Minnesota Game

[NorthKCHawk]

This is exactly right. Here's one from Sunday. Down 20-16 in the 4th quarter the Browns throw an 82 yard TD pass to take the lead. It got called back for holding on #63 on the right side of the screen. They ended up losing 20-16. Un-dirty word-believable.

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To me, there should also be a question of whether it had any impact on the play. Sometimes the foul is so far away from the play and would not change the outcome that a hands to the face penality that wipes out a big play is silly. I get that they are calling all this in real time and may not be able to predict what is connected to the actual play, but the flags are crazy in some games. Use some discretion. And, don't get me started on QB "blows to the head" penalities. They are wearing helmets for god sakes!!!

If you think about reffing in various sports, it seems like the more animated the reffing, the less popular the sport is. No ref has as much impact on the game and are more animated than an umpire in baseball. Tossing players for nothing, overly dramatic strike 3 calls, chin wags. They act like the crowd came to see them. Basketball is not far behind (its a sport for BB refs to see who can be the most dramatic calling a charge. Why?). Football refs are the least confrontational with players and coaches, and when they are not flag happy, the game is great to watch and the refs just blend in. We all come there to watch great athletes compete, not 65 year old dudes trying to make themselves part of the game.

 

[BigD]

I apologize if this was brought up as I have been very busy and have limited time to read everything. You go back a few years and Iowa got screwed on the very same type of call. I believe we were playing Florida and we had made a great comeback and had just scored. We had enormous momentum and they simply couldn’t stop our offense with just a couple of minutes left. A touch down gives us the lead even without the extra point.

We lined up, did the on side kick and recover the ball. Oops, flagged for being off side and a replay clearly showed none of our players were off side. Florida got the ball and ran the clock out.

Totally agree with Fry. How is this any different that replays that show whether or not a catch was in bounds. Or the correct placement of the ball? The rules need to be changed.

 

[CP87]

I have 2 strong beliefs when it comes to reffing/reviewing:

1) When in doubt, keep the flag in your pocket. My wife coached HS basketball for over a decade, and for part of that time we would rewatch games to do the stats. One thing that jumped out to me was ref's accuracy (or lack thereof) on making travel calls. For the non-obvious ones, the refs were getting them right at about 50%, or a coin flip, when we watched in slow-mo. So, if you are only getting them right half the time, just let them all go! Your error rate will be the same (just flipping from false positives to false negatives), but you won't muck up the flow of the game. NBA has always had this right, giving great leniency on travels to add to the excitement of the game.

2) Reviews need to be used on a very limited basis. That is why I like a challenge system with a limited number of challenges, it prevents reviewing ticky-tacky things that ultimately don't have a big impact on the outcome. But, replay should be allowable in ANY instance where the camera is not going to lie, such as offsides, as long as you challenge it.

 

[thedukeofearl]

I have 2 strong beliefs when it comes to reffing/reviewing:

1) When in doubt, keep the flag in your pocket. My wife coached HS basketball for over a decade, and for part of that time we would rewatch games to do the stats. One thing that jumped out to me was ref's accuracy (or lack thereof) on making travel calls. For the non-obvious ones, the refs were getting them right at about 50%, or a coin flip, when we watched in slow-mo. So, if you are only getting them right half the time, just let them all go! Your error rate will be the same (just flipping from false positives to false negatives), but you won't muck up the flow of the game. NBA has always had this right, giving great leniency on travels to add to the excitement of the game.

2) Reviews need to be used on a very limited basis. That is why I like a challenge system with a limited number of challenges, it prevents reviewing ticky-tacky things that ultimately don't have a big impact on the outcome. But, replay should be allowable in ANY instance where the camera is not going to lie, such as offsides, as long as you challenge it.

Entirely Too Rational, Jack