One of the things that is universal in sports is complaining about officiating. Anyone in an easy chair with a cold beverage in their hand can whine about it, that’s a part of sports. Nowadays that same person can actually do something about it, and ought not be a part of the landscape.
The Electrionic Age is working against quality officiating more now than at any other time in history. So I’m going to write today’s column with a bit of a bile taste in my mouth.
Last week in my Facebook feed, I saw Kentucky fans start a website dedicated to preventing John Higgins from calling  all Wildcat games. The site makes its case by pointing out the foul differential against Kentucky in games called by Higgins.
There’s even a photo of Higgins next to his company truck. He’s a roofer in Omaha, Neb. and the photo shows his phone number.
Do you think his phone and e-mail didn’t go nutzoid after the Wildcats got beat by North Carolina in the Elite Eight? He had to shut down his Facebook page because some select classless Kentucky fans left negative feedback about his roofing business in Omaha.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, one such complaint read “Sir, you are truly a piece of garbage. You can’t roof, and I know several who have witnessed your work, and you certainly can’t ref. Do you remember the shot clock violation by three seconds that you allowed to count? There’s a great video showing just (how) terrible you are. I will be starting a petition to have you terminated from the NCAA. Man, it feels good to have connections and we will finally get to see justice slapped back in YOUR face.”
Need I say more? Just to mention it, Higgins worked the men’s Final Four over the weekend. Like the teams, the officials have to earn their way to the title games.
Then we have what happened in the ANA Inspiration, one of four major tournaments on the LPGA Tour.
In case you’ve been out of the sports planet the last 72 or so hours, during Saturday’s third round Lexi Thompson was penalized for marking and moving her ball less than an inch before a 1-foot putt on the 17th green. According to the Associated Press, Thompson put down a marker and picking up the ball, She checked it for debris, then swiftly put it back — but not precisely in the same place, video review showed.
The minor action went unnoticed live, but a television viewer spotted it and emailed tour officials while Thompson was playing the front nine on her final round with Suzann Pettersen on Sunday.
After two hours of agonizing over the video of the moment, LPGA Tour rules official Sue Witters got the unpleasant job of informing Thompson about her penalty after she left the 12th green.
"Is this a joke?" Thompson asked.
Sadly, it’s not a joke, but rather a mockery of the game.
Yes, Lexi Thompson broke a rule. No, she didn’t realize it at the time, and no, neither did the officials on the course. She didn’t compromise her integrity by knowingly signing an incorrect scorecard.
Instead a presumably bat-crap crazy television viewer sent an e-mail explaining the infraction. Ultimately, it cost Thompson $155,000, the difference between first and second-place prize money.
Thompson was penalized the next day. Can you believe that? I cannot.
My guess is the diligent women’s golf viewer, who deserves to live the life Steve Bartman does (much more so than Bartman), plays golf alone. A lot. It’s hard to imagine a rules Nazi having a lot of friends.
And to the conspiracy-minded Kentucky fans; get over it. Talk about it for years if you must, but keep in mind the athletic department of the home team hires referees for non-conference games. That means Higgins was brought in by your guy, Wildcat fans.
Sports history gives us countless occasions where  an official made a mistake and it proved costly to a team. It’s part of the deal. Names like Don Denkinger, John Higgins and dozens of others may never be forgotten for all the wrong reasons.
Don’t get me wrong; if there’s hard evidence that an official has been biased in any way, particularly for monetary gain, that person richly deserves everything that follows. Remember former NBA referee Tim Donaghy? He was caught fixing games, and rightfully paid the price.
But 99.9999999999 (and so on) percent of the time, a call is made during live action without the slightest thought of on whom the foul is called. In dead-ball situations, I’m sure reputations and personalities play a role in who gets tossed, technical fouls and other conduct-based consequences.
But for a person watching on TV to have enough power and influence to change the results of a golf tournament, or to try and ruin another person’s business. That’s just flat-out wrong.
If the powers that be in golf want to have someone monitoring each shot for an infraction, that’s fine. But letting the folks at home call in a penalty sets a dangerous precedent.
And while recognizing every team with a significant following has a fringe element that’s speeding down life’s highway left of center, even those folks ought to try the Golden Rule on for size. My guess is those fine people have a hard time looking closely in a mirror.

This column appears periodically. The author’s views don’t necessarily reflect those of the Times-Union.