CFL Admits Officiation was Bad. It Will Be Better

[ref18]

CFL admits officiating was bad. It will be better
THE 92ND GREY CUP GAME
Steve Milton
The Hamilton Spectator



Let's come clean, right off the top. Everyone, even this corner -- OK, OK, especially this corner -- makes plenty of mistakes.

That admitted, those mistakes rarely cost a team a first down, a win, or even a berth in the Grey Cup game.

So it was certainly encouraging to hear the CFL commissioner confirm yesterday that the league's No. 1 priority is improving its officiating "top to bottom."

A thousand amens to that.

And, kudos to Tom Wright, the commish, and George Black, his lieutenant in charge of striped jerseys, for their forthrightness on the issue.

Yes, as both executives emphasized yesterday, the league's officials are honest, hard-working, correct far more often than not. And eager to become better at their vocation.

But no, as both have also conceded, this was not a good year for CFL officials.

Although they don't put it this way, the rest of us do: too many superfluous flags in some games, badly blown calls in others, no game flow in still others, and little consistency from quarter to quarter let alone week to week.

No grey area on this criticism, it was right there in Black and Wright.

So, the league will be investing heavily in upgrading its officiating system, although it will stop short of hiring full-time professional officials. That would be impractical. Many of the men who currently work the games -- and lots of them are pretty good and will get better with better training support -- are successful professionals in real life, and "we wouldn't want to lose them," according to Wright. There is no way the CFL could compensate them enough for leaving their weekday jobs for a weekend one.

Wright has appointed B.C. Lions president Bobby Ackles to head up a committee which will recommend to the CFL board ways of improving officiating. And they'll do it soon.

Among those sitting on the committee will be well-regarded referee Glenn Johnson of Winnipeg, Ticats' president Dave Sauve, Saskatchewan GM Roy Shivers -- whose team was victimized by a questionable ball placement last weekend -- and Burlington's Chris Schultz, a TSN commentator who played in both the CFL and NFL. Now that's progress, and you don't see it in many pro sports: a players' guy actually having some pull.

The impending implementation of video replay will be a component of the upgrade and so, likely, will several programs suggested by Black.

"It will be three-tier support," Black told The Spec. "One step is large-scale recruitment in local associations, because we need to grow the game and grow the officiating at the grassroots level. That gives us a bigger base of the pyramid. Which should make the top, which we consider ourselves, better.

"The second thing is training. We need to increase the amount of training, provide the officials with digital tape, that they can look at and reflect upon during the week.

"The third thing is the continuous development theme. I believe that each and every one of them goes out and tries to be the best that he can be. So we'll support them with review sessions and other programs."

A "primary prospects program" will target a few university officials across the country as CFL material, "and we can do a little more coaching and nurturing with these officials.

"We would want age-appropriate (somewhere in their 30s) people, so we can get 10 to 20 years of service out of them. We'd like to scout them, work with them, include them in our preseason meetings and perhaps have them do a couple of exhibition games. Then monitor their progress and provide film analysis and support during the college season, so that we can see them grow faster."

Black is also pushing a fast-track tier for former university and CFL players who'd like to get into officiating, similar to what the NHL instituted a few years ago.

Former Ticat Paul Bennett, a Hall of Fame safety, wanted to get into officiating after his playing days, but Black recalls that his local (Winnipeg) association absurdly insisted he'd have to start by handling the youngest minor-league games and slowly working his way. He had neither the time nor the inclination for that.

"We need those people who have an innate sense of the game, and an intuition and experience with the game. We can teach them the rules and techniques," Black says.

"If they're interested in coming into officiating I'd love to develop a training program, and then accelerate them into the game. It will help the local programs because it gives them more top quality people.

"We've got to get away from doing the same-old, same-old and start thinking outside the box."

What a refreshing concept. But perhaps a first step should be one that's inside the box, and that doesn't cost any money.

Start by clearly defining -- calling with metronomic consistency -- pass interference and no-yards infractions. Those are the areas which evoke the most frequent, most obvious and angriest complaints.

And in a league which is all about passing and kicking, that is madness.

[ref18]

Originally posted by ref18
Black is also pushing a fast-track tier for former university and CFL players who'd like to get into officiating, similar to what the NHL instituted a few years ago.

Former Ticat Paul Bennett, a Hall of Fame safety, wanted to get into officiating after his playing days, but Black recalls that his local (Winnipeg) association absurdly insisted he'd have to start by handling the youngest minor-league games and slowly working his way. He had neither the time nor the inclination for that.

"We need those people who have an innate sense of the game, and an intuition and experience with the game. We can teach them the rules and techniques," Black says.

"If they're interested in coming into officiating I'd love to develop a training program, and then accelerate them into the game. It will help the local programs because it gives them more top quality people.

Does anyone else think it's aburd to expect rookie officials to work minor football?? I know that's where I started, and I'm guessing that where most of you guys started.

My big question is should former players be fast tracked through the officiating levels??

My answer is no. I have never played football in my life, and I have a goal of someday reaching it to the professional leagues. But it really doesn't make me feel good about my chances if they're gonna pick someone over me just because they were a player at one point.

[SeanWest]

I agree with you ref18. I'm the same as you in that I don't have a background as a player or coach. I came to football officiating just out of a love of the game and I want to be the best official I can be.

However, I would say the majority of the officials in our association do come from that background and almost without exception, once they get into the training program, they consistently say they realize how little they knew about the rules and even less about how the officials do their jobs.

Being a player or a coach gives a person a head start in understanding the flow of the game but I don't believe that it necessarily makes them a better official. It doesn't seem unreasonable that they should have to prove their knowledge, abilities and dedication just like the rest of us.

-SW---

[HossHumard]

I am a former Cdn University player who started officiating football a couple of years ago and I would tend to agree with those who think there is some merit to bringing those who played the game to a high level along more quickly to a CFL level. There is no question that anyone who has competed at an elite level of any sport has a unique understanding of their game and as long as they have an aptitude to officiate and are willing to put in the work, they can be a valuable asset. Having said that, I officiate with a number of guys who NEVER played the game and they're darned good refs. Many would be perfectly capable of working at the CFL level becuase they have a passion for what they're doing, simple as that.
As for Paul Bennett not wanting to work with the little kids; that sounds like ego talking. I enjoy working with the Pee Wees and so do many of my collegues, many of whom have 20+ years in. If you love football and you love officiating, its just fun, right?

[ref18]

What association are you with??

[HossHumard]

I'm in Western Canada....

[tiger49]

I think there is some merit to what George Black is saying, but I think they should also look at bringing in those who have Football and Officiating experience as well. I currently work with a University team and umpire baseball mostly at the competitive men's level as well as with the NCAA.

I can tell you from experience in working with a new umpire in our association this year who never worked a ball game before but does hockey at the Junior A and OHL level. He came in as a rookie at a high level and quickly became one of the better umps in our association. Being an official in any sport uses many of the same skills, especially in dealing with situations. That former players don't have.

I have looked into being a football official in my area, but after seeing a good friend and former HS teamate being treated with kids gloves(BTW this kids father was a CFL referee but lived in another area) and discussing how everything works in my area. I thought why would I be on a chain crew for an OVFL game for $25 when I can do a baseball game for $50. Now if I saw that I could move up quickly within my association it might be a different story.

[ref18]

Originally posted by tiger49

I can tell you from experience in working with a new umpire in our association this year who never worked a ball game before but does hockey at the Junior A and OHL level. He came in as a rookie at a high level and quickly became one of the better umps in our association. Being an official in any sport uses many of the same skills, especially in dealing with situations. That former players don't have.

I couldn't agree more with this statement. I owe a lot of my success to the fact that I knew about the process of officiating from working basketball.

Originally posted by tiger49

I have looked into being a football official in my area, but after seeing a good friend and former HS teamate being treated with kids gloves(BTW this kids father was a CFL referee but lived in another area) and discussing how everything works in my area. I thought why would I be on a chain crew for an OVFL game for $25 when I can do a baseball game for $50. Now if I saw that I could move up quickly within my association it might be a different story

Did this guy expect to get the high level games right off the bat?? You need to be able to prove yourself. I've spent the past 2 seasons doing sticks for the OVFL, hopefully I'll start on-field work with that league soon, I know that I need to put the work in, do the clinics get experience, and that takes time. Oh yeah, just because you're related to a high level official doesn't mean you should automatically jump the officiating cue. I have an uncle who is now in the CFL, yet I started at the bottom and have been working my way up. I wouldn't have expected anything different. Past performance does not indicate future success.

[tiger49]

Originally posted by ref18


Did this guy expect to get the high level games right off the bat?? You need to be able to prove yourself. I've spent the past 2 seasons doing sticks for the OVFL, hopefully I'll start on-field work with that league soon, I know that I need to put the work in, do the clinics get experience, and that takes time. Oh yeah, just because you're related to a high level official doesn't mean you should automatically jump the officiating cue. I have an uncle who is now in the CFL, yet I started at the bottom and have been working my way up. I wouldn't have expected anything different. Past performance does not indicate future success.
[/B]

I agree with you on that. But he transferred from another association ie: Toronto to Ottawa and had to start at the bottom in Ottawa.

[ref18]

Ok that's a different story, I thought you meant he started in a different association from his father, not started somewhere, but then was forced back to the beginning when he moved.

Actually, that is a problem I hope I don't have to deal with when I move away to university next year and join another officials association.

[tiger49]

I would get a letter from your association stating your experience. Plus let them know where you are going they maybe able to better place you that way. BTW where are you planning to go to school.

[ref18]

I applied to: Waterloo, Wilfred Laurier, Queens, Ottawa, Western, McMaster.

I want to go to Waterloo, and I've already talked to the recruitment officer there, AKA JugglingReferee.

The executive from my present association has already said they'd write a letter, so I hope everything does go smooth, I'm not expecting any problems.

[Edited by ref18 on Dec 1st, 2004 at 04:49 PM]

[JugglingReferee]

Originally posted by ref18
Ok that's a different story, I thought you meant he started in a different association from his father, not started somewhere, but then was forced back to the beginning when he moved.

Actually, that is a problem I hope I don't have to deal with when I move away to university next year and join another officials association.

Try to make friends with someone in the association you're heading too. In fact, buy them beer, and nachos, and tell them they're great.

[ref18]

Originally posted by JugglingReferee

Try to make friends with someone in the association you're heading too. In fact, buy them beer, and nachos, and tell them they're great.

If you stayed at the Vanier Cup Dance a bit longer, you would've gotten a beer from me, I just didn't start drinking until anyone who might give me hell was already a bit drunk

[Edited by ref18 on Dec 1st, 2004 at 05:55 PM]

[JugglingReferee]

Originally posted by ref18

If you stayed at the Vanier Cup Dance a bit longer, you would've gotten a beer from me, I just didn't start drinking until anyone who might give me hell was already a bit drunk

[Edited by ref18 on Dec 1st, 2004 at 05:55 PM]

You're Italian: people get concerned if you're not drinking.