he remained firm under extreme duress.
4. The “Neutral” Referees in Victory–What was supposed to be a friendly exhibition in the middle of WWII between Nazi Germany and POW Allies was marred by a serious of terrible calls. One goal was improperly nullified by a bogus off sides ruling and countless penalties were missed and thus endured by the Allies’ star Luis Fernandez (Pele). To make matters worse, the referees called for a bogus penalty shot in the waning seconds of the game. Fortunately, goalkeeper Robert Hatch was up to the challenge.
5. Referee in Teen Wolf’s First Game–Most referees would have probably called a jump ball on the play shown below in which Scott Howard first turns into the Wolf. But this official somehow knew to let the guys play and it made for this classic scene. Could you imagine how anti-climatic it would have been if the opposing team then got the ball because of the possession arrow?
6. First Base and Home Plate Umpire at Yankees vs Indians playoff game in Major League –It is not often that two such close plays decide a game. But in this case that is exactly what happened and the umpire crew got both correct. First, the first base umpire correctly ruled that Jake Taylor was safe at first with on his bunt attempt. Then, and more impressive, the home plate umpire ruled Willie Mays Hays safe at home, even though the throw clearly beat him. Willie Mays Hays now famous and brilliant slide of course allowed him to avoid the tag, but we must give the umpire credit for not pre-judging the call once the ball beat him to the plate.
7. Referee in Frank Dux vs. Chong Li Match in Bloodsport–Okay, so he completely missed Chong Li throwing that mysterious powder in Dux’s eyes. Still, he is able to stay away from a blinded Dux so that he doesn’t get mistakenly punched and was in the perfect position to register Li’s “Matay.”
8 Referee in Louden Swain vs. Brian Shute match in Vision Quest–It’s never easy to manage a match between two such aggressive and fierce warriors, but this referee does it to perfection. He has to deal with Louden’s bloody nose and Shute’s illegal slam, but he never loses control of the match.
Did I miss any great officiating moments?
Leave a comment and let me know!
