Has College Football Officiating always been this bad?
I'm just curious because it seems like lately there have been a ton of botched calls. I was curious about this following the ND touchdown where he fumbled at the two yard line, don't get me wrong, I could care less since UM won, but it certainly did have the potential to completely change the game.
This coupled with the controvesial call in Mashall V WVU's game on Friday made me wonder if maybe there isn't a better system than having conference hired refs, especially after the horrible job of officiating which we saw in last years LSU - Alabama game. Maybe I'm just being a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but didn't the SEC have more to gain as a conference by having Bama win (and go to the National Championship).
It all just got me wondering if maybe there is a better way to do this than having Conference hired refs.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:38 PM ^
the Lions game today
September 12th, 2010 at 9:40 PM ^
but that's mostly because I'm a Bengals fan
September 12th, 2010 at 9:42 PM ^
count your blessings for that or their may have been a fist shaped hole in your wall...
September 12th, 2010 at 9:43 PM ^
... the officials got it right; Calvin needed to maintain possession as he fell. Even Lions HC Jim Schwartz agreed:
"The rule is if you're going to the ground in the process of making the catch you need to finish with the football," he said. "He didn't finish with the football. He was [aware] he was trying to come down with it, he had one hand to keep it away from the other guy, he is trying to get his feet down and go to a knee it wasn't like he was trying to flip it to the official or anything. That's what it is."
It sucks, but it's the rules...
September 12th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
what if he uses the ball in that case to help him get up, and holds onto the ball, instead of dropping it. Technically the ground aided him in completing the process, or whatever that guy on tv was talking about. Would that be ruled a catch? When does the process stop?
September 12th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
That rule needs to be changed.
September 13th, 2010 at 7:49 AM ^
I agree 100%. Same thing happened to Charles Woodson on the pick he had, clearly he had possesion and lost control when he hit the ground. I feel it should be the same as "the ground can't cause a fumble" rule.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:41 PM ^
I have noticed this in basketball for a long time now, since maybe 10 years ago. Referees aren't getting any younger, but the sport they are officiating keeps getting better and faster. A little bit of an inverse relationship there, and it's only getting worse.
September 12th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
they need to start recruiting younger and more athletic guys to ref the game. Reffing aren't for old, fat and unfit people anymore.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:43 PM ^
I know there were plenty of missed holding calls during the game saturday. My dad said that MM is on the record saying he was held all day, and one time in particular the ref went up to the offender and warned him about it... You don't WARN someone, its not a speeding ticket, you throw the effing flag.
And yes, that fumble was frustrating, but can you imagine if that call went our way and we won by a TD or less what the Irish would have to say?
September 12th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^
It'd probably be pretty similar to the bitching we hear from them regardless.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:23 PM ^
So true, actually. I am in Columbus and found a band of Michigan fans to watch the game with. There were about 2 real ND fans there and one was particularly intoxicated at the end of the game and he tried to tell me that if ND won what DRob did on that last drive would have been nothing. Trying to bash a kid who put together a stellar drive to come from behind based on a hypothetical situation? I about lost it. I cannot stand those people
September 12th, 2010 at 10:35 PM ^
did he rub his chin a lot?
September 13th, 2010 at 12:02 AM ^
I'm usually pretty good about these, but I really don't get it haha
September 13th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
is obsessed with his chin
September 12th, 2010 at 10:18 PM ^
And yes, that fumble was frustrating, but can you imagine if that call went our way and we won by a TD or less what the Irish would have to say?
Not getting to hear it only makes the non-call even more annoying. We wuz robbed of seven points AND a particularly delicious bit of Irish schadenfreude.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:45 PM ^
Pretty much. Just be thankful it's not as bad as the NBA's.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:45 PM ^
but I think everyone would agree that CJ caught the ball and maintained possession long enough for it to count as a catch and TD. The refs called it correctly as the rules stands, the rule just sucks, especially in cases like today.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
the rule states that a receiver must maintain possession AFTER hitting the ground (emphasis mine). but how long after? he had two feet down, then his butt hit the ground, then both feet again, then he turned with ball in air in one hand, put his hand on the ground and his knee, and started to get up, at which time he placed the ball on the ground and lost it.
i'm quite sure that the intent of the rule is to call a pass incomplete when a receiver loses control when he hits the ground; time of impact
September 12th, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
From what I've seen, bad referee calls have been a huge part of football lore. Michigan has been screwed over by ref's for a long time, from the phantom touchdown in the Rose Bowl, to the trip of Desmond in the endzone, to sparty bob.
It's part of the game.
What really annoys me is when these kids drop the ball right at the endzone, making it questionable whether they get in or not. I have no idea why they are so ready to drop that ball. If I were a coach I would be forcing my players to run through the endzone. Its just such a stupid thing to do after a great play.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
It wasn't questionable, no matter what Hammond said. He dropped the ball.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:41 PM ^
that happening in general. The ND play seemed pretty obvious he wasn't in. But either way its a stupid thing to do after making a good play.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:05 PM ^
i'm glad it stayed a TD. i don't want to win that way. that said, i sure as hell would never want to lose that way either.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^
Officiating has always been a problem, especially when you play ND in South Bend. Mike Martin was getting held all day and then after the game was quoted saying that the refs kept giving Notre Dames offensive line warnings. A penalty is a penalty. During Saturday's live blog Geaux Blue said that one of the officials was a big Notre Dame fan, it was really no surprise to me how much we were getting robbed.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:54 PM ^
It's OK when you win, but terrible when you lose.
With the advent of slow motion, more games being televised, and multiple cameras (and angles) it is easier to see problem calls. There may be a few more bad calls, but they are much more obvious when they occur, leading to the questions on more bad calls.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
but with that TD/Touchback they didn't even try... it was incredibly obvious and they just blantantly said "We Are ND" with that horrible no call
September 12th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^
I thought it was illegal to run after signaling for a fair catch. ND did this yesterday and was not penalized. Is this only an NFL rule or did the refs miss the call?
September 12th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
Didn't UConn's Donald Brown score a touchdown that way a couple years ago?
September 12th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's a penalty.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^
Any undue advance by a fair catch receiver is delay of game. No specific distance is specified for undue advance as ball is dead at spot of catch. If player comes to a reasonable stop, no penalty. For penalty, five yards.
That is the NFL Rulebook. I guess they say he came to a "reasonable stop"?
September 12th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
I thought it was a penalty, as well, although none was called.
September 12th, 2010 at 10:46 PM ^
September 13th, 2010 at 12:23 AM ^
Charles White and phantom touchdown.
Yes it has been.
September 13th, 2010 at 1:17 AM ^
See also: 2005 Alamo Bowl
September 13th, 2010 at 6:40 AM ^
If anything, officiating is better now because of the replay rule. It just seems worse now because we have access to so many more games on TV and so much more video. Also, I can remember when national broadcasters would never criticize officials, as if there were some tacit code against it. Now, "unbiased" announcers routinely critique officials as much as they do players.