[JRutledge]

I just came from our meeting tonight at the Central Officials Association. We had a very informative session with 4 current or former members of the COA that are currently Big Ten Technical Advisors for the Instant Replay system. They wished to have the information that they shared with us at our meeting, to be distributed to the public that watches Big Ten games. The 4 gentlemen were Jim Keogh, Tom Quinn, Gil Marchman and Vern Sell. All of these TAs are former Big Ten Officials and current evaluators of for the Big Ten and their officials. Jim Keogh is an assignor for many Division 3 and JUCO teams across the area that I live. Tom Quinn is the founder of the Central Officials Clinic held in Naperville every July and was a Big Ten Crew Chief for years. Tom worked with Jerry Markbriet (sp?) and Jerry often claims that Tom was one of the best officials he ever worked with. Marchman and Sell I do not know their history very well, but Marchman was on the USC-Michigan Rose Bowl game in 1979. I am sure there is more to their career, I just do not know much.

They talked extensively about the Big Ten Instant replay system. They explained the system and how it works. I am posting this to inform fellow officials what they told us to inform the public.

First of all no play can be changed unless there is indisputable video evidence. They only can use the feed or video that the TV network gives them. If the TV network does not have the angle, they play cannot be overturned in any way shape or form. They explained that they cannot review plays after the next play has been snapped. Not any different from the NFL system in that respect. Four Officials have pagers on the field that the Technical Advisor (TA) can let them know that there has been a play that has been reviewed. I believe it is the Referee, Umpire and two wing officials. When the officials are buzzed, the play has more than likely been reviewed and a decision is made. The Referee is not in on the decision like the NFL. After the officials are buzzed, the Referee will go to a land line phone talk to the TA about the change. There are 3 main people in the booth for instant replay. The TA, Technical person that is with the TV network and a "communicator." The communicator is a person that helps the TA get the proper feeds from the TV station and inform them of things that might help in the decision. At least that is what I got out of it.

This week will be the first conference games, so all Big Ten games will now be under this system. The Pac 10 and the Big 12 schools declined to use the system despite have given the choice to use it. Also San Diego State declined as well in the Michigan game last week. It was shared that probably those schools were a bit worried about not getting a fair shake, considering that the Big Ten is the conference that would be in charge of the system.

It was also stated that the Jumbotrons are not controlled by the TV Networks. So it is possible that the fans will see a different feed of a play than what the TA advisors will see on their TV screen. So if there is a play they see on the Jumbotron, the TAs are not going to be able to use that feed necessarily to make a determination. So if you watch Big Ten game at a stadium, the TAs might not even see that camera angle that is shown on site.

One of the other issues that might become a problem is that these games will not have as many cameras as a NFL game. The Michigan-Ohio State game might have 8 cameras, while a Monday Night Football game might have 16. The not so important games in the conference might have only 4 cameras. It is possible that you might not get a lot of plays or angles from a Northwestern-Indiana game as the Ohio State-Penn State game for example. The TV networks will control this mostly and there is not much the Big Ten can do. They do not have the money as the NFL does to require the same amount of coverage for "lesser games."

Finally, no penalty can be reviewed except for Illegal Participation (12 players on the field), same as the NFL guidelines they say.

I will post further information. One of the TAs is going to email me the list of guidelines and it will become much clearer. I am just posting this off my notes from attending the meeting. We also have several Big Ten officials that are members of the COA and I am sure we will hear more about this in the next few weeks as well. As a matter of fact, 3 crew chiefs are COA members and will talk about situations next week. I will try to post more information as it comes out. I am sure there is more information and if any other COA members want to clarify things I have said, that is what this thread is for.

Comments or issues that you want to know about?

Peace