Controversy is the key word for this past weekend in Eastern athletics.

At least two sports experienced a high level of controversy, which affected the scores of the game.

For Eastern football, it affected the outcome of the game.

The Panthers were defeated by Eastern Kentucky 28-21. The Panthers had just scored a touchdown to bring the game in reach when the Panthers attempted an onside kick. They were successful in recovering the kick as senior wide receiver Micah Rucker grabbed the ball.

But the referees declared Rucker had stepped out of bounds, and was the first player to touch the ball, which, in the NCAA rulebook, is an illegal procedure.

The Panthers were forced to kick the ball again and this time, EKU grabbed the ball and ran out the clock for the win.

Panther volleyball also ran into some controversy this weekend, but the outcome came in their favor.

The Panthers defeated Austin Peay 3-2, but the fifth match was so close, it could have gone either way.

When the Panthers were leading 15-14, the ref made a call that senior outside hitter Eliza Zwettler made an attack error. Zwettler said she hit the ball off the block for the kill, but the officials disagreed.

The call made the score 15-15, but Zwettler made two kills in a row to finish the game 17-15 and to cap the match victory.

It is not unusual for athletes to be angry with a call against them. It is actually a rather odd occurrence for athletes to agree with calls made against them, even if they do know they did it, or find out later after reviewing film.

But in the case of Rucker and Zwettler, they seem to genuiney disagree with the calls made.

And there lies the beauty in the confrontation. It’s the passion shown. That is how a fan can judge whether athletes cares about their sport: they will put up their fight, make their case.

But the opposite of putting up a fight is to own up to a mistake. It usually is a sign of maturity, but that happens when athletes either know they made the mistake or know that no one would believe them to put up a fight.

Still, athletes that can admit their mistakes are appealing to most fans. But with the classic athlete, official confrontation still has its dynamic value – not to mention the unfitting element of such a call.

A “bad” call can unite teams and fans of the same team. So good can be found, even if the athlete is wrong and the official is right, or the reverse.

Too much interference from an official makes most fans angry, but that confrontation, especially in game-changing moments, is what really excites a fan. In football, when a play is being reviewed, it’s the suspense – the waiting of the call.

And if that is true for most fans, then Panther fans had plenty of excitement with the controversial calls this weekend.