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Poor Officiating

Big Red Thoughts

Sophomore
Oct 25, 2015
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I dont know what everyone is seeing for officiating, but I have seen enough poor officiating this season to last a lifetime. I was at a C2 game this week where the game was just given to the home team with some obvious calls that were wrong or not seen, the visiting team was victimized numerous times, seems like some crews need to stop officiating and the NSAA needs to step in and do something.
 
Big rED can you be more specific, how do you know they were bad calls, what did the crew do that was so lopsided? you should take NEN advise and go take the test and corral 3 of your bud's and start a crew as I as well gave you that same advise, plenty of ball games on the gridiron for you guys to work.
 
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In my 50 plus years of watching high school football, I've liked and respected every single official I've ever seen working a game. Tough gig.
Major shortage across the state. That is why you see so many Thursday, Saturday, and 3:00 on Friday games. A lot of crews are doing Thursday and two on Friday. Major need for officials. Just be grateful they were able to book a crew. Good or Poor officiating is part of the game. You see blown calls at all levels high school to the NFL. Agree with everyone else, don't complain or go take the test and put your own crew together.
 
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Major shortage across the state. That is why you see so many Thursday, Saturday, and 3:00 on Friday games. A lot of crews are doing Thursday and two on Friday. Major need for officials. Just be grateful they were able to book a crew. Good or Poor officiating is part of the game. You see blown calls at all levels high school to the NFL. Agree with everyone else, don't complain or go take the test and put your own crew together.
I have officiated basketball for over 10 years, dont have time for football, some of the most obvious calls are not being made, seen it in several games this year, coaches and players work too hard to have games taken away from them. Please dont act like u dont see that officiating is worse now than in the past. Also like how people that dont officiate tell people to officiate!!
 
I officiate basketball as well and attend a football game every Friday night. I've only seen one questionable crew so far this season. They are notorious for giving the home team breaks and they did that night as well. Other than that the officiating that I've seen has been very good.
 
I have officiated football for 32 years and I will say yes there are good crews and average to below average crews. Officials do not intentionally "screw" over a team. Fans are biased when looking at calls. Do we miss some? Yes. Calls are missed at every level of football. Does one call or even a handful of "questionable" calls cause a team to lose? Not very often. There is a major major shortage of officials in Nebraska right now. Most guys I have talked to as to why they gave it up say the same thing...it's not worth it anymore to be subject to the garbage we put up with. Some have thicker skins than others maybe they should have not been officials because of that. But I can tell you the sportsmanship of fans, players, parents and coaches has gone downhill over the years. It's awful. If you think you can do a better job grab a whistle, fill out an application, and join us brother. We would love to have you.
 
I have officiated football for 32 years and I will say yes there are good crews and average to below average crews. Officials do not intentionally "screw" over a team. Fans are biased when looking at calls. Do we miss some? Yes. Calls are missed at every level of football. Does one call or even a handful of "questionable" calls cause a team to lose? Not very often.

Great post @footballnut1960! I really liked this part. Very rarely do you lose a game on a bad call. A lot of things happen in a football game.

Officials have a job to do, and they aren’t trying to screw someone over. Players see parents/coaches complaining at refs, what kind of example does that set? A bad one. Complaining doesn’t motivate the players, it only hurts your team. Control what you can control and move on to the next play.
 
I don't mind at all if a coach or even a player asks me about a certain call for clarity if done respectfully. Parents and fans need to be more respectful. You can grumble all you want or tell your buddy next to you how bad we are...don't care...most times you are wrong because you don't know the rules like you think (heck even some coaches and players don't)...btw there are several rules that are different from HS to NCAA to NFL...but when you yell out loud like a jackass all you are doing is making yourself look like a fool and embarrassing your kid and/or the school.
 
I have officiated football for 32 years and I will say yes there are good crews and average to below average crews. Officials do not intentionally "screw" over a team. Fans are biased when looking at calls. Do we miss some? Yes. Calls are missed at every level of football. Does one call or even a handful of "questionable" calls cause a team to lose? Not very often. There is a major major shortage of officials in Nebraska right now. Most guys I have talked to as to why they gave it up say the same thing...it's not worth it anymore to be subject to the garbage we put up with. Some have thicker skins than others maybe they should have not been officials because of that. But I can tell you the sportsmanship of fans, players, parents and coaches has gone downhill over the years. It's awful. If you think you can do a better job grab a whistle, fill out an application, and join us brother. We would love to have you.
Tough to argue with that. More than anything, I want to see officials out there that want to be out there, and enjoying what they are doing. Smile every now and then and let the players know you aren't just there to put in your 2 hours time and collect a check. If you miss a call, tell the coach just that. We are all human. I don't think (and sure hope) there are refs that go out just to screw some team over. But I know for a fact that there are some officials (in bball as well) that had to get out of officiating because just as soon as a coach questioned a call, or agued with the official, they were going to get hosed over. Seen a few refs that are too worried about who is yelling what in the stands. Be a professional and ignore. Know that people get caught up in the heat of the moment. Just don't get caught up in it yourself. I know lots of refs that are great guys off the court/field. But just as soon as you cross them... your team is done getting calls.
 
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“Poor officiating” has never lost a game for a team. There are some bad calls but I have yet to see a game where officials won/loss a game for a team. I admit I’ve complained about officials but I try not to do it audibly and if I do just to those around me. I find it extremely embarrassing as a spectator when other fans rip on the refs the entire game.

On another note, I do have an officiating question. Is defensive pass interference an automatic first down? I was at a game last week where interference was called either in the end zone or inches from the goal line. The receiver caught the ball and was short of the goal line by inches. The coach took the penalty as it was 3rd down, and the ball was placed on the 3 yd line, and 3rd down repeated. The team failed to convert on 3rd and 4th downs and turnover on downs resulted. Thanks for the info, and to the officials on here keep up the good work.
 
Defensive pass interference is no longer an automatic first down in high school...and offensive pass interference is no longer loss of down...they changed that a few years ago. So you could have a DPI in the end zone wuth half the distance as the yardage but the result not be a first down...so yes it was called correctly. Again an example where high school rules differ from NCAA and NFL.
 
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well done fella's, this topic has lit a fire under a few asses, I agree with whoever said 'go find a crew' and I agree with that because then you wouldn't have to get on here and complain about how bad the stripes are. officiating is a tough gig, not everyone has the balls or mentality to do it, too many questions by coaches, fans and entitled players sometimes ruin the officials perspective of why they are doing what they are doing.
 
I am very happy that they changed the offensive pass interference call a few years ago. Loss of down was a killer when it happened.
 
“Poor officiating” has never lost a game for a team. There are some bad calls but I have yet to see a game where officials won/loss a game for a team. I admit I’ve complained about officials but I try not to do it audibly and if I do just to those around me. I find it extremely embarrassing as a spectator when other fans rip on the refs the entire game.

On another note, I do have an officiating question. Is defensive pass interference an automatic first down? I was at a game last week where interference was called either in the end zone or inches from the goal line. The receiver caught the ball and was short of the goal line by inches. The coach took the penalty as it was 3rd down, and the ball was placed on the 3 yd line, and 3rd down repeated. The team failed to convert on 3rd and 4th downs and turnover on downs resulted. Thanks for the info, and to the officials on here keep up the good work.
Good assumption, mostly right, but not 100% correct. 2013 (I know, long time ago) Wayne vs SSC. Wayne completed a long pass in 2nd 1/2 to get within the SSC 5 yd line late in the game. During the play, there was a “decleater” block & the Wayne kid “stood” over the deceased. Flag thrown & crew decided to enforce the penalty (unsportsmanlike) from the spot of the foul, about 40 yds from the end of the play. Penalty is not a spot foul, should have been enforced from end of the play. Essentially a 50-60 yd penalty. Wayne had a good kicker at the time. Wayne lost 15-14 partially because of inept penalty enforcement. I know the FG or TD wasn’t imminent, but refs severely determined the outcome of the game with their ignorance of penalty enforcement.
 
And yes, I was on a crew, and am one of those who stepped away due to my kids getting older & involved in activities, as well as fans being douche bags
 
I never said it never happens I said not often. If the call was an USC not a personal foul yes it was not enforced properly. Hopefully the coach questioned the enforcement spot. Are you sure they didn't call Unessesary Roughness and USC for the taunting? Hard to believe an official could botch a call like that but I wasn't there. If it did happen that stinks but again you are referring to an extreme exception.
 
Definitely sounds like a bad call but what about the other 100 plays in that game? Sounds to me like Wayne lost because they gave up 15 points and only scored 14. One play does not decide a game. They had one opportunity to score (scoring was not guaranteed) taken away from them but what about all the other opportunities? They didn’t capitalize and lost. Sure sucks but it’s the truth. Now, if I was a Wayne coach/player/fan I’d be mightily pissed off as well, but that one play doesn’t tell the whole story.
 
Exactly. Plus keep in mind what you may see as a bad call is actually the proper call because of the rule differences in levels of football. Hard to believe but most officials know a lot more about the rules than the average fan.
 
The nationwide obsession with officials and umpires and how they officiate is not healthy. Just another reason to place blame on the outcome of the play and the game when you are on the losing end. Coaches, parents, fans and players all have this obsession.
 
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