Columnist's tantrum- would you respond?

[buckrog64]

This is really getting old

By RICK DEINES


There can be no better argument for 1) a rating system for high school referees and 2) more training for game officials and 3) more training for game officials than watching a high school football game. I have watched the last three Marshalltown football games and, you know what? I’m tired of seeing the games screwed up by the officiating.

Not because there is a proactive effort to favor one team or another but because high school referees are apparently there just for the check, so they can send their kids to college. Who trains these guys?

The game against West Des Moines Valley Friday was just the latest in a skein of poorly officiated games. YO! When you stretch an opponent’s jersey out of shape, it is HOLDING! It is not a form of custom tailoring. When you hook the defensive end all night, as happened to Alex Kloberdanz so that he couldn’t get wide to defend the sweep, it is HOLDING! Not dancing with the stars. If there is contact while the pass is in the air, it is INTERFERENCE!
If a team’s captain asks you to watch for holding and blocks in the back, it is not unsportsmanlike conduct. That happened to another area team the other night.

First, the game official told the player the captain was the only one who could talk to the game official.

“I AM a captain,” the player said. “And I am asking, sir, if you will please watch the holding and blocking in the back.”

Yellow flag, 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Another time a coach asked an official if he saw the holding on the previous play. “Are you questioning my integrity?” the referee asked. The coach, not wanting a penalty, just walked away. “Answer my question!” the referee demanded. An assistant coach stepped up and said, “We’re not questioning your integrity, just your eyesight.”

All right, he deserved the 15-yard penalty.

The game crew at Friday’s MHS-Valley game missed holding all night and ignored two obvious — very obvious — blocks in the back on Valley touchdown runs. It is OK to measure for a first down when it is close. It is not OK to move the ball from the spot where it was downed to the hash mark before you measure. If a receiver is running downfield and is pushed in the back while the ball is in the air, it is INTERFERENCE! Or illegal contact. Or something. A two-handed push in the back of a receiver while the ball is in the air is not incidental contact.

If coaches disagree with or question a call, the referee can put a pimple on the school’s sportsmanship rating. No one gets to rate the officials, though. Coaches only get to vote on which officials should work playoff games. There is no system in place to weed out incompetent officials or to reward those who do a good job.

It just sucks to watch a bunch of kids play their hearts out and then have momentum reversed by a bad call. A pass called a reception and fumble Friday should have been ruled an incomplete pass. The call turned the game around psychologically and on the scoreboard.

Schools in the Central Iowa Metro League do not hire their own game officials. They are assigned by the league. Schools cannot avoid officiating teams who may have a conflict with a coach for one reason or another.
It would seem equitable for officials who are from Des Moines to not be assigned to Des Moines schools, including suburbs, when they play outside the metro area. Send DM referees to Mason City, Fort Dodge, Ames, Ottumwa and Indianola or have them officiate games between Des Moines schools. When Des Moines schools play outside the metro area, neutral officials should be assigned.

I am not blaming the officiating for the Bobcat loss to Valley (although an argument could be made). The Tigers are big, fast and deep. However, having to overcome non-calls is a decided disadvantage for the underdog.
It is one thing to let the boys play, it is another to let them play without enforcing the rules.

[buckrog64]

Sorry for the length, but i thought it was an interesting column.

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by buckrog64

Not because there is a proactive effort to favor one team or another but because high school referees are apparently there just for the check, so they can send their kids to college. Who trains these guys?

Hah! Shows how little he knows. If I could afford sending somebody to college on my officiating dollars, I would have become an official a looooong time ago.

[PSU213]

I guess it's probably not worth a reply, but I will anyway...

First, it sounds like a case of sour grapes. Just because he has 3 instance of where his team was 'hurt' by the officials, it does not mean the officiating was patently bad.

Second, was he on the field for all of this? How does he know what was communicated between officials, players, etc. My experience is that coaches/players exaggerate comments in the post game to paint officials in the worst light possible.

Finally, it would take more money to train officials. Where would this money come from? The schools. Is he, and everyone else out there, willing to pay higher taxes to spend money on training officials? Not saying we should not spend more time/money/resources on training, just that it will cost money that is not there. Plus, in addition to his full time "job" (which appears to be writing libelous articles), would he willing/able to spend the time in officials training?

[JasonTX]

You should send him a link to where he can sign up to become an official. Perhaps after he sees what we go through and the training and all the clinics, he'll probably be more informed over the process. These jerks think we just show up 10 mins before kickoff. It shows what little they know.

[mcrowder]

Have ANY of you ever heard the words, "And I am asking, sir, if you will please watch the holding and blocking in the back.”?

I guarantee the actual statement was more along the lines of, "Dammit, he's holding me!" or worse. Probably worse.

[PSU213]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Have ANY of you ever heard the words, "And I am asking, sir, if you will please watch the holding and blocking in the back.”?

I guarantee the actual statement was more along the lines of, "Dammit, he's holding me!" or worse. Probably worse.

I've never heard them ask like it's Oliver asking for more food. I have had them ask "watch 73...he's holding me" (however it is sounds very desperate).

[Jim D]

I'll take the opposite approach because we all know there are some weak crews out there and somehow, they still get games. I'm assuming that the situation in Iowa is typical.

The problems are:

Officials are evaluated by coaches which is a bad practice - Coaches don't know the rules, have an ax to grind and should be concentrating on their team's play during the game and not on the refs.

There aren't enough good evaluators out there so the league/state has a tough time identifying the good and bad crews.

Training is only for the new guys. The older established refs are free to do things their way.

Not enough officials so assigners are forced to keep hiring bad ones.

No uniformity between areas - officials in one area have their processes, procedures and training but it is entirely different in other areas.

Buddy system - Assignments are based often on the buddy system. This is something that can affect assignments all the way up the levels of officiating. Newer talented officials can be overlooked because no one knows them. Older officials are cut some slack because they are active in the group, been around forever, etc.

My recommendations -

Drop the coaches evaluations and use the money to hire more evaluators.

Have the state get more involved in developing training programs and requirements.

Tie in more tightly the assignment of playoff games to crew ratings.

[Texas Aggie]

You can ignore the quotes of the players, coaches, and officials, because they were lies. He either took the word of the player or coach, or he just made it up. I wouldn't bet against the latter.

[Axe Man]

Not because there is a proactive effort to favor one team or another but because high school referees are apparently there just for the check, so they can send their kids to college. Who trains these guys?

As good of a question is who trains the coaches?

First, the game official told the player the captain was the only one who could talk to the game official.

“I AM a captain,” the player said. “And I am asking, sir, if you will please watch the holding and blocking in the back.”

This statement was obviously run through the fan/player/coach translator.

Yellow flag, 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Another time a coach asked an official if he saw the holding on the previous play. “Are you questioning my integrity?” the referee asked. The coach, not wanting a penalty, just walked away.

Someone please call the record book folks. A coach who walked away without wanting to get in the last word?

“Answer my question!” the referee demanded. An assistant coach stepped up and said, “We’re not questioning your integrity, just your eyesight.”

Sorry coach, could you speak up please...my guide dog can't hear you!


If coaches disagree with or question a call, the referee can put a pimple on the school’s sportsmanship rating. No one gets to rate the officials, though. Coaches only get to vote on which officials should work playoff games. There is no system in place to weed out incompetent officials or to reward those who do a good job.

Thank god there is a system to weed out incompetent coaches.

It just sucks to watch a bunch of kids play their hearts out and then have momentum reversed by a bad call. A pass called a reception and fumble Friday should have been ruled an incomplete pass. The call turned the game around psychologically and on the scoreboard.

I guess it doesn't suck for the kids if they play their heart out and have momentum reversed by a fumble or interception that was called correctly!

I am not blaming the officiating for the Bobcat loss to Valley (although an argument could be made).

Had to be the officials. Players and coaches have no impact on the outcome.

The Tigers are big, fast and deep. However, having to overcome non-calls is a decided disadvantage for the underdog.

I always thought you were the underdog because you came into the game with a disadvantage?

It is one thing to let the boys play, it is another to let them play without enforcing the rules.[/QUOTE]

[parepat]

At the very best this guy is a terrible journalist. At worst he defamed these officials. Where do I start.

He reports statements of witnesses as facts without attributing the quotes to the sources.

He questions the integrity of the DM officials to work within their own geographic location (I'm sure he would propose travel pay to have these unscrupulous refs travel to neutral territory).

He questions the integrity of the officials by stating they are only in it for the money.

He questions their integrity by stating that they did not enforce the rules.

He takes his limited understanding of the rules (ie illegal contact) and states them as facts (ie contact while the ball is in the air is interference.)

I would not respond if I was part of any of these crew, but a response by the association might be warranted. Or I have a better idea. At about 5:00 p.m. kidnapp this jack*ss. Force him to sit through the pregame. Force him out on the field to see how it really is. Then take him back to the lockerroom and give him a swirly and make him walk back to Des Moines.

If any of this runs afoul of Iowa law....please disregard.

[ABoselli]

Marshalltown?

I recently heard a story of an official working a high school modified game in his home city to help out the local assignor who was short a few guys. The coach screamed to him at the end of the game (after yelling the entire game) that he'd never work a varsity game there.

The guy in question works New Year's Day Bowl games.

He's the same guy you hear yelling from the stands. What do you do then? Same thing you should do now.

[parepat]

E-Mail of J*rk

[email protected]

[bossman72]

Someone should tell this ace hole that if he thinks the officiating is so terrible, he should go take the test himself and improve the quality of officials. Everyone in the stands is an official- just 99% of them don't have the grapes to get on the field and call a game.

[schmitty1973]

Come on guys let's be real. Before we were ever officials we all thought of the same things. When I was in HS I can't count the number of times I thought we got screwed by the officials. This guy is no different.
We keep on wanting him to try officiating to see what we do, but we don't want to put ourselves in his place. Yeah he went a little overboard and probably exaggerated alot, but 90% of us complian about authority anyway.