I am not a fan of any sport whose outcome is controlled so much by the officiating. Not very many wrestling matches' winners are determined by the officiating. 99 times out of 100, the wrestler that performs better wins. Can you honestly say that about basketball? Some basketball games are painful for me to watch. One team gets a big lead, all of a sudden they get called for breathing on an opposing player, hence giving the other team a chance to catch up and make it a close game.

I think a wrestlingmatch's outcome is for the most part determined by the two combatants, not the referee. Hence, when my kids come off the mat, they are not able to make excuses, and blame the other guys on the team.

That's not to say that there aren't matches that get determined by a bad call. Referees are human, and as long as the bad call is an honest mistake in judgement, and not a grudge call against a coach or kid that they don't like, they get a pass from me. I always remember that things even out, for every bad call that goes against you, you always seem to get a bad call that helps you also.