Can we just get it RIGHT!!

So i'm going to rant for a little bit in today's blog. I am so sick and tired of football official's completely blowing calls and being utterly inconsistent. It is hard enough to practice and prepare all week to do battle with your opponent, without having to battle against the officials all night too.  As I was writing this Saturday night I was watching The Oklahoma Sooners play the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and I found myself more engaged in the terrible officiating then I was in the game. All night the Red Raiders were being penalized for the most ticky tack fouls you can imagine, while Oklahoma could literally rob a bank an get away with it. Mike Pereira, head of officiating for Fox, even commented about the "ticky tackness" of calls on the Red Raiders. On one play Red Raider quarterback Patrick Mahommes passed to wide receiver Keke Coutee witch carried Coutee out of bound right into the arms of Oklahoma stand out running back Samaje Perine. Rather then being a good sport and helping Coutee, he shoves Coutee and then begins to verbally assault Coutee as if to instigate a fight. Oh by the way Perine was not even suited out for the game due to injury. Easy should have been a personal foul, however there was no flag thrown! All night long the Oklahoma secondary was draped all over the tech receivers like bad linen.. Coaches would be heavily penalized for coming out the way i am here by the NCAA and saying what needs to be said however i do not work for the NCAA so I will tell it like it is. 

In a study by professor's at Miami university of Ohio and Florida State, found through a complex 8 year study that Big 12 officials tend to penalize teams more heavily that play at a faster tempo. In this study the researchers urged the NCAA to consider creating a national officiating body, rather then have each conference hire, train, and evaluate their own officials. In this same study it flagged ACC officials for favoring home teams, betting line underdogs, and long time conference members like Duke and UNC.

Now I know officiating football is a very complex and difficult job, trying to spot and enforce every penalty set fourth by the NCAA. Lets face it there are 22 of the fastest men on earth scrambled in complete chaos 200 times a game... I get it. I've umpired little league games and have missed a call or two myself. But that is in little league. This is big time college and professional football. I don't want to sound like it's just a problem in college, because it's not. We are in the most technologically advanced era in sports history. Just about every collegiate football game played is televised either nationally or regionally. And the one's that aren't are at the very least filmed and tapped by their respective coaching staffs for training and development. So there are ways to get this stuff right! So the million dollar question is, at what point should a coach be allowed to question a judgement call of an official, if they believe based on video review that the call was erroneous, or was not called at all. For instance if the up stairs video team clearly see's a call that was missed on the field should they be able to call down to the coaches and get help? Or how about a flag that was called all to often this weekend in both collegiate and pro, the all dreaded illegal man down field. That call is based on the eye of the official without any clear line of demarcation on the field. Should the coach be able to ask for review by video to make sure the lineman was absolutely passed the 3 yard buffer provided in the rules? NO, why not? The coach can ask for the exact same thing in regards to spot of the ball!! What about when an offensive lineman get flagged for holding, but the tape clearly shows the defender tripped, making it look like he was thrown to the ground... Happened this weekend??? There is a 54 page NCAA Instant Replay Rules book for the coaches and officials to use as guidelines, and I was gonna post some of them here but there is just to many to write and you really have to read it because one rule leads to another... Quite fascinating actually. I will however provide you with the purpose as outlined in the rules and the philosophy to the rules.

Purpose as defined by the rules book says " Instant Replay is a process whereby video review is used to confirm, reverse, or let stand CERTAIN on field decisions made by game officials".  Philosophy is written as " The instant replay process operates under the fundamental assumption( we all know what assume stands for) that the ruling on the field is correct. The replay official may reverse a ruling if and only if the video evidence convinces him all doubt that the ruling was incorrect. Without such video evidence the replay official must allow the ruling to stand"

So if there are already 54 pages of legally defined reasons for review, why cant there be just one page added that says when video evidence is prudent in over turning a judgment by an official?? So you ask, who would make such overruling? Easy the UIC ( umpire in charge), or the crew chief, or for that matter a specially adjudicated official in the replay booth. That exact thing already happens in baseball where a coach, or player even can ask for help from another official if he believes the call was erroneous. I understand football is much more complex, however we do have the technology to get it right. Do you think Urban Meyer would like to have this right now as his previously undefeated Buckeyes lost Saturday night to Penn St. on a blow call by an official???

Coaches and teams have very little recourse against the officiating of their respective leagues, but are judged by the wins and losses of their teams, heavily influenced by the calls the officials make. The only way i see bad officiating getting better is by having an avenue in game, to challenge the erroneous calls. they do have this avenue as they can protest to the rules committee and NCAA after the game has been played, but that has little comfort to that coach when he has to go and tell his wife and children to start packing, we're moving again.