[Bob M.]

REPLY: Christianhog, First of all, let me say that you bring a breath of fresh (fan) air to this board that I cannot recall seeing in the years I’ve been participating. Virtually every fan we hear from here is such a raving, screaming, uninformed lunatic who understands so little about what it takes to officiate a football game that it evokes a defensive and often unkind response from some participants. That his/her opinion is extremely biased and jaded by team loyalties just adds fuel to the fire of the exchange of ideas. If we claim that 2+2=4, we get crucified for the opinion simply because we are officials. On the other hand, you’ve shown yourself to be an objective, level-headed fan who can see both sides of the situation. It’s refreshing. Thanks and continue to return to us if you have any more questions.

Some comments on the ideas you’ve brought up: First, I don’t agree with the idea of having officials’ ratings in the newspaper with the game result. First of all, it’s not practical. It takes many hours of film review and possibly interviews with the evaluator before a full evaluation can be completed. Not very likely to make the newspaper’s deadline. Also, since it would be coming from the conference’s Supervisor of Officiating, how likely would the fans be to accept it as objective? If you don’t understand this, take yourself back to the BCS Championship Game. The Supervisor publicly said that he agreed with the FJ’s pass interference call, but was discounted as “covering” for the official. Finally, the real performers in the game are the two teams. There’s no place in a game account for a reporting of the officials’ performance.

The plain truth is that fans don’t want to be educated as to the finer points of officiating or on the correctness or inaccuracy of a call in the game. They simply want their team to win. If I make a bad call against their opponent, they’ll cheer. Will they go home and fret about that call? Absolutely not…but the official certainly will. If I make the correct call against their team, will they cut me a break on it or will they wish me an early death? Your guess…

I for one appreciate your comments and your willingness to objectively discuss your ideas and listen to our responses. Thanks.