Do the refs see controversial calls at half-time?

Submitted by marlon on

Recently, I watched WolverineHistorian's highlights of last year's Michigan-Eastern Michigan game on YouTube.  The video included the play that led to a defensive pass interference call against Boubacar Cissoko in the first quarter.  Replays clearly show the ref's call was wrong and that Johnny Sears should have been whistled for offensive pass interference.

When this happens, when a ref makes an egregiously bad call during the first half of a college football game, does the ref hear about it during half-time?  Do refs get to watch replays of their calls?  Or does a ref's review of their own performance wait until the game is over?

the_big_house 500th

July 21st, 2010 at 1:24 AM ^

It was so obvious it should of been offensive pass interference and at that moment I thought "here we go another shit Big Ten call." I would imagine both yes and no. Yes in the fact they want to get the call right that way if it does happen again they can identify it easier and no in the fact that the play has passed the game is moving on and looking back on it would be a waste of time. Although this was clear as a bell. However I'm not a college football referee so I can't judge what they do during halftime.

I like to refer to this call. Are you serious ref?

MGoBender

July 21st, 2010 at 9:24 AM ^

I don't blame the side judge on that one.  If you saw it from his angle it probably looked like a no doubt pass intereference.  The problem he was completely straightlined and had to make a guess based on how he saw the guys fall.  As side judge that it your "primary" and if anyone has a flag, it should be you.

However, as I said, he was straight lined.  In that instance the ideal situation would have been to defer to the backjudge who had a great angle on the play.  The play was in the backjudge's "secondary" zone, but in this situation, he had the best angle.  He should have came in and told the side judge to pick up his flag.  So, in this instance, the real mistake was not by the guy who threw the flag, but by the back judge who didn't explain enough what he saw.

Space Coyote

July 21st, 2010 at 1:24 AM ^

I don't think they are informed of anything until after the game is over.  That was a bad call, I remember it, but I don't think what you want is a ref being told he missed a call while the game is still going on.  Make up calls only make the game worse, so there really is no point, during half time, for the ref to be made aware of his bad call.

The Shredder

July 21st, 2010 at 1:27 AM ^

My cousin is a Big Ten Official and the answer is no. They review the game the next day and get graded by a B10 evaluator. Trust me, they know when they fuck a call up. I am sure the dude was killing himself at halftime over it. At half you just get water and some food and game plan for the 2nd half. They don't want you being hung up on one play you did wrong. Thats the biggest rule in officiating is to move on when you know you did wrong. Just like in sports, you have to have a short memory. He knows he will go over that play with an evaluator in the next week.

When I screw up in basketball, I know it and try my best to just forget it. 

formerlyanonymous

July 21st, 2010 at 2:03 AM ^

Refs aren't going to look at calls mid-game. First, they're just as tired as many of the players. They're going to want time to cool down. I imagine they have a short strategy session where they review any potential problems coming up, such as sideline warnings, certain players being chippy, etc. They probably go over a few situations from the first half to make sure their communication will be clear on the field.

pullin4blue

July 21st, 2010 at 7:06 AM ^

Typically at halftime the refs get water, a snack and a bathroom break. They may discuss things in general (Team A is should be watched for sideline violation) and some refs will come out and say " sorry, but I blew that call" only because it reflects poorly on the entire officiating team. They all know they will be evaluated on things individually later and beating themselves up won't change things. They do not tell each other to look out for an individual player because that is unfair and draws the attention away from what you are supposed to be watching. They should not be watching halftime television or be watching other games even if available. They helps them to be fair and impartial.

Blazefire

July 21st, 2010 at 8:15 AM ^

They should not be watching halftime television or be watching other games even if available.

Indeed. Take, for instance, a hard-luck team that could win its first conference championship in 30 years if A: they win their game, and B: the team that wins EVERY year loses theirs. Well, if you check out the other game at halftime, and see the team that always wins is in danger of losing, no matter how "impartial" you are, you're liable to maybe somewhere deep inside root for the hard-luck team and give them a few favorable calls.

Or, likely more commonly, they'd see a bad call being highlighted in another game, and say, "Whoo... I don't want to do that!", which might cause them to not make a call when they actually should.

wildbackdunesman

July 21st, 2010 at 8:38 AM ^

I know a BigTen ref and the answer is sometimes they hear if they messed up at half time.  In example, the Official that reviewed and awarded that TD against MSU where I believe it was Minor hit the pylon but never got a foot in bounds did re-read the rules at halftime and communicate that with the other refs that they messed up in awarding the TD.

That might be more unusual though.

MGoBender

July 21st, 2010 at 8:47 AM ^

The Shredder hit it on the head with this: The ref usually knows when he fucked up. 

Sometimes it is immediately.  In football you have the luxury of picking the flag back up if you are 100% sure you should (though it looks way worse than a bad call if you pick it up and it was there).  In baseball you don't really have that luxury.  Same in basket.ball.

Sometimes it takes players' reactions to know you fucked up.  That's tougher because you still saw what you think you saw and then you have to simply put it behind you and assume the player was wrong.  But when you get to know players' reactions, this is tough when you think they might be right.

Sometimes you and nobody else knows you fucked up until you see the video.  These are the learning mistakes and they happen most often.

I guess my most important point is mistakes happen.  They happen remarkable infrequently at high levels, such as professional levels and division 1.  For example, ACC basketball refs are graded on every call and no call.  They need to be 90% correct on the game and 100% correct in the last 4 minutes.  That's tough.