Serious Officiating Question

[Bucket Getter]

Am I the only one that thinks football officials have progressively gotten worse at every level over the past 15-20 years? It seems like virtually every game comes down to some controversial call that changes the mojo of the game and ends up being fatal for the team that doesn’t get the call (or calls).

 

[HoosierAlum07]

Every game and every sport! Since Tim Donahee got caught, you cant trust any official, especially since gambling is fully legal now! NBA/NFL/college ball are almost unwatchable because of this! The human element of rule enforcement is 100% flawed! AI needs to take over asap!

 

[ams66]

Video review is way overused. It has destroyed the game flow of almost all sports.

 

[hoosier roadtrips]

Hopefully you don't have some egotistical ref who loves to be cheered. He might make every call in favor of the home team! Of course, we would never get one of those in Bloomington.

 

[IUNorth]

Its likely not worse...its just harder than it used to be, and there are millions more people "judging" the calls in real time...with HDTV and countless replays at their disposal. There are also quite a few more rules nowadays that need to be officiated than their used to be.

 

[Eyedoc991]

Video review is way overused. It has destroyed the game flow of almost all sports.

I agree. It's also not used correctly (IMO) and they often get it wrong anyway.

 

[mohepa]

As a former high school official I can tell you that the rule changes are the hardest part. If every official called every play “by the book” the game would be completely unwatchable and because of this, officials have developed unwritten rules that then get them in trouble.

For example, I was a line judge and holding calls were “only called if it impacted the play” but that becomes troublesome because now an objective call has become subjective.

When I was coaching high school (30 years ago) you taught the offensive line he to keep hands inside their frame, now they are taught to get their hands on the defense. If they did not allow this change, no offensive lineman could contain a good defensive lineman long enough to get a pass play away.

**steps off soapbox

 

[OpenWheels]

As a fan who watched most Vanderbilt games from 1997 thru 2010 when I lived in Nashville, I believe some of the most egregious screw jobs are less likely now, due to social media and other coverage.

I mean, throwing deep bombs that pretty much would win the game for Vanderbilt over a ranked SEC opponent disallowed for being across the line of scrimmage, when QB was 2 yards behind scrimmage. I've seen it all in a short time. Pure corruption. Don't know how some officials live with themselves.

The non-corrupt good ones just have a tough job and there's so much more scrutiny. Then there are non-corrupt ones that aren't good, but again, it's a tough job.

I don't think it's any worse, in fact I think slightly better.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I don’t know what the correct call is anymore. I’m 65. Played, coached, and watched the game since I was 4 or 5. Until recently, I could see the calls they got right and the calls they missed. It seemed pretty easy. Then they brought in instant replay and these stand-by officials who chip in with their 2-cents during the review. It seems to me they bat about 50% on predicting what they’ll end up with on the field. More confusing than ever how games are called.

 

[Eyedoc991]

I don’t know what the correct call is anymore. I’m 65. Played, coached, and watched the game since I was 4 or 5. Until recently, I could see the calls they got right and the calls they missed. It seemed pretty easy. Then they brought in instant replay and these stand-by officials who chip in with their 2-cents during the review. It seems to me they bat about 50% on predicting what they’ll end up with on the field. More confusing than ever how games are called.

I'm convinced a big part of the problem is the frame-by-frame replay. You can convince yourself of just about anything. Life doesn't happen in super slow-mo. Give 'em a time limit of real speed looks and ask if the call was blown.

 

[td75]

Big Ten officiating has been corrupt for decades. Mediocre to poor teams often don't get the whistle and they're simply not good enough to battle through these blown calls.

 

[ce36ei]

There’s also a smaller pool as fewer people are officiating and diversity is being pushed. 2 factors that shrinks the pool to choose from. It will only progressively get worse.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Am I the only one that thinks football officials have progressively gotten worse at every level over the past 15-20 years? It seems like virtually every game comes down to some controversial call that changes the mojo of the game and ends up being fatal for the team that doesn’t get the call (or calls).

Calls have become more complicated and difficult (targeting)

Replay is better so we can all judge

Refs rely on replay too much making them less sharp on bang bang plays many of which are not reviewable.

Less people get into reffing at the lower levels due to how parents treat them

 

[ams66]

Calls have become more complicated and difficult (targeting)

Replay is better so we can all judge

Refs rely on replay too much making them less sharp on bang bang plays many of which are not reviewable.

Less people get into reffing at the lower levels due to how parents treat them

If something is that hard to see/judge, there should not be a rule. Judging intent should never be in the equation, as that's subjective. Rules have to be clearly defined and enforcable based on what can be seen.

You're absolutely right about people not going into officiating because of parents. I've been at many games where parents get way out of line and young officials just decide it's not worth the abuse.

 

[Crossblock]

As players have become bigger and faster, it has become more difficult to get in proper position to see the play clearly. How can You expect anyone to make an absolutely accurate call on positioning the ball on an inside run at the goal line when You have to look through ten bodies of guys who are 6'6" and weight 300 plus pounds to determine the spot.

There is an over reliance on replay. I'm all for getting the call right, but if You can't find a reason to overturn the call on the field after viewing the replay for two minutes, move on. The one that should really upset IU fans was the replay at Iowa about 15 years ago. Our receiver caught a ball in the endzone for a Touchdown which would have put us Up something like 27-10, They did a 15 Minute review and determined our receiver was out of bounds because some black rubber pellets came up where He slid to the ground. You got the feeling that the Big 10 Office was on the phone with the Officials telling them to find anyway to overturn the call because the Conference would make more money if Iowa went to a bigger Bowl game.

 

[ams66]

I woud totally support time-boxing the video replay. 30 seconds maybe. If you just need to see if a foot was on the line or the ball was in the end zone or whatever, that should be enough. If you can't immediately tell, then it should stand as called.

 

[Eyedoc991]

if You can't find a reason to overturn the call on the field after viewing the replay for two minutes, move on

I think 2 minutes is way too long. You get 20 or 30 seconds of film at speed, whatever looks you want that are available. That's time for several looks at different angles with time to see a couple angles multiple times. If you still can't tell the call was obviously wrong before your time runs out, call stands.

 

[Crossblock]

I think 2 minutes is way too long. You get 20 or 30 seconds of film at speed, whatever looks you want that are available. That's time for several looks at different angles with time to see a couple angles multiple times. If you still can't tell the call was obviously wrong before your time runs out, call stands.

 

[Crossblock]

Regarding the length of replay, remember that sometimes they are also reviewing to determine the amount of time the game clock should be set at. Sometimes that requires more time than determining the result of the play.

 

[Bucket Getter]

Regarding the length of replay, remember that sometimes they are also reviewing to determine the amount of time the game clock should be set at. Sometimes that requires more time than determining the result of the play.

It shouldn’t. Seems like that’s by far the easiest part of it.

 

[Eyedoc991]

Regarding the length of replay, remember that sometimes they are also reviewing to determine the amount of time the game clock should be set at. Sometimes that requires more time than determining the result of the play.

Yeah, I'm not talking total time under the hood (I realize these are "booth" calls in college), but rather "game clock" film time

 

[IUNY]

Am I the only one that thinks football officials have progressively gotten worse at every level over the past 15-20 years? It seems like virtually every game comes down to some controversial call that changes the mojo of the game and ends up being fatal for the team that doesn’t get the call (or calls).

Pass interference is the most misapplied and costly penalty in the sport. Often, the referees feel the pressure of the home crowd. I bet if you looked at all the interference calls over a season, the majority would be in the home team's favor. I think interference is similar to charging in basketball, usually just one person's opinion. Interference is even worse in the NFL, where the ball is placed "at the spot of the foul." It's also aggravating when the crowd starts moaning for the refs to "throw the flag." I think games decided by these calls are cheapened; I would like to see the criteria for the penalty changed. Either it's holding, similar to what linemen do, or it is called if the defender tackles the receiver, but most other contact should be allowed. I also think interference penalties should be eligible for challenges and video review. On another note, penalties should only result in an "automatic first down," if the penalty yardage exceeds the "line to gain." If it's 3rd and 20 and the defense is called for a 15-yard penalty, then it should be 3rd and 5.

 

[13thman]

Pass interference is the most misapplied and costly penalty in the sport. Often, the referees feel the pressure of the home crowd. I bet if you looked at all the interference calls over a season, the majority would be in the home team's favor. I think interference is similar to charging in basketball, usually just one person's opinion. Interference is even worse in the NFL, where the ball is placed "at the spot of the foul." It's also aggravating when the crowd starts moaning for the refs to "throw the flag." I think games decided by these calls are cheapened; I would like to see the criteria for the penalty changed. Either it's holding, similar to what linemen do, or it is called if the defender tackles the receiver, but most other contact should be allowed. I also think interference penalties should be eligible for challenges and video review. On another note, penalties should only result in an "automatic first down," if the penalty yardage exceeds the "line to gain." If it's 3rd and 20 and the defense is called for a 15-yard penalty, then it should be 3rd and 5.

My problem is how penalties are assessed. The offense gets a bigger benefit in most cases. For instance, many defensive penalties are added on to the result of the play. But not offensive penalties. If they hold, it's assessed from the line of scrimmage. But if the play resulted in a negative play, it's not assessed from the result of the play like defensive penalties are.

 

[wi_hoosier]

Its likely not worse...its just harder than it used to be, and there are millions more people "judging" the calls in real time...with HDTV and countless replays at their disposal. There are also quite a few more rules nowadays that need to be officiated than their used to be.

Speed of the game has increased tremendously as well.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I’m curious about someone’s post above about “diversity” hiring. How the hell does it make any sense whatsoever to hire people who obviously never played a down in their life at any level? Is the NFL and NCAA really that starved for fans they need to cater to targeted demographics at the expense of professionalism and fair play?