by David Roher
What would motivate you to Google “referee?” Nothing good (unless you’re counting sexy bedroom role-play costumes, in which case, uh, nothing good). The above Google Trends graph (updated last night) shows the relative frequency of “referee” searches in the United States since 2004. The term tends to spike with officiating controversies—like Armando Galarraga’s would-be perfect game or the NBA’s preseason referee lockout.
Before this season’s NFL’s replacement official controversy, the highest peak was in early February 2006. That was related to the dubious officiating of Super Bowl XL, in which the Seahawks were on the wrong side of several questionable officiating decisions. Almost seven years later, there’s a new massive “referee” spike due to a bad call in the Seahawks’ favor. What goes around, comes around; doesn’t that make you feel better, Green Bay?
David Roher is a former co-president of HSAC. This post can also be seen on Deadspin here.
