It is one of, if not the most thankless job in sport. The referee. There is perhaps no single word that garners more hatred and disgruntlement from sports aficionados.
It is impossible to be involved in sport and agree with the men and women in the stripes and whistles all of the time; for some, they tend to spend every waking moment in disagreement with the officials’ rulings.
On over 2000 separate occasions in the National Hockey League during the last 26 seasons, Bill McCreary has been the recipient of profanity-laced tirades from coaches, players and fans, and has taken it all in stride. Sometime in early April of this, the 2010-11 campaign, McCreary will flip the puck, then drop it for the final time.
“I’m quite happy when my last game will be taking place, but I still think there’s going to be mixed emotions,” McCreary said, “because after 29 years it’s all you’ve known in your life and its coming to an abrupt halt. That being said, with a month to go, winding down very quickly, you’re starting to realize, at least I’m starting to realize and accept that yes it is coming to an abrupt end.”
