Referees vs. Umpires: INTO THE THUNDERDOME!
June 7, 2008 11:19 AM   Subscribe

Why are the chief officials in some sports (Soccer, Hockey, Football) called "Referees" and in other sports (Baseball, Tennis) called "Umpires"?

Thoughts/Theories I have gleaned or made up:

* Umpires stay mainly stationary, Refs move with the action.

* Referees officiate in games controlled by clocks (although Boxing screws that up).

* The umpire shall be judge of the men...The referee shall be judge of the ball (although in Baseball the umpire watches the strike zone which bungles that theory) (grabbed/researched from this thread and refers to The Origins of Basketball).

...and I know that there are all kinds of linesmen(persons), etc in a lot of sports, and also that there are Umpires working in some capacity in Football and Basketball, but I'm looking for some kind of basic rule to help me sleep at night.

You know, one rule that makes sense across all sports around the world. That can exist, right?
posted by Overzealous to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)
 
Actually, American football has a referees, umpires, linesmen and line judges.
posted by Frank Grimes at 11:46 AM on June 7, 2008


From the OED...

Referee:

1840 Spirit of Times 25 Jan. 559/3 He was a general referee and umpire, whether it was a horse swap, a race, a rifle match, or a cock fight. 1856 Porter's Spirit of Times 6 Dec. 229/1 In [baseball] matches, an umpire is chosen on each side, and a referee to decide, when the umpires cannot agree. c1860 Rules of the Ring in Boxiana 76 That a referee shall be chosen by the umpires..to whom all disputes shall be referred. 1880 Henning's Bk. Rules Billiards, etc. 2 In all games for stakes an umpire or referee should be appointed. 1887 G. A. HUTCHISON Football ii. 11 In case of infringement, the referee shall..order a scrummage to be formed. 1889 Sportsman 10 Apr. 7/1 Britton claimed the fight on a foul, but the referee disallowed the claim. 1906 Daily Chron. 7 Sept. 9/4 No great blame attaches to the referee, who probably did not notice the forward till he was apparently off-side. 1936 H. B. T. WAKELAM Game goes On 17 Other innovations during the Daring 'Eighties were the appointment of neutral referees and the provision of whistles for those functionaries. 1951 F. N. S. CREEK Soccer for Boys iii. 18 The duration of the game is mainly the responsibility of the referee. 1977 Times 16 Mar. 12/1 The main topic of conversation..was the alleged attempt to bribe the Danish referee before the first leg.

Umpire:

3. In games or contests: One to whose decision all doubtful points are referred, and who sees that the rules of the game or sport are not broken. Cf. REFEREE n. 3b.
1714 in Parkyns Inn-Play (ed. 2) 63 [Wrestling], And in case they can't Decide such Differences, then they shall be referr'd solely to the Decision of the said Sir Thomas Parkyns as Umpire. 1778 C. JONES Hoyle's Games Impr. 201 The Umpires are the sole Judges of fair and unfair Play, and have a Power to determine all Disputes. 1837 DICKENS Pickw. vii, The umpires were stationed behind the wickets. 1857 HUGHES Tom Brown II. viii, Their leading men and umpire inspected the ground, criticising it rather unmercifully. 1884 Times 15 Sept. 7/3 [Football], Mr. Walker officiated as referee, and Messrs. Davies and Bryan as umpires.


So it looks like they originally worked together as a team, with umpires being the main judges, referring to a referee when there was a problem they couldn't figure out. My guess is that when the sports started to come into their own, the naming of their officiators was arbitrary, but maybe someone else knows more about that.
posted by phunniemee at 11:50 AM on June 7, 2008


Or was it... arbitor-ary?
posted by ORthey at 11:56 AM on June 7, 2008


har har har
posted by phunniemee at 11:59 AM on June 7, 2008


Looking at that history, you have to wonder whether the umpire developed from the dueller's second: the interested non-participant balanced by a counterpart, with a referee over those two.

The 'gentlemen and player' ethos in sports like tennis and cricket put the onus on competitors to call their own faults or fouls (e.g. the dying art of 'walking' in cricket), and those sports have umpires. Top-tier cricket now has match referees whose job it is to adjudicate on general issues of conduct while the umpires handle in-game decisions.
posted by holgate at 12:57 PM on June 7, 2008


I believe it has to do with the strong British influence on the sports of Baseball (as cricket) and tennis.
posted by Mr_Crazyhorse at 1:22 PM on June 7, 2008


I would say it's down to the particular historical vagaries of each sport, and how each sport was codified etc.

You know, one rule that makes sense across all sports around the world. That can exist, right?

I think that whatever rule one comes up with to imply some sort of consistency on this is going to be ruined by the use of 'Umpires' in Australian Rules Football, which is a historical following of the use of 'Umpires' in cricket.
posted by pompomtom at 8:22 PM on June 7, 2008


Tennis tournaments have umpires on the court, but if a player disputes a point of law (as distinct to the facts of an incident), they can call in the tournament referee.
posted by jacalata at 11:36 PM on June 7, 2008


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