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Old Tue Feb 04, 2020, 02:07pm
Raymond Raymond is offline
Courageous When Prudent
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Posts: 14,840
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomerSooner View Post
If the crew ejected everybody during the game, I think you have to rule it a double forfeit as neither team was able to complete the game. IMO, having video and making a ruling after the fact that alters what was called during the game sets a precedent that video can be used to overturn an ejection after the game is completed. If you use video to rule that 3 players from one team shouldn't have been ejected and thus award a win based on that, what happens if there is a fight in a game tonight and an official ejects 3 players that came off the bench but subsequent video shows only 2 came off the bench? Does the coach of the team that lost 3 players have grounds to suggest the outcome of the game should be altered (or at least replayed from that point) based on the previous ruling?

I know I'm making a slippery slope argument and know there is a growing sentiment to get it right if video shows something of relevance, but I also feel like opening the door to changing an official's call after the game is a dangerous door to open. If you are using the video to change the effects of the ejections as it relates to additional punishments (i.e. being ineligible for subsequent games), I think there is some wiggle room. But to make a ruling that changes the official's call in a game that was effectively completed when all players were DQ'd isn't a road I'd go down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LRZ View Post
If there were insufficient players to continue the game, I would think a double forfeit is appropriate. To keep the score at the time of the fight would reward one team at the expense of the other, when there's no way to know whether the losing team might have, could have, come back. A double forfeit as the penalty for fighting would be applied equally.

If you determine that there were players not ejected and sufficient to continue, but the officials deemed it unsafe to continue the game with diminished benches (the R's report should make this apparent or clear), it would seem appropriate, in my judgment, to pick up the game from that point, with the remaining players.

If you are reviewing the tape to also determine the propriety of the ejections, I could live with that. A slew of players and coaches, all rushing the floor, in the hectic heat of the moment? I can see how referees could easily make errors in who they eject. This is unlike reversing a block/charge or goaltending, for example.
This is why the officials should not rule a forfeit. They should suspend the game and let the powers that be determine the course of action from there.
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