Controversial Ending in Florida Playoff Game

[jontheref]

Three quickies on this, couple have already made mention....but;
1--based on my small monitor...it looks to me that i have a simultaneous possession with each player with one foot inbounds. TD. And I hope the ref is miked.

2--they all forgot their longsleeved shirts???

3-- i guess with the blue teams win, everything is ok with #68.

[Forksref]

That was a lousy video to make a judgment on.

I wonder if those guys in FL even own long sleeves?

[TXMike]

OK Got to see it now. Impossible to tell one way or the other as we cannot see if perhaps ball was loose somewhat as the players went OOB Perhaps that is what the B saw The body language of both B and F do not sell the call, whatever it was. F's body language looks more like" you got what?" then it does that HE has anything. B is too far off the end line and is moving when he should be stationary You see better when not moving and he was close enough to rule without getting as close as he did get F might have been able to help tell what was going on with the ball but would not be of much help at all with the endline.

[TXMike]

Naples Daily News : News, Weather and Entertainment for Southwest Florida

Go to this newspaper website and check out the video they have on right hand side of page It is from back of end zone and they even include rulebook quotes. Interestingly this is the newspaper of the town where the team is from that ended up with the W

[waltjp]

Good video. Erases any doubt about the ball being possessed securely.

[OverAndBack]

That there looks like a touchdown to me.

[JugglingReferee]

This is a fantastic use to slow motion replay, highlighting elements such as the catch, feet inbounds, and quoting the rulebook and casebook is even better. Whoever put this video together should get a very high grade when it comes to raise time! LOL

I would like to know what was said that convinced the official in the video to change his call.

[grantsrc]

Originally Posted by TXMike

Naples Daily News : News, Weather and Entertainment for Southwest Florida

Go to this newspaper website and check out the video they have on right hand side of page It is from back of end zone and they even include rulebook quotes. Interestingly this is the newspaper of the town where the team is from that ended up with the W

Geez, guys (not us, the paper that produced this video), this is a high school game. It's great that they took the time and effort to become educated about the rules pertaining to this situation. It certainly looks like a simultaneous catch to me, but I'm sitting in front of a computer and not on the field of play. But was surprises me, is that the paper went through such extrodinary measures to show what they feel is an error in a high school game! It seems that these types of critical articles are popping up more and more in relation to high school games. Errors occur unfortunately. I don't understand team's desires to immediately call their lawyer when they feel they've been robbed. It's detrimental to HS sports.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

I don't understand team's desires to immediately call their lawyer when they feel they've been robbed.

Welcome to America, 2008.

[TXMike]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

But was surprises me, is that the paper went through such extrodinary measures to show what they feel is an error in a high school game! It seems that these types of critical articles are popping up more and more in relation to high school games. Errors occur unfortunately. I don't understand team's desires to immediately call their lawyer when they feel they've been robbed. It's detrimental to HS sports.

I also interpreted the article as a critique of the call which really surprised me as the team which came out on the good side of the call is the team from the town where the newspaper is from. I would have expected this from the other team's newspaper but not the hometown newspaper.

[OverAndBack]

I'd call that fair.

Originally Posted by TXMike

I also interpreted the article as a critique of the call which really surprised me as the team which came out on the good side of the call is the team from the town where the newspaper is from. I would have expected this from the other team's newspaper but not the hometown newspaper.

It's not the first time I've seen the hometown press do this. I went to an NAIA game this past fall where the quarterback spiked the ball on 4th down while trying to rally his team in the waning seconds of the game. The TV station from the school's town actually showed the boneheaded spike on their 10:00 newscast sports segment. Wow.

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

Geez, guys (not us, the paper that produced this video), this is a high school game. It's great that they took the time and effort to become educated about the rules pertaining to this situation. It certainly looks like a simultaneous catch to me, but I'm sitting in front of a computer and not on the field of play. But was surprises me, is that the paper went through such extrodinary measures to show what they feel is an error in a high school game! It seems that these types of critical articles are popping up more and more in relation to high school games. Errors occur unfortunately. I don't understand team's desires to immediately call their lawyer when they feel they've been robbed. It's detrimental to HS sports.

Should have been a touchdown.

Having experienced the critical review of a controversial as in wrong call from a newspaper web site that slowed the video down to 1/5 normal speed I can tell you this is something we can expect a lot in the future. Don't you wish you had the luxury of sitting at your computer and reviewing the call!?

Officiating is a human endeavor, therefore, it comes with some degree of error. On this particular play it could well be the simultaneous catch rule was not well understood or the official had not experienced it before. Ask yourself how often you have seen one and what did you do the first time you did see one.

As if lawyers don't invade our lives enough this could become a new practice, the bad officiating practice, where a lawyer is on the coaching staff ready to assemble whatever is needed to appeal to the athletic authority when required. And you thought the hot coffee spill at McDonalds was too much!

[insatty]

If the overruling official is a LJ in a 5-man crew, he has no business calling the players OB on the endline. At best, he could have had the players bobbling the ball. In HS ball, there is not enough teaching of officiating philosophies. When in doubt, it's not a catch. But even under a strict rule interpretation, it's a simultaneous catch and a touchdown.