Is 2009 the worst year for Refs ever?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

Man...........I just watched the video of the double play at third base last night, where McClelland said Cano was safe. If I'm Scioscia I get tossed on that one. That was one fucking godawful call.

Agreed. I will say, strangely enough, that if the Angels had to lose, I am glad they got beaten really good. I don't want to think what these bad calls would have meant in a close game.

[MJ4H]

Can someone post a video of this call from the baseball game last night? I haven't seen it and cursory searching failed. It helped watching the Louisville-UConn botching, maybe this will help, too.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

Can someone post a video of this call from the baseball game last night? I haven't seen it and cursory searching failed. It helped watching the Louisville-UConn botching, maybe this will help, too.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | ALCS Game 4: Broadcasters call disputed play - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

[MJ4H]

Yep that's pretty lolbad

[gstelmack]

It's plays like that that make me wish professional sports were more like golf. He KNEW he got tagged out, just man up and say I'm out. Instead we have a system where players are doing their best to circumvent the refs/umps, and it just makes their job harder. Really the refs/umps should be there for disputed stuff. If we want to continue with this system, then let guys watching camera feeds, who can immediately reverse and slow-mo to check something, make the calls, rather than humans on the field who are easily distracted or looking at the wrong thing.

[MJ4H]

Yeah it's bull that he just stuck his foot back on the back and started smacking his gum just like nothing had happened. He knew he was out.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

Yeah it's bull that he just stuck his foot back on the back and started smacking his gum just like nothing had happened. He knew he was out.

But that's just baseball, the land of the corked bat, pine tar disputes, doctored balls, and every other method anyone can think of to cheat.

And yes I know it's not just baseball, it just seems like the sport that has it so ingrained in its culture. I do think football is reasonably close behind, just not as much on-field equipment to mess with. Kickers do their best with the balls, which is why we now have the K-ball.

[MJ4H]

The officiating crew from the Arkansas-Florida game has been suspended by the SEC until Nov. 14th. (same crew responsible for the LSU-Georgia debacle, by the way, the excessive celebration penalty)

[Logan]

What a shame.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

The officiating crew from the Arkansas-Florida game has been suspended by the SEC until Nov. 14th. (same crew responsible for the LSU-Georgia debacle, by the way, the excessive celebration penalty)

The ref's story
Marc Curles, the Southeastern Conference referee who made a controversial call in the Arkansas-Florida game, apologizes for his mistake - ESPN

Curles caught a glimpse of his bonehead call Saturday night when he reviewed a tape of key plays from the game.

"Quite frankly, I knew that I had made a mistake," he says of what he saw on tape.

What he had seen on the field only a few hours earlier, in front of a national TV audience and 90,000-plus packed into The Swamp for Florida's homecoming, was quite different.

"I saw out of the corner of my eye -- the play went over near the sideline," Curles recalls. "I'm trailing the play, moving in that direction. And out of the corner of my eye, I see a vicious blow, and I see the Florida player go flying down 20 yards behind the play. And in my mind, the Arkansas guy had blindsided him and knocked the player that was completely out of the play, which would have been a personal foul. Obviously, that isn't what happened. Where I made the mistake is I didn't see the whole thing. I didn't see how it developed. I saw out of the corner of my eye what I thought was a foul. I can't think something is a foul. I got to know it is. And that was my mistake. And I know better than that. What makes me mad at myself is that I know better than to call something if I didn't see the whole thing. And I've been sick about it ever since, quite frankly.

[MJ4H]

Now explain the other 40 sir*

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

(same crew responsible for the LSU-Georgia debacle, by the way, the excessive celebration penalty)

Which, in spite of the poor handling of it by the conference immediately afterwards, may very well have been a perfectly good call ... at least if you're willing to believe a UGA alum who also happens to be an official (and was the red hat for that game) But that gets very little play since it doesn't feed the whining.

Green penalty: Another ref's opinion | Blogs.OnlineAthens.com

[Dr. Sak]

Good find Jon.

[Logan]

And I've been sick about it ever since, quite frankly.

Quite frankly, I'm willing to bet he's doing just fine when there's not a mic/camera in front of him.

[MJ4H]

PETRINO REPRIMANDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 22, 2009) – Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has issued a public reprimand to University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino for his public comments earlier this week.

"Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," Slive said. "SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”


After further communication with the SEC, the league says the punishment's for comments he made in the coaches show on Sunday nights.



Frankly, I'm happy about this. It was fully expected. I think if there is a fine involved, there are enough fans that would chip in to help pay it. I know I would.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

PETRINO REPRIMANDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 22, 2009) – Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has issued a public reprimand to University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino for his public comments earlier this week.

"Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," Slive said. "SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”


After further communication with the SEC, the league says the punishment's for comments he made in the coaches show on Sunday nights.



Frankly, I'm happy about this. It was fully expected. I think if there is a fine involved, there are enough fans that would chip in to help pay it. I know I would.

I'm sure Petrino is okay with it, his/our point was made.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

PETRINO REPRIMANDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 22, 2009) – Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has issued a public reprimand to University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino for his public comments earlier this week.

"Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," Slive said. "SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”


After further communication with the SEC, the league says the punishment's for comments he made in the coaches show on Sunday nights.



Frankly, I'm happy about this. It was fully expected. I think if there is a fine involved, there are enough fans that would chip in to help pay it. I know I would.

SEC Code of Ethics = Kissing Tim Tebow's ass (or any Florida star QB)

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

PETRINO REPRIMANDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 22, 2009) – Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has issued a public reprimand to University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino for his public comments earlier this week.

"Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," Slive said. "SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”


After further communication with the SEC, the league says the punishment's for comments he made in the coaches show on Sunday nights.



Frankly, I'm happy about this. It was fully expected. I think if there is a fine involved, there are enough fans that would chip in to help pay it. I know I would.

They punished Petrino for criticizing officials the same day they announce the suspension of, and issue a press release criticizing, those same officials?

[MJ4H]

Well, I think the day after, but point taken.

[MJ4H]

I think the comment that brought it on was the one on his coach's show where he said "when they hit you on the white like that it's supposed to be a late hit but unfortunately they don't call it like that in Florida." Pretty mild if you ask me, but hey.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by stevew

Did anyone see the first down call in the Pittsburgh/Cleveland game? It was a bad camera angle, but the ball appeared least a chainlink length short and they gave the Steelers a first down.



Then the booth crew doesn't explain the call, or really ever mention it again. Maybe the refs got that one right, but it needed further explanation.

I emailed an acquaintance at the NFL which provided me with an explanation to what happened here.

Before the game the headlines man job is to stretch out the chains and to see if the inside of the poles are exactly 10 yards. Well in this case the distance was 30 feet 3 inches. So both coaches were notified of that and that if the ball made it to the end of the start of the metal clip at the end of the chains (not the pole) it was a first down, and this is what happened in this case.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I emailed an acquaintance at the NFL which provided me with an explanation to what happened here.

Before the game the headlines man job is to stretch out the chains and to see if the inside of the poles are exactly 10 yards. Well in this case the distance was 30 feet 3 inches. So both coaches were notified of that and that if the ball made it to the end of the start of the metal clip at the end of the chains (not the pole) it was a first down, and this is what happened in this case.

Dale Hamer to the rescue?

So I'll ask a dumb question- how does that happen? Are the chains replaced every week?

[Dr. Sak]

I cannot reveal my source.

To be honest, I have no idea how it happens but it is something that is checked each week.

[Logan]

The most surprising part of that screenshot is that Larry Johnson was averaging over 5 yards a carry.

[TroyF]

I'm a person who has criticized officials hard.

You'll never hear me say a word about a tough call. The play at the plate with ARod and the Angels catcher where the catcher never tagged him? I don't know how anyone can get that at real speed. An umpire who can't see a ball land a foot inside the baseline when he's staring right at it? His postseason should be over and he should be put on a watch list. More blown calls and he needs to go.

I think the SEC did the right thing by suspending the crew and that the MLB is doing a better thing by making a full review before the World Series assignments as well.

I know it's a tough job. On the other side of it, it IS a job. If you can't get the obvious ones right, you shouldn't have that job.

[henry296]

Dr. Sak - Given that explanation don't you think the ref should've mentioned it after the game when asked.

[bhlloy]

Yeah Sak I really respect the insight you bring to this board and this is not a personal attack in any way so I hope it's not taken as such but if that's the case, why didn't somebody (anybody) just say so after the game? Smells like a big coverup and somebody came up with a convenient excuse after the fact.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Yeah Sak I really respect the insight you bring to this board and this is not a personal attack in any way so I hope it's not taken as such but if that's the case, why didn't somebody (anybody) just say so after the game? Smells like a big coverup and somebody came up with a convenient excuse after the fact.

Thanks for the compliment. I try to stay out of judgement calls because I was once really harsh on refs until I became one and realized how hard and basically thankless the job can be.

I think it would've been a double edge sword. If they come out with an explanation, you'll still have those conspiracy people thinking that it is a cover up. I think they felt as long as the coaches knew before the game, everything was safe. I am sure it was included in the report that the referee has to make out each game and send in to the league.

[bhlloy]

I can definitely appreciate that. I've done my share of soccer refereeing over the years although never at a very good level and there is nothing worse than making a great call and getting completely ripped by a bunch of moronic spectators/players for it I can't imagine how it feels to have to make a judgement call on national TV and know how many more morons are going to dissect my calls the next day.

As usual I agree with Troy. Honest mistakes are honest mistakes but some of the ones this season (especially MLB) have just been mindblowing and I wouldn't expect to keep my job if I made those kind of mistakes on a regular basis during our most important time of the year.

[Flasch186]

Dolphins v Saints blew the Sharper call on the Pick 6 AND missed overturning it on the Instant replay {smacks head}.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

"Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," Slive said. "SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”

I agree with Samdari - shouldn't Slive be fining himself in this case?

Not that the suspension did a lot of good - Florida got another gift on the "touchdown" where the ball was dropped before the goal line.

Originally Posted by http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/mississippi-state-coach-dan-mullen-disputes-florida-gators-touchdown-wants/1046942

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen called for disciplinary action against the SEC replay official who worked the Bulldogs' 29-19 loss Saturday to top-ranked Florida after a Gators touchdown that might have been a fumble was not overturned.
Mullen said Sunday that it's understandable if a field official makes a mistake because of the speed of the game, but the replay official should be accountable.
"I don't even know why we have replay right now in the Southeastern Conference if they're not going to utilize it," Mullen said. "I hope he's severely punished if he ever works another SEC game again."

Also, Lane Kiffin's rationale for not running another play before the FG attempt is at least belligerent and comical if it doesn't make any more sense.

Coach Lane Kiffin said he did not run another play before a blocked 44-yard field goal in a loss at Alabama in part because "I wasn't going to let the refs lose the game for us there and some magical flag appear.'' With about 35 seconds left, the Vols waited and spiked the ball with four seconds to play. Tennessee had eight penalties for 68 yards and Alabama had one 10-yard penalty. Kiffin expects a reprimand from the SEC for criticizing officials as Arkansas' Bobby Petrino was for criticizing officiating in a loss to Florida on Oct. 17. "I'm sure we'll get one of those letters that really means nothing, as Bobby got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on," Kiffin said.