OT - NFL Officiating

[Fryowa]

I can understand that. I have seen some really vile "parents" at the ball field, the chorus performance, in the audience/stands, etc. Sad, really.

It's getting worse, in my opinion.

Just talked to my assignor the other night, he said last year he lost 11 umps and gained 4, this year so far he's had 7 tell him they aren't coming back and no new guys. By far and away it's abuse from coaches and parents that keeps guys from coming back. Once in a while a guy will quit when his kids get into sports so he can go watch, but most leave because of how bad the crowds and coaches (albeit to a lesser degree).

Here's the problem with baseball officiating at the high school level (again, this is my opinion)...

First, it's really easy to get into, and it has to be because the demand is so high. That's not entirely a bad thing. All you have to do is pay $50 and take an open book test of 50 questions. You get three chances to pass, and once you do--congratulations. You're now an umpire in the state of Iowa. I say it's not entirely a bad thing because generally you don't get idiots trying to officiate since 1) it's intimidating as hell, and 2) the people normally have a love for the sport and some pre existing rules knowledge that just has to be refined a little and added to as far as mechanics, etc. You're not gonna get some random dude who's trying to decide between umpiring and working at Hardee's for the summer.

Here's where everything goes to hell...

When new umps come on board they immediately get barraged from ADs and assignors to take tons of games. And by immediately, I mean immediately. I had probably 5 voicemails and who knows how many emails the day after I registered the first time back in the day. That's great, but now guys are faced with never having umpired before and all of a sudden they get thrown to the frickin wolves. You get absolutely zero training. And to make things worse you have coaches who have been at their positions for sometimes 20-30 years, they know the rules better because of it, and they have absolutely no patience (I understand some f it because they have games to win). I can't stress enough that you have absolutely no training, and you're expected to be 100% perfect the first time you step on that diamond.

What normally happens is a guy will miss a banger (that the coach can't prove anyway), screw up an infield fly call, or get caught with his pants down not seeing something that a coach appeals, and now he has to admit he wasn't watching. So you get a coach flaming mad talking shit about you for three hours (coaches, we can fucking hear you in the dugout). Next you have Kathy in the stands painting her toenails and squealing about how her kid's strikeout was bullshit because that pitch "bounced" (btw, Kathy's kid is always the one named Kaden or Taden Or Jaylyn or Braydyn). Then you have Mr. Coach Guy who sets up his lawn chair behind the backstop and constantly sighs and goes, "Come on BLUE! Where WAS that? Where do you want it?" It's a hundred fuckin degrees out with no wind and mosquitoes are eating you alive, and that's just enough to tip you over the edge and you decide that as soon as you've done enough games to pay for your gear that you aren't coming back. Seen it happen a million times to guys who are really smart, love baseball, and would make good umpires, but the fans and coaches are pieces of shit. $130 isn't worth it a lot of times.

When I started and went to my first officiating clinic (required) I felt like a rockstar. All of the veteran umpires came up after intrductions and shook my hand and said, "Thanks for getting involved." Same with the other new guys. I had no idea why but I sure found out the first time I worked a varsity game.

So...I bitch about the problem, I have to offer a soultion I guess...

For new guys:

1) Don't take tons of games right away. You have no clue if you'll like it or not; if you hate it and quit after committing to games, you will be blackballed if you ever get back in.

2) Don't listen to assignors when they tell you you'll be fine to work varsity right away. The classic line they give you is, "You can work the JV plate and Bill will do the varsity plate." It's still going to overwhelm you. Do it right, and your first year take mostly middle school games and freshman stuff. Middle school games are always total shit shows, but they'll give you valuable experience sorting out base-running fiascoes and snowball fight inside the park-ers. I know they're during the day and you have to take PTO from work, but do it anyway. Consider it your price for training.

Freshman games are nice because it's only one game, no one shows up except for parents, and it's usually younger assistant coaches handling those games and they won't give you too much shit. It's also played on a full size field and you can work on your balls and strikes.

3)TELL YOUR PARTNER YOU'RE NEW. Can't stress this enough. If you don't feel totally comfortable doing the plate, say so. This doesn't mean you can skip out on it, but it lets your partner know that you have your hands full just calling pitches, etc. and that your head is spinning. If he's a good dude he'll help take some of the load off. I whined like a bitch my first year but it's worth it. If you work freshman games stick around and watch good varsity umps work. Ask them questions. I have never in my life met a veteran ump who wouldn't answer questions.

What should IAHSAA do? They like to talk about needing new umps, but they do very little if anything for retention. In my opinion they need to get their heads out of their butts and make more consequences for screamer coaches. Make ejections a forfeit of the in-progress game and a week suspension. Most screamers even nowadays quiet down right away when you tell them you're getting close to your tolerance level. Coaches clinics need to have an emphasis on being respectful to new umpires. I say that having coached high school ball myself and being in that position. I also have a 100% clear conscience in saying I have never yelled at or argued with an official from youth ball up through high school. I got pissed plenty of times, but I know what they're going through and me being an obnoxious bitch isn't going to change the call.

As far as fans, you're just going to have to nut up and realize that none of those people bitching could officiate a sport for half a second and they wouldn't be able to pass a rules test if you gave it to them. Stare em down if they get too bad and move on.

 

[Fryowa]

I have not umpired a baseball game so I can't speak from that side but I feel confident in stating basketball officiating is the most difficult, followed by football.

Basketball is difficult because constant movement among players, split second decisions, proximity of fans/coaches.
Football is difficult because of the physicality and again the # of players. The benefit is breaks between plays and you can always throw a flag, pick it up and more opportunities to come together as a crew to make decisions.

Baseball has to be the easiest. Balls strikes has to be difficult but it's not near as physical a task as the other 2 sports. Plus the 2 teams don't have as much interaction with one another.

I have not done basketball, but I've done plenty of baseball and football.

Baseball is by far the most difficult of the two.

Football gives you the benefit of conferring, and you can fix mistakes. You get time to talk penalties over, and time to confer to get penalties/ball placement/game parameters corrected. You're also several hundred feet away from the crowd so not only can't they yell at you effectively, they can't see many of the calls you make. On most baseball diamonds you're 20 feet away from the crowd

As far as physicality, there's more running (jogging, come on), and more moving parts, but working 7 innings behind the plate is a mofo when you're geared up in the heat. I am by far more uncomfortable doing that than when I reffed football. Working bases is cake, though. Just my opinion, yours may be different.

Again, I have not done basketball, but if you ask me that has to be the most difficult of the three to officiate by a long ways. The rules are so interpretive that no matter what you do you're going to have half a gym going nuts each trip up and back. As an official I have a ton of respect for basketball guys and no chance in hell would I ever do it.

 

[ibahawkeye]

I have not done basketball, but I've done plenty of baseball and football.

Baseball is by far the most difficult of the two.

Football gives you the benefit of conferring, and you can fix mistakes. You get time to talk penalties over, and time to confer to get penalties/ball placement/game parameters corrected. You're also several hundred feet away from the crowd so not only can't they yell at you effectively, they can't see many of the calls you make. On most baseball diamonds you're 20 feet away from the crowd

As far as physicality, there's more running (jogging, come on), and more moving parts, but working 7 innings behind the plate is a mofo when you're geared up in the heat. I am by far more uncomfortable doing that than when I reffed football. Working bases is cake, though. Just my opinion, yours may be different.

Again, I have not done basketball, but if you ask me that has to be the most difficult of the three to officiate by a long ways. The rules are so interpretive that no matter what you do you're going to have half a gym going nuts each trip up and back. As an official I have a ton of respect for basketball guys and no chance in hell would I ever do it.

I have experience with both football and basketball
Basketball is more difficult in my opinion.

I’m not sure what level of football you did but I still have difficulty buying in that baseball is more difficult.

 

[marshallcart]

As a baseball umpire, I will give you a good example. When I'm watching a runner advance to a base, and the throw is coming in, I watch to see if the ball beat the runner, and if the ball is down. If those two things happen, the runner is out. I don't really care if an actual tag is made. In high school, this works fine. With 15 cameras from 15 angles in place, it doesn't work fine.

Don't get me wrong, I want to be accountable. But I believe this approach serves the game well.

If you watched last night's game, on the two hands-to-the-face calls, it looked like the lineman's head was being pushed back, and the hands were up in that area, so... flag. On the replays they looked like bad calls. They probably were, but they weren't terrible calls. You can see why the flag was thrown.

Back to baseball... a long time ago, you used to see a "phantom touch" at second base to start a double play. No more. The players know they have to actually hit the base with the ball in their possession. This is good.

I'm in my 60's, and I get a robust schedule of varsity games every year. I won't be umping forever. I don't see very many young guys behind me to fill in. I started umping as a teenager. I do it because I love baseball, and I encourage every young player I can to consider wearing the blue cap after they're done playing. It's a great hobby, and it can be a very lucrative hobby as well. Good job with your analysis, Fryowa.

(by the way, Penn State's overturned touchdown would never NOT be a touchdown in the "old days".)

 

[Fryowa]

I’m not sure what level of football you did but I still have difficulty buying in that baseball is more difficult.

Middle school and varsity football in Iowa.

Baseball would be middle school, freshman, varsity baseball in Iowa, JV and varsity NAIA college ball (have not worked post season), and Legion ball from 13u up in SD and MN.

It's ok to disagree. My opinion is baseball (I'm saying plate here) is a tougher job. You get more crowd/coach abuse, calls are quicker and generally not reversed/corrected, and there's no conversation or conferring with your partner unless something has gone horribly wrong. It's also hot as hell and I'm more comfortable in fall weather reffing football (I stopped football three years ago when my son got more active in sports). To get started you're looking at $600-700 in gear as well. You can disappear into the mix as part of a football crew but with baseball you're front and center and almost thought of as a 3rd team. I personally feel more pressure umpiring, but that's just me. Your experience may differ. Around here a football game pays right at $100, baseball JV/V double headers are $130-140.

Honestly, I have a lot of respect for people who officiate any high school sport. It's not a money-making endeavor and people who do it do it because they love the sport.

I always thought wrestling would be fun to officiate, but I was not a wrestler and I don't know how coaches, etc. would perceive that. I'm capable of understanding and applying rules, but I don't know how hard it would be to adapt. Baseball came natural to me and football was good to be part of a crew that you can learn from. Neither of those would apply to wrestling for me.

 

[Fryowa]

As a baseball umpire, I will give you and excellent example. When I'm watching a runner advance to a base, and the throw is coming in, I watch to see if the ball beat the runner, and if the ball is down. If those two things happen, the runner is out. I don't really care if an actual tag is made. In high school, this works fine. With 15 cameras from 15 angles in place, it doesn't work fine.

Back to baseball... a long time ago, you used to see a "phantom touch" at second base to start a double play. No more. The players know they have to actually hit the base with the ball in their possession. This is good.

I'm in my 60's, and I get a robust schedule of varsity games every year. I won't be umping forever. I don't see very many young guys behind me to fill in. I started umping as a teenager. I do it because I love baseball, and I encourage every young player I can to consider wearing the blue cap after they're done playing. It's a great hobby, and it can be a very lucrative hobby as well. Good job with your analysis, Fryowa.

The way most HS fields are maintained there's a hell of a cloud of dust on most slides, so it's almost impossible to see anyway.

I feel that you have to use the same approach on bangers at first. I watch the foot, listen for the ball to hit, and that's really all you can do. Sometimes it's too close to reliably call. Let me put it this way, on one of those calls I wouldn't want to have a gun to my head with a camera replay because there's a high probability of missing it.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I don’t think officiating is any worse than its ever been. In fact, as far as applying the rules they’re given, it’s probably better.

What's changed the officiating part of the game is the crazy number of camera angles, and high definition and frame rates.

Back in the 80s/90s we had one, maybe two, camera angles of a PI situation, reception, line of scrimmage, etc. The officials made the calls based on what they saw and that was that. The camera shots were often blurry, zoomed out, and the frame rates were so low that we couldn't tell what happened from one frame to the next.

Now cameras are in the pylons, on the goal line, in the yardage sticks/markers, on cables suspended above the field, in the goal posts, and a million other different places. We see every call from ten different angles and the slow-mo frame rates are so crazy that they actually catch the 60hz cycling of the led stadium lights.

Refs have always missed calls, but when cameras got better and more numerous and we started seeing the replays thousands of times on social media and TV, everyone started complaining about it. That's also why we've had so many stupid rules created regarding what constitutes a catch, etc, because we never used to be able to see someone bobble a ball from 5 different angles at 300 fps.

That also was the beginning of the review/challenge process, and pretty soon we're where we are now with everyone thinking refs suck when in actuality they most likely know the rules better and make better calls.

Just like the electronic strike zone has shown us that umpires average 14 missed pitches per game. Umpires aren't shittier than they used to be, we just have better measuring tools. If anything umpires are better than ever because they know they're scrutinized so hard.

tl;dr, officiating isn't bad, it's the game and rules themselves that suck.

This is exactly correct. The issue doesn't lie with the officials but rather the process.

The NFL is over-reacting to the non-PI in the playoffs last season. Yes, it was a terrible non-call, but every terrible call should not be an impetus for sweeping changes in the system. It's opening up a huge can of worms. Once you start going down that path, there is no end in site.

As for the calls last night, I'd give the officials a bit of a break. The hands to the face calls show a hand under the neck with the tackles head being pushed back. We're talking about a difference of a couple of inches there. In REAL TIME, it's borderline ridiculous to blame the officials for that. As a DE, your hands should never be that close to the neck while pushing into the lineman, whether legal or not. It's not worth the gamble.

The possible conspiracy regarding the PI overturns is interesting. There was a play that was challenged by LaFleur- it was either the Eagles or the Cowboys game - during which there was obvious interference along the sideline. Every announcer and even the officiating "expert" thought it was just a formality that it would be overturned. Then, of course, the call on the field was upheld and everyone was dumbstruck. Makes you wonder if there is some sort of pact.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Ironically, the one area I've always felt should be reviewed is where there are player altercations resulting in unnecessary roughness calls.

The old adage is that the retaliator is the one who gets caught. To me, that is the perfect scenario where a review makes complete sense. Review the play to see who actually initiated the problem and make sure the right guy gets punished.

A perfect example was a play a few years ago where Vontaze Burfict (I know, hard to believe...) subtlety hit a Packers player in the nuts. The Packers player of course shoved him. Burfict sold it and drew the penalty. It was complete BS and would have been an easy overturn.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Last night's game stirred up another hornet's nest.

It's a mess.

Those ref's lost the game for Detroit. And I say that being a Packer fan.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Here's the video of that play. Watch Burfict's right hand.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Those ref's lost the game for Detroit. And I say that being a Packer fan.

But where does it end?

The pass that would have beaten the Eagles was another bad non-call, so the Packers lost that game because of the officials? Replays showed that MVS couldn't reel in that end zone catch at the end because the DB had his elbows pinned from behind before the ball got there. The resulting interception ended the game.

I'm also a Packers fan. That kind of stuff happens every game and I've come to accept it when it's a bang-bang call. It's frustrating, no doubt, but part of the game. The Packers lost that game because the Eagles' offensive line dominated the trenches, not because of the officiating.

As for the Lions, you can't assume that. At best, Crosby would have had to attempt about a 40 yarder, which statistically he almost certainly would have made, then the Lions would have had about a minute to get into FG range without any timeouts. Possible, but certainly not guaranteed.

 

[hawkeyes87]

Refs have always missed calls, but when cameras got better and more numerous and we started seeing the replays thousands of times on social media and TV, everyone started complaining about it.

Yeah, people can't figure out that there are probably penalties that could be called on every play- not just those that some tv guy notices.

As long as the refs aren't blatantly favoring one team, who cares? It'll even out over a game.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Middle school and varsity football in Iowa.

Baseball would be middle school, freshman, varsity baseball in Iowa, JV and varsity NAIA college ball (have not worked post season), and Legion ball from 13u up in SD and MN.

It's ok to disagree. My opinion is baseball (I'm saying plate here) is a tougher job. You get more crowd/coach abuse, calls are quicker and generally not reversed/corrected, and there's no conversation or conferring with your partner unless something has gone horribly wrong. It's also hot as hell and I'm more comfortable in fall weather reffing football (I stopped football three years ago when my son got more active in sports). To get started you're looking at $600-700 in gear as well. You can disappear into the mix as part of a football crew but with baseball you're front and center and almost thought of as a 3rd team. I personally feel more pressure umpiring, but that's just me. Your experience may differ. Around here a football game pays right at $100, baseball JV/V double headers are $130-140.

Honestly, I have a lot of respect for people who officiate any high school sport. It's not a money-making endeavor and people who do it do it because they love the sport.

I always thought wrestling would be fun to officiate, but I was not a wrestler and I don't know how coaches, etc. would perceive that. I'm capable of understanding and applying rules, but I don't know how hard it would be to adapt. Baseball came natural to me and football was good to be part of a crew that you can learn from. Neither of those would apply to wrestling for me.

If we are just taking behind the plate, I can see that as you're having to make a decision every play which to me is similar to basketball/football officials. But the field umpires have it the easiest gig by far as they don't even have to make a call/decision on half the pitches.

This is my first year working varsity football as a back judge and I've enjoyed it. Being in the middle of the field, I rarely even hear the coaches/fans. I joined a veteran crew that's taken me under their wing so that's certainly helped as well.