but I think you may be looking at the game through fan goggles. Officials are human so they will make mistakes. The game is also based on judgment so what is not actually a bad call will seem like it to fans. I tend to be very hard on officials because often from my point of view they are being incompetent (ie. I would never make a bad call like that But many of the things I complain about other people I am at the game with don't even notice, and a lot of the things they complain about I don't care much about.

I would suggest watching a game where you really don't care which team wins and see what you think of the officiating. Many times I have taken friends to a game with me and they were surprised at how they viewed the game when they were watching me and not the teams involved. My mom doesn't even like to go to games I reff because I am "the worst" official ever (and more explicit things) according to the fans around her. Once on an officials exchange with another association I reffed a couple of games back in the region where I played. In one game the coach was a guy that had played at the same HS I played at about 4 years before me. He was well known for yelling at the reffs but because he knew my basketball background he was very mellow (this has happened more than once). At the other game the fans recognized me from my playing days but obviously couldn't remember where I had played. I was getting called a homer by both fan bases - which is a compliment in a way because is shows I sucked impartially. My point is, perception is everything in a game where application of the rules can be very subjective. Consistency is the key to good officiating.

In essence, unless you know all of the officials and track their progress you really can't tell if they are getting better. As reffs get better in the WCC they will move on to the big conferences and we will be stuck with newer officials.

Now... the reffs that let the knee to the face go in the Georgia/Gonzaga game today need to be reprimanded. To not call that flagrant - even after watching it on the monitor. That says to me incompetence.