Suspended for Laughing

One commonplace for laughter in sporting events is the players themselves laughing. Sports can create many funny or laughing situations—shocking collisions, embarrassingly bad plays, or the joy of winning. However another less common but almost more hilarious instance of laughter by athletes is laughing at the referees. I know I find myself doing this out on the hockey field when an especially ludicrous call is made. I think athletes (including myself) have realized that this type of response is more acceptable and less likely to be punished than yelling or displaying negative body language. Refs tend to pile more and more bad calls on players that they have determined are disrespectful and laughing rather than yelling or cursing can keep athletes off a refs bad side. I also believe that finding a way to laugh at refs horrible calls helps to keep athletes calm during a match rather than getting frustrated.

There is quite an amusing video on YouTube of Spurs star forward Tim Duncan being ejected from a game against the Dallas Mavericks simply for laughing (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tim+duncan+ejected+for+laughing&aq=6). The best part is that Duncan was on the bench during the whole extravaganza. Apparently he was not happy with a call made against one of his teammates and decided to laugh it out while sitting on the bench with a towel over his head. The ref must have taken Duncan’s laughter as a mockery of his officiating and gave him a technical foul. The bizarre part of this is that something that occurred off the court had a major influence on the court. As a result of Duncan’s laughter, the Mavericks were given two foul shots and then possession of the ball. Reacting to the ensuing two missed foul shots by the Mavericks player, Duncan is seen again giggling to himself at the lame display of shooting. To Duncan’s and the rest of his team’s dismay, the referee issued him another technical foul, meaning he had to hit the showers. I just think the idea of being thrown out of a game for laughing is so ridiculous but it is true that officials reign supreme.

Maybe laughing at bad calls isn’t the best idea after all. Referees may see athletes laughing at their calls as demeaning and disrespecting their profession.