Sports Illustrated, in its Nov. 2, 2009 edition, published an article titled “Harassment in The Workplace” by Joe Posnanski, which outlined some of the continued trouble refs have in trying to make good calls, but yet are still getting lambasted by fans, the media and sports administrators for , inevitably, and because they are human, periodically making incorrect calls.

Posnanski said,

When it comes to taking abuse, refs rival the Balloon Boy Dad and Bernie Madoff.

No argument there. Posnanski makes the case that MLB refs, perhaps, take the biggest verbal assault from fans in the face of the league’s seeming refusal to move into the 21st century and adopt more replay technology like the NFL.

Pic from the Waffle Fries Parfait blog

But in the NFL, seeing a coach reach for his challenge flag or for a play to receive an “official” review is about as certain an occurrence as the tides coming in and out. But the NFL’s adoption of increased replay during games has its drawbacks. As Posnanski notes,

In the NFL, officials barely even count anymore — coaches have their own flags, television cameras are the final arbiters, and after overturned calls referees are forced to stand before the crowd and admit their mistakes, like guilt schoolchildren. Next, there will be a giant chalkboard on the field for them to write, I promise to watch more closely, 500 times.

Touché. The replays in the NFL do get to be too much at times. But it comes down to this question: do administrators in sports leagues want cold truth on every single play (Taken to the extreme, this would mean that every single play would be verified as accurate in yardage, ball spots and penalties before the next play got under way) or do they want to maintain the human element. I think they are attempting to tread somewhere in between, but if so, leave the refs alone. We expect the players on the field to be human and make mistakes. Why don’t we give the same leverage to refs? If we just want to watch a perfectly played and refereed ball game, we might as well shutter the NFL’s and the MLB’s doors (along with every other sports league) and all go play video games.

By the way, since we’re talking sports, as of 10:15 EDT on Wednesday night, the Yankees are leading 7-1 in the top of the sixth and are likely about to win their 27th World Series.

Derek Jeter, left, and Johnny Damon scored on Hideki Matsui’s two-run single off Pedro Martinez in the third. Damon injured his calf on the play, and was replaced by Jerry Hairston Jr.

I’m not a big fan of the owner of that storied franchise, but I love the city. So, I can’t say that I’m too disappointed.