[Bob M.]

REPLY: Since "experience" has been made the criteria by which some seem to judge the validity of posts on this board, I'll offer my own opinion. The issue here really isn't who was right and who was wrong. The real issue is that the crew didn't appear to have the stomach for coming together and to discuss two officials' views of what occurred. And yes--the B (the poster) who passed on the call because he saw it as a block from the side made a call just as surely as the wingman who dropped the flag. They were obligated to come together to get it right. The wing made a mistake in allowing his ego to overrule his responsibility to the game, and the R erred in placing more emphasis on taking the easy way out. Should they have met to "get it right?" Absolutely. All levels of officiating have that as their underlying principle. So what happens if they do come together and still disagree on whether or not a flag was deserved? Ed Hochuli (he has more experience than all of us) says that in such a case, it's up to the R to make a decision. He says that the determining factor for him is which official had the better view of the play (distance and angle) and go with his call.