Being a referee has to be a difficult job. You can't possibly be expected to make the right call all the time. One referee may make a judgement call one way, and another referee could rule it the other way around. We have inept politicians, teachers that don't do their homework, corrupt police officers, military personnel that don't meet the minimum standards, and business executives who steal from their companies. Everyone should know that life is not always fair and that we don't live in a perfect world. Wrestling teaches these young competitors a lot of about life.

That being said, I also thought a referee's judgement call could have changed the outcome of one of my son's matches on Saturday. Had his call gone the other way, my son might have won the match which would have guaranteed him a place in State, something that he has never achieved in eight years of wrestling. It crushed him in a way I have never seen. All I could do was explain to him that things don't always work out the way you would like them to. I thought about the "what if" factor the rest of the weekend. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this year, or it would have happened. He did everything right this year, and improved to the level of some of the best in the State at his age and weight. I am proud of him for that, and I believe that when it was over on Sunday after he was eliminated in the 3rd round consolations, he too felt good about what he had achieved.