Game Protest Brewing in California

[ref18]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

Admirable point of view, and we all know that the only friends we all have out there are the other guys in the stripes, but it seems to me that a conspiracy of silence does more harm than good.

We're not being silent. It doesn't matter who blew it, the fact is it was blown, and it was admitted to that it was blown. Now, I wouldn't have done what this WH did, and say no one owned up to it. I would've said something like, "We made a mistake, but we are following the rules set out for when a situation like this happens, and I take responsibility for the actions of my crew."

Isn't it usually pretty obvious who makes calls? If it was obvious in this case who blew the IW, there wouldn't be a problem.

It's quite obvious, to us, when the last thing the coach is thinking about is the officials, it's going to be a little less obvious.

What? "make it up to the crew?" What do you mean, do extra good on the next call? We try to do the best we can on every call, every play. You can't say, "Well, I was going to just go at 75% on the next play, guys, but because I kicked that one, I'm going to go 97, maybe 98, just for you, on the next one."

We have a discipline system up here, depending on how badly you **** up, there is a corresponding amount of beer that you have to cover at the bar following the game. And lets just say that this mistake would mean the other crew members could get pretty sloppy without opening up their wallets.

If a circumstance warrants that you "pick up" someone on the crew (by reminding them that it's 10 rather than 5 on that penalty enforcement or whatever), you do that regardless of whether you kicked one or they did. We don't do make up calls for teams, we don't have to do them for ourselves. We do the best we can on each and every play.

werd!

You see it as selling someone out. I see it as standing up and admitting it is the right thing to do. The honorable thing to do.

I agree...but who do you need to admit it to?

Admit it to your supervisor, definitely. Admit it to your crew, definitely. Admit it to the coach after the game, sure. But during the game, I think the best course of action is to deal with it as a crew.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by ref18

I agree...but who do you need to admit it to?

Your crew, for starters. If the crew chief decides it's in everybody's best interests that it be a "crew IW" as far as everybody is concerned, fine.

But IF (and it's an "if" with a capital "media report,") this is true:

Smith said crew chief Rick Stannard couldn't tell him which member of his five-man officiating crew made the mistake.

"No one would take ownership of blowing the whistle," Smith said.

that ain't right.

"Wouldn't tell him," fine. "Couldn't tell him" supposes that he wanted to.

You may think that a crew is a crew is a crew and [B Joel] we said we'd all go down together[/B Joel] and I'm fine with that. While I might say (to myself) after a game, "Boy, I'm glad it wasn't me who kicked that call," the truth is we all share in the crew's successes and failures. We can't function effectively otherwise.

My point was that IF the official who blew the IW wouldn't own up to it to his crewmates (again, IF, as one might surmise from the story*), that's not honorable. I wouldn't want that guy on my crew.

Admit it to your supervisor, definitely. Admit it to your crew, definitely. Admit it to the coach after the game, sure. But during the game, I think the best course of action is to deal with it as a crew.

Fine, with the caveats mentioned above.



*Just as, as an official I hate it when fanboys and announcers paint us all with the same brush, as a journalist by training and trade, I'm not in favor of officials doing the same with all writers. Neither job has cornered the market on incompetence or on sainthood.

[OverAndBack]

from an officiating perspective, the biggest problem resulting from an IW, is getting the official who made that (big) mistake to get past making it and back into working the game.

Agreed. We disagree on how to start that process.

Prolonging that period of self review/self doubt only detracts from the ability of the crew to do it's job.

Wouldn't "admitting you made a mistake" be the first step towards getting past a mistake? Don't most people feel better after they admit stuff? How does admitting it prolong the period of self review/self doubt?

We should all self-review and be reviewed by people we trust all the time. If we kick a big call, we need to ask ourselves why. Were we out of position? Did we lose focus? Are we 20 pounds heavy? Or (and this is the hard question) are we cut out for this?

I'm not saying you blow an IW, you immediately look to bail on the avocation or turn in your stripes. I'm saying that self-assessment is good. We all know guys who stay past their effectiveness. Was it a one-time thing or a pattern? You have to ask yourself these questions, regularly. It's healthy.

Fourth, identifying the official will ONLY serve to prolong the effect his mistake will have on his ability to function properly for the remainder of the game, and 999 sidelines, out of 1,000, will rub as much salt as possible into that official's hide, especially if it's a wing official.

Or he'll grow thick skin in a hurry, one. And thick skin is a good thing to have in this avocation.

Some keep returning to making it easier on the guy who blew the IW.

We don't do this because it's easy.

We do it because it's hard.

Sympathize, hell, yeah. I feel for you. Want to talk about it? I'm here for you. Been there. Let me tell you my story. This is how it works. What can I do after the game to help you get past it? But right now, we gotta line up and call the rest of the game (there was only one more play left in the game in question, right? It was going to make for some uncomfortable moments, sure, but only a few and then you're out of there).

[ajmc]

I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression about getting past an IW. My concerns are not nearly as much about healing bruised egos or self esteem as much as they are about getting my crew back to working efficiently and effectively. Experience, and common sense, suggests singling out the individual who may have made a mistake is not helpful in reaching that objective.

Spare me your advice about thick skin, most of the people I work with have enough scar tissue to render than concern mute.

As RichMSN, so elequently phrased it, "Whether I blew it or someone else did isn't really important to the game or to the crew. *We* own it.", and that is sufficient detail to provide any coach.

As for "self-review", a wonderful concept to pursue off the field after the game, but again, is not something healthy for any official to get immersed in at the moment. Providing unnecessary ammunition to a frustrated coach to assist him in throwing verbal grenades at one of your crew members seems like a wrong way to try and get to the point where everybody can, "line up and call the rest of the game."

[Ed Hickland]

What is the relevance of identifying the official who blew the IW to the coaches? It will not take the IW away?