Man in the Middle: The Ref and Criticism

I was watching Portugal and Netherlands play a World Cup match yesterday and the game clearly got out of hand. The ref handed out a record 16 yellow cards and ejected four players (also a record). To date the World Cup has set overall records of fouls which had existed for 60 odd years and there were three more rounds to go. The talk of the World Cup has really centered on the refereeing. However this international fascination with the job of the officiating certainly isn't some international fad but exists here. The past two championships are as well known for controversy surrounding the how the game was called as how the game was played. Seattle fans (and coaches) still bemoan supposed phantom calls that ruined their destined victory over Pittsburgh. In fact the day after the Super Bowl the only facts I got out of what happened during the game was that there were controversial calls and Jerome Bettis was still from Detroit. Fast forward to the summer and everyone from Bill Simmons to Dan Patrick to Mark Cuban focused attention, ire and in the later case epithets on how the game was called. Is it my imagination or has the center of the sports universe seemingly shifted to focus on how every whistle is blown and every infraction assessed?

I would argue that a few changes have happened that have led to this current juncture
1) Leagues use rule changes to changet game - I think its more common for league officials and rules committees are changing rules to micro-manage league play. In soccer officials are under strong pressure to call type games to try to allow for more offense. Same with the NBA and the NFL. The result is that if a foul looks like it occurred refs will blow the whistle. Also quickly changing rules leads to more ambiguity on the infraction (it takes time for refs to get adjusted).

2) Incentives have changed. Pat Riley and Phil Jackson are legendary for using the media to pressure officiating. The great Celtic dynasties didn't exactly have the ability or desire to utilize national media to help their cause. Given the 24 hour world of media, complaining about the refs gains more air time which in turn can possibly gain more advantage. Incentives influence human behavior and the media world allows for a large megaphone to gain leverage. There has also been a normative change in how officiating. Standards are higher and criticizing them is far more acceptable among players, coaches and media to criticize the officials.

All in all in I find a negative aspect to focusing on the officiating. I'm not stating that all criticism is unjustified. Refs are people and as such do make mistakes. However I would raise two points. The level of enjoyment of the sports world decreases as more focus is on the refs. The other is that most of the ire should be directed not at the refs but at those instituting the rules rather than enforcing them.