Crew suspended...

[Dakota]

I know a number of the regulars here call college ball...

Any comments on the officiating crew for the Oregon / Oklahoma football game being suspended for officiating mistakes that supposedly determined the outcome of the game?

[Andy]

I'm not a football official, but I am definitely sympathetic to officials in all sports. As long as games are officiated by humans, mistakes will be made. As officials, we should strive to do two things:

a) Minimize the mistakes we make by studying the rules and mechanics of the games we officiate and try to get in the best possible position during the contest to see and rule on the playing action.

b) Hope that the mistakes or errors we make are not magnified by the game situation.

The officials in the Oklahoma-Oregon game most likely accomplished part A, or they wouldn't be there in the first place. Obviously, they failed part B.

Does anyone believe that there would have been the same repercussions had this same play happened on a kickoff in the middle of the second quarter as opposed to with less than a minute to play? I'm sure the officials would have been chastised in their film review session, but it would have been behind closed doors and the only people involved would be the officiating crew and their supervisor(s).

Because of the game situation, I'm sure the PAC-10 felt the need to make some type of public statement and reprimand to preserve the credibility of its officiating crews. Coaches and fans often complain that officials are not accountable for their actions or mistakes on the field or court. We, of course, know different, but in this high profile situation, the conference felt the need to go public and I can see their reasoning.

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by Andy

I'm not a football official, but I am definitely sympathetic to officials in all sports. As long as games are officiated by humans, mistakes will be made. As officials, we should strive to do two things:

a) Minimize the mistakes we make by studying the rules and mechanics of the games we officiate and try to get in the best possible position during the contest to see and rule on the playing action.

b) Hope that the mistakes or errors we make are not magnified by the game situation.

The officials in the Oklahoma-Oregon game most likely accomplished part A, or they wouldn't be there in the first place. Obviously, they failed part B.

Does anyone believe that there would have been the same repercussions had this same play happened on a kickoff in the middle of the second quarter as opposed to with less than a minute to play? I'm sure the officials would have been chastised in their film review session, but it would have been behind closed doors and the only people involved would be the officiating crew and their supervisor(s).

Because of the game situation, I'm sure the PAC-10 felt the need to make some type of public statement and reprimand to preserve the credibility of its officiating crews. Coaches and fans often complain that officials are not accountable for their actions or mistakes on the field or court. We, of course, know different, but in this high profile situation, the conference felt the need to go public and I can see their reasoning.

This is all about money, 16-20 million dollars per team is on the line if you make it to one of the 5 BCS bowl games. Mistakes by officials are magnified by about 20 million times!

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by RonRef

This is all about money, 16-20 million dollars per team is on the line if you make it to one of the 5 BCS bowl games. Mistakes by officials are magnified by about 20 million times!

I did seem to me the loud and public protestations by the OK coach were more directed at the poll voters than any realistic expectation that he could get the game to not "count." Sounded to me like he was, in effect, lobbying the voters to ignore the game in their voting.

[Skahtboi]

Not being a fan of football, I am not aware of what occurred here. Were there multiple mistakes, or just one or two that the coaches of the losing squad are trying to say "shaped the outcome of the game?"

[ntxblue]

Not being a fan of either Oklahoma or Oregon . . . three mistakes that were all "reviewed" but apparently "ignored".


Replay official only saw a limited clip . . . of course, now they've had time to craft their story.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14898756/from/ET/

[WestMichBlue]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

Not being a fan of football, I am not aware of what occurred here. Were there multiple mistakes, or just one or two that the coaches of the losing squad are trying to say "shaped the outcome of the game?"

Google it! Type "Oregon Oklahoma football game" and you will eventually get a gazillion reports and opinions.

WMB

[archangel]

or just switch from this softball post, to the football one....

[WestMichBlue]

Originally Posted by Dakota

I know a number of the regulars here call college ball...

Any comments on the officiating crew for the Oregon / Oklahoma football game being suspended for officiating mistakes that supposedly determined the outcome of the game?

This is what I find disgusting:

"University of Oklahoma President David Boren sent a letter to Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg asking him to push for the Sooners' game against Oregon to be eliminated from the record books and having the Pac-10 officials involved in the game suspended for the remainder of the season."

The president of a major university is supposed to be an educational and administrative leader, not an AD. IMO, David Boren is a pathetic figure.

Ask any Michigan fan and they still remember the hosing the Wolverines received from the officials at the Alamo Bowl last year. OK - fans are supposed to make noise like that. But no way would the University of Michigan president ever stoop to publicly criticizing officials and making demands as Boren did.

OK, that’s out of the way.

Should officials be punished for mistakes? Obviously not for judgment calls. But if you have a rules violation, and you have an opportunity to correct it – and you fail to do so, then the officials must be accountable.

In our game, assume the ball is hit over 2B and F6 moves towards 2B and collides with R1 going to 3B. BU calls interference and rules R1 out, inning over. O’Coach claims F6 had no play on the ball (true) and the call s/b obstruction (also true). BU and PU discuss the call; PU explains the rules and interpretations, but BU is not going to give in – he wants interference and is not going to change his call.

Bottom of the 7^th, R1 was winning run and she was going to score easily on the single. You would probably send her home on the obstruction. But instead she is taken off the base and the inning is over. Visiting team scores in the 8^th inning; wins the game and moves into the championship game.

Are we, as umpires going to sit here and piously claim it was not the umpire’s fault the team lost. It was because they didn’t hit enough, or score enough, or had too many errors, or served up too many "fat" pitches, etc. Are not most of you going to say, "I’ll never work with that umpire again!" Don’t you want it brought to the attention of the assignor so that umpire does not get high-level tournament games again?

We don’t live in the fishbowl that officials on nationally televised college or pro game do, nor do our mistakes have the same magnitude as theirs. But we also don’t have the money and/or prestige they have.

I hate to hear fans and the ESPN idiots saying it was the official’s fault the game was lost, for it is never really true. But the officials must be accountable for their mistakes.

WMB

[SC Ump]

Originally Posted by Dakota

I know a number of the regulars here call college ball...

Any comments on the officiating crew for the Oregon / Oklahoma football game being suspended for officiating mistakes that supposedly determined the outcome of the game?

I've got sympathy for them, but I completely understand and have no problems with the situation.

If in my 'day job' my company had a high profile contract and I was making high profile decisions that greatly affect the status of my client, I would expect to be held to high standards. If I make a costly, national-news worthy mistake, then I would expect severe repremands.

If I made the exact same mistake in a low profile situation, I would be hope my company would issue a lesser penalty.

I think the real issue is everyone seems to want to continue the farse that college football is an amateur sport.

[John Robertson]

The advent of instant replay in sports has put far more pressure on replay officials to be "perfect" than on the on-field officials. The expectation is that now every call should eventually be 100% correct 100% of the time. It's a pity that officials can't publicly denounce players and coaches when they make egregious mental and physical errors.

[ntxblue]

Intended for your entertainment only . . .

http://www.quacksquad.com/

[LLPA13UmpDan]

To me, judgement calls are not punishable offenses, just like MLB. However, if they messed up a rule call, thats different.

[Steve M]

Originally Posted by LLPA13UmpDan

To me, judgement calls are not punishable offenses, just like MLB. However, if they messed up a rule call, thats different.

As officials move up the food chain, more is required at each level - with rules expertise, mechanics, and judgement. Remember that.
Officials can get away with things in a little league or rec level game that would get just as quick & maybe more severe "punishmnet" in a high school game.
Officials can get away with things in a high school game that would get just as quick & maybe more sever "punishment" in a college game. And there are different levels within college games - they call them divisions - and what is OK in a D3 game may not be in a D1 game.
As officials move up, more is required. If I do not meet the requirements, I might get away with it, but I would expect to hear about "what happened, why didn't I meet those requirements!?".

You'll learn this if you progress, Dan.

[LLPA13UmpDan]

almost all calls in football are judgement. what the official sees. You make punish an official over a judgement call, you are not very smart. Officials make descisions based on what they see. Human eyes can only see so muchs, and the human brain can only process that at a certain speed. Just like one MLB umpire once said, "If they replace us with robots, you know what would happen, they'd smash it every time it ruled against them." Very true in all sports. In football they could just tackle it When doing baseball, will you ever here from your assignor? "You missed that last call. It was about 1" below the knees. You are not working anymore games for awhile, as it caused that team to lose. You also missed that play at home, his foot got to the bag at the exact same time the he was tug." NO! People can only do so much, if you expect more then human capability, you must not be human.