Fan Question about PI..

[alabamabluezebra]

Like KEFerrell stated "I can understand furstration at a call that may seem to erroneous. I remember my father once telling me he liked me better when I 'was a Ole Miss Fan and not a GD football ref..' after telling him a DB hooking a WR is indeed DPI"

I am also an Ole Miss fan that catches alot of grief because I am usually defending the officials or explaining the rules to the fans. My father-in-law has stated the same sentiments to me during Ole Miss games.

[ABoselli]

While we're publishing evaluator ratings of officials in any given game because of the crucial nature of their performance, we could go player by player and mark down missed blocks, missed tackles, missed assignments, audibles called and their result, etc etc etc.

I believe that the deleterious effect of publishing officials ratings far outweighs any percieved benefit for fans. It would so undermine an officials authority to conduct a contest that the game would suffer. Most of the things an evealuator looks for have no meaning to the average fan, namely mechanics.

Most fans see PI or don't see PI because that's what they want to see. They're rooting for the shirts. Most of them feel fouls should be even in any contest - "How come we've been flagged six times and they've only been flagged twice??" - and the ultimate truth is that two people can look at the exact same thing and see two different actions - even after super slo-mo review. Impartial, dispassionate judgement should always overrule partisan commentary.

That being said, I hope you stick around and continue to add to the discussions and take in our views on football.

AB

[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.

[Forksref]

NCAA the penalty for PI is 15 yds or less, depending on the spot of the foul.

Therefore, in HS (NF) the penalty is more severe and in NFL it is even more severe. I like HS the best.

[ChristianHog1965]

You guys don't like the public grading idea and I do understand that so I'll drop that particular topic. The way it's being done now may just be the best possible solution. I can live with that.

BTW, I am obviously an Arkansas Razorback fan and we had another tough day (loss) and yet another controversial and very costly call that had a huge impact on today's loss to Florida. (Of course the fact that Arkansas threw 3 picks and fell behind 33-7 also had a huge impact on the game)

Today we had a player (Tony Bua) get whistled for Roughing the passer for hitting the Florida QB "in the head" and "OOB". (This play took place on 3rd down with just over a minute and half left in the game.) However, replays (at least the ones my razorback-red glasses can see) show that Bua (who went in a little high) did indeed hit him in the head but that intitial contact was made on the QB's shoulder pad. Then, as the qb leaned backward to lessen the blow, Bua's helmet collided with his. Replays do show that the play was absolutely NOT OOB. Here's the rub. Arkansas intercepted the ball on that play and would have been at it's own 47 with 1:35 to play, having just hung 21 points on the gators in the previous 6 minutes. The penalty, however, sealed the deal for the gators with the automatic 1st down and Arkansas out of time outs.

Did any of you happen to see that play and if so, what are your thoughts. I've seen the replay now dozens of times and I can see where it could be called. But, at the same time, I can see where it could not been called and been just as accurate. Am I getting really "homer" now or is this truly a borderline call?

Hog nation has pretty much spent this last week complaining about last week's call and it's just going to get worse with what happened today.

Thanks for the invite to post more often. I accept that offer and I hope I can learn a few things while adding something of value every once and a while.

God Bless,
Cary

[Smiley]

I saw it and it was very close. I credit the referee with having the guts to make the call as he saw it. He should have left the description out when reporting and simply left it as roughing the passer. If you watch the replay, #39 laid off as it was clear to him that the ball had been thrown. Bua had the same opportunity to lay off, but came in with his head down.

[Forksref]

I haven't seen the play, so I can't comment on it.

A general rule is that in cases where safety is the issue, the close plays should be flagged. I was the referee in a HS varsity game this year in which I called roughing the passer. The hit was by the arm and it wasn't severe but it was to the helmet. Had the same force been to the shoulder, I would not have flagged it.

I never fault officials for ruling on the side of safety.

Thanks for posting your play. I love to see fans discuss rules.