About the officials.

[DaddyChad]

After reading most of the trashing that the refs got at the bama game, I have something to say to you guys who are sh$% talking. You think its easy? YOU try it. I've been a soccer referee since 2003 and it wasn't until the last few years that I feel that I "get it". Officiating ANY sport at other than the Pee wee level takes years of dedication, study, and practice. Once boys get to the junior high age, they are fast and you have less than a second to decide all of this; fair or foul, if foul, then what kind of foul, and did the fouled team lose a promising play ( yes, advantage IS called in football, just not out loud like in soccer. Remember, you are also usually RUNNING when this is taking place. At the higher level of the game, referees are vetted thoroughly before they are even considered for selection, and once chosen, it is easy to get the boot, and nigh on impossible to come back once that happens. The refs do tons of tape study and are debriefed by mentors after every game, every decision gone over. Now, as for former players becoming officials, U.S. soccer had a special fast track for former pros to be officials but they called it off because they found that the players tended to THINK like a player and not like a ref, and they are very, very, different mind sets. Being a "homer" would be immediately noticed by the staff, and your career would end that day. In any sport. The fastest way for a player or coach, or fan to get tossed out from any game i officiate is to accuse me of being a cheater. Face it folks, the call may be bad, but the intent was anything but.

Did you watch the game perhaps?

 

[DaddyChad]

Greg Sankey releases a letter on SEC officiating: LINK



Basically telling us to shut up and to go **** ourselves.

I did see though, that one of the officials for the Bama-LSU game is a UT alum. Almost his entire family are LSU alums with a couple others being Miss St. and Auburn alums. Perhaps Bama gets a taste of their own BS.

I would laugh hard if Bama got hosed by officiating.

 

[AM64]

I agree completely. I myself wonder if the NCAA is having a problem with coming up with competent officials. The NFL is having that problem right now. There seems to be no clear path towards becoming a high level official in college football.

Could be the problem is the guys writing the rules rather than the guys trying to enforce them. Maybe the NCAA needs to simplify the rules book. For example, if an offensive lineman has a hold on another player, it's holding - doesn't matter if it's inside, outside, front, back, up, down, or whatever; it's holding if the guy is prevented from moving other than by blocking without the hands or arms locked on.

 

[JCVOL]

Referees can be on the take especially at the college or pro level. Vetting has nothing to do with a specific official if he covers his tracks.

Amen

 

[preacherwebb]

Greg Sankey releases a letter on SEC officiating: LINK



Basically telling us to shut up and to go **** ourselves.

I did see though, that one of the officials for the Bama-LSU game is a UT alum. Almost his entire family are LSU alums with a couple others being Miss St. and Auburn alums. Perhaps Bama gets a taste of their own BS.

I read the letter that the esteemed Mr. Sankey wrote. Basically, what I heard when I read it was:

(yes, i can read lips ... i know that's not what he said ... but you get it)

Well, did I misinterpret what the esteemed Mr Sankey was trying to say?

 

[troyntn71]

After reading most of the trashing that the refs got at the bama game, I have something to say to you guys who are sh$% talking. You think its easy? YOU try it. I've been a soccer referee since 2003 and it wasn't until the last few years that I feel that I "get it". Officiating ANY sport at other than the Pee wee level takes years of dedication, study, and practice. Once boys get to the junior high age, they are fast and you have less than a second to decide all of this; fair or foul, if foul, then what kind of foul, and did the fouled team lose a promising play ( yes, advantage IS called in football, just not out loud like in soccer. Remember, you are also usually RUNNING when this is taking place. At the higher level of the game, referees are vetted thoroughly before they are even considered for selection, and once chosen, it is easy to get the boot, and nigh on impossible to come back once that happens. The refs do tons of tape study and are debriefed by mentors after every game, every decision gone over. Now, as for former players becoming officials, U.S. soccer had a special fast track for former pros to be officials but they called it off because they found that the players tended to THINK like a player and not like a ref, and they are very, very, different mind sets. Being a "homer" would be immediately noticed by the staff, and your career would end that day. In any sport. The fastest way for a player or coach, or fan to get tossed out from any game i officiate is to accuse me of being a cheater. Face it folks, the call may be bad, but the intent was anything but.

I call BS ON this post. I understand officials are human beings and they make mistakes. That there is no freaking way that every single mistake in a football game goes against one particular team especially when the team that is the benefit of it has been known to receive calls in their favor for years. I'm not one that normally blames officials but that Tennessee Alabama game was highway robbery. Tennessee didn't have a prayer. Alabama holds on almost every single play right in front of the officials. The calls that they missed on Alabama were much more obvious than the Phantom ones they found on Tennessee. And it's just not Tennessee fans that have complained about the officiating when they play Alabama. So you can get on your soapbox and you can lecture us about officiating all you want but you have to have your head stuck in the sand to not see what's going on. The SEC officiating is very corrupt. What was the deal about the officials stopping play on the field when Tennessee was lined up in a wild cat and Alabama was not ready to defend it? I've never seen anything like that in my life,at any level!

 

[troyntn71]

Explain the LSU-UT basketball referee being allowed to ref that game, even though he was clearly an LSU fan. No, the system is broken.

Exactly. I've been saying this on here for years. Mike Slive the former commissioner was not a Tennessee fan at all. He put an Alabama guy over the directors of officials at football and he put a Kentucky guy over the director of officials in basketball. What a coincidence that that happens to be two of Tennessee's biggest rivals . Also you can see the way he handled the Pearl situation how biased he was. He basically forced Tennessee to Fire Bruce Pearl saying that he would never work in the Southeastern Conference again. Tennessee was having too much success with the guy obviously. Then he allows Auburn to hire him. Tennessee has never received a borderline call going their way once Slive took over. He may be gone now but plenty of the officials he installed are still there.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

SEC offices need to be moved outside the conference footprint. Doesn't fix the officiating issues but it would get rid of the appearance of impropriety that hangs over the conference office with regards to Bama. I've heard all the arguments for and against, mostly related to costs of relocation.

As for officiating, I refereed HS lacrosse when I was younger primarily because not many people my age played the game. It was hard to get the mechanics down and I got knocked on my butt plenty of times, probably moreso than as a player. Over some time, I learned that the most important part of refereeing is consistency. Call it loose or call it tight, just be even handed with penalties. The referee is there to ensure that the game is fast, fun and fair.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

After reading most of the trashing that the refs got at the bama game, I have something to say to you guys who are sh$% talking. You think its easy? YOU try it. I've been a soccer referee since 2003 and it wasn't until the last few years that I feel that I "get it". Officiating ANY sport at other than the Pee wee level takes years of dedication, study, and practice. Once boys get to the junior high age, they are fast and you have less than a second to decide all of this; fair or foul, if foul, then what kind of foul, and did the fouled team lose a promising play ( yes, advantage IS called in football, just not out loud like in soccer. Remember, you are also usually RUNNING when this is taking place. At the higher level of the game, referees are vetted thoroughly before they are even considered for selection, and once chosen, it is easy to get the boot, and nigh on impossible to come back once that happens. The refs do tons of tape study and are debriefed by mentors after every game, every decision gone over. Now, as for former players becoming officials, U.S. soccer had a special fast track for former pros to be officials but they called it off because they found that the players tended to THINK like a player and not like a ref, and they are very, very, different mind sets. Being a "homer" would be immediately noticed by the staff, and your career would end that day. In any sport. The fastest way for a player or coach, or fan to get tossed out from any game i officiate is to accuse me of being a cheater. Face it folks, the call may be bad, but the intent was anything but.

I get it, it is not an easy job...Now, tell me Mr. Official, "Why did he Blow the play Dead"? IYO or course.

 

[Volman1993]

Hey Communist Kickball Ref - lock it up and go bake us some cookies!

 

[Brave Volunteer]

If you are a graduate of an SEC school, that should be automatic ineligibility to referee in the SEC as a whole, let alone any games that your alma mater plays in.

 

[LargeOrange1]

I don't care what you officiated or whatever. Those refs were biased as hell Saturday. Period. End of discussion.

One of the worst games I've ever seen for Bullsheet penalties against TN. Makes my blood boil.

 

[OG.V83]

After reading most of the trashing that the refs got at the bama game, I have something to say to you guys who are sh$% talking. You think its easy? YOU try it. I've been a soccer referee since 2003 and it wasn't until the last few years that I feel that I "get it". Officiating ANY sport at other than the Pee wee level takes years of dedication, study, and practice. Once boys get to the junior high age, they are fast and you have less than a second to decide all of this; fair or foul, if foul, then what kind of foul, and did the fouled team lose a promising play ( yes, advantage IS called in football, just not out loud like in soccer. Remember, you are also usually RUNNING when this is taking place. At the higher level of the game, referees are vetted thoroughly before they are even considered for selection, and once chosen, it is easy to get the boot, and nigh on impossible to come back once that happens. The refs do tons of tape study and are debriefed by mentors after every game, every decision gone over. Now, as for former players becoming officials, U.S. soccer had a special fast track for former pros to be officials but they called it off because they found that the players tended to THINK like a player and not like a ref, and they are very, very, different mind sets. Being a "homer" would be immediately noticed by the staff, and your career would end that day. In any sport. The fastest way for a player or coach, or fan to get tossed out from any game i officiate is to accuse me of being a cheater. Face it folks, the call may be bad, but the intent was anything but.

 

[Big Al Orange]

One of the worst games I've ever seen for Bullsheet penalties against TN. Makes my blood boil.

It made me blaspheme so bad I had to go find my bible. My sainted wife said “ you must never watch UT play Alabama again “ !!!

 

[CampBlount]

Could be the problem is the guys writing the rules rather than the guys trying to enforce them. Maybe the NCAA needs to simplify the rules book. For example, if an offensive lineman has a hold on another player, it's holding - doesn't matter if it's inside, outside, front, back, up, down, or whatever; it's holding if the guy is prevented from moving other than by blocking without the hands or arms locked on.

I agree. And while we're at it, go back to the old rule that says if you land (in bounds) with the ball, it doesn't matter if you bobbled it or not. Too many replays trying to get to the bottom of whether the player had control of the ball. If you land with it and don't fumble it or if it doesn't hit the ground first, you've got it.

 

[JacketVol]

Really? How do YOU know anything abou about the speed of a game ehen you are down in the thick of it. You dont know anything at all about it aside from watching television. Again I say it: you think that it's easy? You try it. In ANY sport.

I have umpired and ref basketball games. No excuse for what happened Saturday night at USC and Tennessee. Bama and Florida fans I know agreed. A lot of calls didn’t involve any speed from the athlete or official.

 

[midtnvol2]

Do you believe officials should be graded AND this released publicly every week? Why not publish where each official went to HS and college? Why not publish the findings after each game on why each flag was thrown (this is why this play took 1 second, why holding was called here, why it wasn’t here, why this was targeting without a flag thrown, why this was a personal foul, why this wasn’t, etc). I would like to get your thoughts on this.

If these officials are above reproach then why aren’t their grades? Because right now the results of officiating Saturday and the backgrounds of those in the SEC office in charge and the resulting silence looks like there is something nefarious going on.

This will never happen. They are graded weekly. The NFL does send teams some info on their officiating crews info early in the week. The teams know if their crew calls a lot of holding, PI, or personal foul penalties and will game plan to that. Don't know if the SEC does this or not. I do agree that for personal security reasons certain info should remain private. People are crazy.

 

[LibertyVol]

Soccer. I don't know squat about soccer.. But what I hate is the clock counts forward instead of backwards and the fans don't really know how much time is left. Ref finally says, hey, game over.. Who can challenge that?

Could you imagine playing soccer against bama. If you were ahead the game would never end until they got ahead.

 

[ButchPlz]

Could you imagine playing soccer against bama. If you were ahead the game would never end until they got ahead.

37 stoppage time minutes every game they were down.

 

[ButchPlz]

After reading most of the trashing that the refs got at the bama game, I have something to say to you guys who are sh$% talking. You think its easy? YOU try it. I've been a soccer referee since 2003 and it wasn't until the last few years that I feel that I "get it". Officiating ANY sport at other than the Pee wee level takes years of dedication, study, and practice. Once boys get to the junior high age, they are fast and you have less than a second to decide all of this; fair or foul, if foul, then what kind of foul, and did the fouled team lose a promising play ( yes, advantage IS called in football, just not out loud like in soccer. Remember, you are also usually RUNNING when this is taking place. At the higher level of the game, referees are vetted thoroughly before they are even considered for selection, and once chosen, it is easy to get the boot, and nigh on impossible to come back once that happens. The refs do tons of tape study and are debriefed by mentors after every game, every decision gone over. Now, as for former players becoming officials, U.S. soccer had a special fast track for former pros to be officials but they called it off because they found that the players tended to THINK like a player and not like a ref, and they are very, very, different mind sets. Being a "homer" would be immediately noticed by the staff, and your career would end that day. In any sport. The fastest way for a player or coach, or fan to get tossed out from any game i officiate is to accuse me of being a cheater. Face it folks, the call may be bad, but the intent was anything but.

The officiating in the UT Bama game as a whole was as egregious as that Koulibaly ref randomly waving off a US goal in the 2010 World Cup, complete with similar BS responses from the federation/conference.

A soccer fan should well understand the absolute likelihood of corruption in the officiating ranks.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

Could you imagine playing soccer against bama. If you were ahead the game would never end until they got ahead.

Good thing about soccer is the running clock. You can have extra time, but you generally know when the match will end.

Edit to add that one nice thing about lacrosse is the referee could run the clock once it was a clear blowout.

 

[mudhen]

Could you imagine playing soccer against bama. If you were ahead the game would never end until they got ahead.

A referee in a major league soccer game runs up to 12 miles in a match. Their performance is judged match to match. Your contract is for one year only. Severe lapses in decisions will result in your removal from future games. When you achieve this level, you are given an American Express card, and this will be the sole way that you buy things. ANY deviation will most likely result in your removal from the list.

 

[AM64]

I agree. And while we're at it, go back to the old rule that says if you land (in bounds) with the ball, it doesn't matter if you bobbled it or not. Too many replays trying to get to the bottom of whether the player had control of the ball. If you land with it and don't fumble it or if it doesn't hit the ground first, you've got it.

Another big inconsistency I have a major problem with is the bit about "the ball crossing the plane of the endzone" regardless of other variables. For example, a player could snag a ball that's outside the side boundary, but if one foot manages to be inside that's the determining fact ... not that the ball crossed the plane putting it out of bounds. The touchdown dives with the ball maybe passing over the marker are absurd. The player should have to accompany the ball over the goal line for it to be a touchdown. It's football, not gymnastics.

 

[volintheham]

Do you believe officials should be graded AND this released publicly every week? Why not publish where each official went to HS and college? Why not publish the findings after each game on why each flag was thrown (this is why this play took 1 second, why holding was called here, why it wasn’t here, why this was targeting without a flag thrown, why this was a personal foul, why this wasn’t, etc). I would like to get your thoughts on this.

If these officials are above reproach then why aren’t their grades? Because right now the results of officiating Saturday and the backgrounds of those in the SEC office in charge and the resulting silence looks like there is something nefarious going on.

This guys are human but should be held accountable. Interesting ideas and I have no problem with it but the SEC sure would I imagine. Bet some of those metrics are being tracked currently for review somewhere along with resumes. I certainly don’t think they are above reproach.

Still sour over DT’s bs call I might add.