SC vs Mich

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by CT1

You're kidding, right? I've been a white hat for well over 20 years. In all that time, I've always made the final decision on measurements. Always.

It's in my job description.

Well that is nice, but that was not the point. If your crew does something that is great. The point is my crew communicates to each other. There is dialog between the crew and the Referee. An certainly dialog between the ball holder and the stick holder and the Referee. The Referee is a crew member, not a boss. Maybe your crew you are the dictator, but that is not the case with everyone.

Peace

[CT1]

Of course our crew communicates with each other. However, by rule, "The referee's decisions are final in all matters pertaining to the game."

That being the case, I'm not taking someone else's word that the LTG has or hasn't been reached. I'm going to take the extra 5 seconds to see for myself.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

The Referee is a crew member, not a boss. Maybe your crew you are the dictator, but that is not the case with everyone.

Peace

Sorry. That's incorrect. The referee IS the boss. Boss doesn't necessarily equal dictator, and in any good crew, the boss is not a dictator (just like any good office situation). Communication IS important, as is trust of your partners and teamwork. But by rule the referee IS the boss, and in particular, the decision of first down or not is on the referee.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Sorry. That's incorrect. The referee IS the boss. Boss doesn't necessarily equal dictator, and in any good crew, the boss is not a dictator (just like any good office situation). Communication IS important, as is trust of your partners and teamwork. But by rule the referee IS the boss, and in particular, the decision of first down or not is on the referee.

All I am talking about is communication and crew communication. Not sure what the rules have to do with that fact or what really happened here. And every crew I have been on the crew communicated many things and made decisions the Referee played little or no role in. Actually on my HS crew for years the Referee was not even the crew chief. And if you think the the crew chief did not have say in things we did on the field you would be sadly mistaken. All I am saying is in this case I am sure the official holding the ball told the Referee something. Now maybe he assumed too much, but you will not convince me that the two officials said absolutely nothing in that entire situation.

Peace

[WDEvol]

I was at the game. Obviously couldn't see the measurement from where I was, but seeing replays afterwards made it pretty obvious that the ball was quite clearly short of the line to gain.

That said, the same crew allowed the wrong team to call the coin toss (South Carolina was the home team but called it anyway) and forgot that a free kick out of bounds goes 30 yards from the spot of the kick - they tried to place it at the 40 before Spurrier eloquently reminded them that with kickoffs from the 35 this year, it goes to the other 35.

So, yeah...the Big East crew struggled with some basic things in this one.

[CT1]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

All I am saying is in this case I am sure the official holding the ball told the Referee something.

And the rest of us are saying that the White Hat still has the responsibility for the final decision. He neglected to take a 90-degree view before signalling, which likely would have made a difference in his call.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by CT1

And the rest of us are saying that the White Hat still has the responsibility for the final decision. He neglected to take a 90-degree view before signalling, which likely would have made a difference in his call.

Again you are focused on the final decision and I am saying what actually happened.

Peace

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Again you are focused on the final decision and I am saying what actually happened.

Peace

How the hell do you know? Were you there?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

How the hell do you know? Were you there?

It is called a hypothesis. But we do that here all the time, just like there are people saying what the rule is and what they do on their crew is just the same as what I am doing. Unless we talk to the crew and see what their process is and was on this play, pure speculation as to who had the "final say" or what was communicated. I really do not know why this is a big deal. I think the crew communicated with each other and you don't. OK, now what?

Also for the record my crew measures a lot in HS games. We measure 4 or 5 times every game even on well marked turf. And there is a lot of crew dialog before we put the ball down and after we put the ball down with the stick. I just will not be convinced by anyone here that they did not do some communicating and with the Referee not taking a personal look tells me that was the case. Do I know for sure? Nope, but again my take on the situation.

Peace

[CT1]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Again you are focused on the final decision and I am saying what actually happened.

Really?

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Not sure what the rules have to do with that fact or what really happened here.

The final decision is ultimately what matters.

[clipdchain]

Well said.