Too many penalties

[Jim D]

Originally Posted by voiceoflg

A question from a broadcaster. We did a crosstown rivalry game last night that was a rollercoaster with the twists and turns, big plays and turnovers. Good guys take the lead 24-20 on a trick play touchdown with 7:00 left in the game, and intercepted the opponent's pass in the end zone with :30 left.

But there were so many penalties in that game both ways. There were only two or three that neither myself, color commentator nor sideline guy saw. But the other 100 (not sure the exact number but it seemed like it) were seen by at least one of us. We saw virtually every infraction in the book, and only a few of them more than twice!

Have you guys had a game like that where it seems like every other play has a flag thrown? I know you aren't paid by the hour, so games like that must drive you crazy.

This is very unusual in my experience. Big games like cross-town rivals or a match of high-ranked teams normally are easy to work and have very few penalties. I think it's because the players are too busy trying to win and to aware of the consequences of a dumb penalty to do anything stupid. In the case of top teams, they are better players (less need to hold, etc.) and better coached. I'm really suprised you would have a game like this with that many fouls. For me, it seems the norm to have a game like that with maybe two or three flags all night. It's the uneven blow outs that become flag fests.

Do you have any theories why your game was like that?