Why do some people call referees (sports officials) "blue"?

Question

I ref many sports and many times instead of hey ref i hear hey "blue"? I would like to know where this nickname has come from?

Answer 1

Baseball umpires are dressed in blue. Instead of yelling ump or ref, they started calling them blue.

Answer 2

Its only in Baseball because in that sports the umpires wear blue polos

Answer 3

Only in Baseball officials wear blue!

Answer 4

You can still call them "linesmen" if you want - people will know what you mean. But in my book this is disrespectful to all those linesWOMEN out there. "Assistant referee" makes no assumptions on the basis of gender. Lineswomen have NO bollocks!

Answer 5

Only in baseball, because the umpires wear blue "uni's".

In football, they're called "zebras" because of the stripes.