Game Protest Brewing in California

[TXMike]

Assuming the state governing body were to do an investigation into the incident or request a report from the crew, would those of you who are advocating the "black and white wall" still condone not divulging? I hope not

I can understand the reluctance in the heat of the moment to single some one out but the bottom line is, the crew knows who had the whistle (or else there was NO whistle). And if that guy does not ball up and tell the coach himself then that guy is the guy I will not be working with again. If you do not have the moral courage to admit your mistakes then you really ought to think about your future in this endeavor.

[ajmc]

Unless you're in a State that has way too many people involved in HS sports, nobody is thinking about any kind of "investigation" might be necessary to determine who made what mistake. If however, some governing body were to ask that question, obviously, they deserve an answer.

A coach is entitled to know that a mistake was made and what effect that mistake has on the the circumstances that will follow. Being told there was a mistake is all the information that is necessary, and there is no need, whatsoever, for anyone to, "ball up and tell the coach himself ", becaue it just doesn't matter.

[TXMike]

I will tell you who it IS important to (or should be anyway)... to the guy who made the call. It SHOULD be important enough to him that he not leave the rest of his guys hanging out there and taking heat for HIS mistake.

And I guarantee you that if a championship game in Texas ended like this, there would be inquiries from the state governing association. There is an "Incident Reporting System" and something like this would be something ythey expect to be reported.

[OverAndBack]

I agree that a white hat or a crew 'throwing a crew member under the bus' would be a negative, but look at it the other way.

What the hell kind of person are you if you don't stand up and take responsibility for your own actions and mistakes?

I hate that I blew an IW in back to back years in the same game between the same two teams (at least the first year it favored one team, the next year it favored the other*). But I admitted it and that was part of me getting past it. The other part of me getting past it was knowing that (a) almost everybody who's ever done this has kicked a big call or blown an IW or just majorly goofed up and that (b ) it doesn't define you as a person. If it makes you re-examine your mechanics or your ability to do this, that's part of the self-assessments we ALL should make as human beings.

So I have less of a problem with a crew or crew chief trying to protect a crew member in the short term (I don't know what kind of effect that's going to have long term) than I do with the person who blew the IW not saying "It was me."

I guess you could say "Don Denkinger is still reviled 23 years later," and maybe you'd have a point that you'd have to live with that attached to your name for a while.

But is it better or worse to only have it on your conscience?


*I'm kidding. It doesn't even out.

[GPC2]

Of course we don't know all of the particulars, but it appears (based on what was written in the article) that the official that did blow the IW (if there really was one) didn't even own up to it to his fellow crew members - that is what is inexcusable to me. Furthermore, for an official to compromise the integrity of officials everywhere simply to "save face" is also inexcusable. Either way - seems like a pretty horrible situation to me.

But, for my vote, I would say that the state should accept the results of the game as the officials decided it - there really would be no way for them to prove whether a whistle was blown or not.

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by GPC2

Of course we don't know all of the particulars, but it appears (based on what was written in the article) that the official that did blow the IW (if there really was one) didn't even own up to it to his fellow crew members - that is what is inexcusable to me. Furthermore, for an official to compromise the integrity of officials everywhere simply to "save face" is also inexcusable. Either way - seems like a pretty horrible situation to me.

But, for my vote, I would say that the state should accept the results of the game as the officials decided it - there really would be no way for them to prove whether a whistle was blown or not.

Baseball guy here.

If the crew gets together, and nobody admits to having an IW, how can the R tell the coach that there was one? If nobody admits to having one, maybe there was not one. Is someone on the crew lying? If there was an IW, whoever had it should have the sack to say it. I believe the coach has the right to know who blew the IW. In baseball, the Manager (HC in NCAA and FED), has the right (given to him by the rulebook) to question a call. If he does it in the correct way, he will be given an explanation. I assume it is the same way in football.
Example, Batter hits a ball straight down and starts to run, the runner gets to first, then is sent back because it was ruled that the ball actually was fouled off of his foot. The MAnager comes out and asks the PU, "Who called it?" I cannot imagine a situation when the PU would not tell the Manager who called it foul.

DISCLAIMER: The info I quoted was from a poster referring to a media statement, please take all information from the media statement with the required amount of skepticism.