Charles
Guest
Officially Speaking: Block in the Back, Instant Replay, and the ACC
Charles via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The choice for this week’s officially speaking wasn’t a tough one thanks to the controversial ending of the Duke at Miami (FL) game on Saturday. Miami’s lateral-filled kickoff return for the game winning touchdown has been featured and discussed on almost every sports show since then but in case you somehow haven’t seen it yet, here is the video.
There is plenty going on during the final play to talk about and our group of officials here will break them down and discuss them individually.
1. Was the Miami player’s knee down?
WVa: appeared to me just watching it live that the players knee was down before he got the ball off but there’s an official looking straight at it from ten feet away and he had the best look it would seem
Charles: To me it certainly looked like his knee was down but it is a quick play and there is a lot going on. WVa is right that there was an official on the sideline who was in the perfect position to get a good look at the play but he may have been screened a bit by the Duke defender running by.
2. Should the flag for block in the back have been waived off?
WVa: I have an issue with the flag being waved off and evidently so does the ACC officiating brass. Do not believe that anywhere in the rule book does it allow for this. The only exception that I know of is when it’s targeting, they have the ability to rule ejection or not and that’s it with regards to flags.
Charles: This is tricky. It is perfectly acceptable to throw a flag and then pick it up and waive it off after a play if further thought or a discussion with other officials who had other angles leads to the calling official changing their mind. The nice thing about football is that you can throw a flag if you are pretty sure that there was a penalty and then have a few more seconds to process what you saw, as well as get more information from other officials, before you have to commit to the penalty call. However, there is nowhere in the rule book that allows for a penalty flag to be waived off due to instant replay. It isn’t clear if the flag was waived off because of the replay or if it was waived off due to a discussion with the other officials on the field that wasn’t announced until after the replay. If it was the second one, the referee did a poor job handling the situation and announcing things in a clear way.
3. Was there a block in the back?
WVa: First. There were two blocks in the back so if they can waive off a flag by video review now, then they should be able to throw the flag based on it as well. I don’t believe they can in any case unless there is a provision for fighting which there wasn’t one here. Second, there’s always something on kick-offs, definitely a few things.
Charles: I’m not sure about the possible block in the back that led to the flag being thrown but there were certainly two blocks in the back that could and should have been called at the end of the play.
4. How was the situation handled overall?
WVa: If you watch the officials during the play instead of the players, you will see a crew that “checked-out”. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t appear they are engaged during the play very well, and at one point are all so far out of position it ultimately costs them their jobs. The ACC did the right thing by admitting the mistakes by the crew and the review crew and suspending. I personally wouldn’t hire the review officials for another game and would make the on field crew earn their way back.
Charles: I agree with WVa that at least some of the crew appeared to have checked out during the play. Yes, it is the end of the game and at night but you have to stay engaged the entire time. There was definitely a lack of hustle by some officials that helped lead to people being out of position. There was also the matter of the confusing announcement of the flag being waved off and the officials also missed a Miami player running onto the field from the sideline during the play; since the player didn’t participate in the play that would have been a dead ball foul and not impacted the touchdown.
Upon reviewing the footage of the play, the ACC agreed that the situation had been mishandled. The conference ruled that the Miami player’s knee was down and that there had been an illegal block in the back as well as the Miami player entering the field. The conference did say that the decision to pick up the flag was made correctly but was announced incorrectly. As a result of the play and the mistakes that were made, the ACC is suspending the on-field officials and the replay crew for two games.
Officials are not perfect, football is a fast-paced game, and there is a lot happening on the field. Mistakes will happen and while that is never desirable it is a fact of life. Officials are always reviewed for the performance in games and mistakes are noted and impact the officials ratings which are used to determine who works conference championship games and bowl games and who is hired back the next year. It is rare for officials to be suspended for mistakes during a game so the fact that the ACC did this shows just how bad these mistakes were. In my opinion missing a call is one thing and is understandable but not being engaged in the play and not handling the overall situation in an appropriate manner is not acceptable.
The post Officially Speaking: Block in the Back, Instant Replay, and the ACC appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Charles via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The choice for this week’s officially speaking wasn’t a tough one thanks to the controversial ending of the Duke at Miami (FL) game on Saturday. Miami’s lateral-filled kickoff return for the game winning touchdown has been featured and discussed on almost every sports show since then but in case you somehow haven’t seen it yet, here is the video.
There is plenty going on during the final play to talk about and our group of officials here will break them down and discuss them individually.
1. Was the Miami player’s knee down?
WVa: appeared to me just watching it live that the players knee was down before he got the ball off but there’s an official looking straight at it from ten feet away and he had the best look it would seem
Charles: To me it certainly looked like his knee was down but it is a quick play and there is a lot going on. WVa is right that there was an official on the sideline who was in the perfect position to get a good look at the play but he may have been screened a bit by the Duke defender running by.
2. Should the flag for block in the back have been waived off?
WVa: I have an issue with the flag being waved off and evidently so does the ACC officiating brass. Do not believe that anywhere in the rule book does it allow for this. The only exception that I know of is when it’s targeting, they have the ability to rule ejection or not and that’s it with regards to flags.
Charles: This is tricky. It is perfectly acceptable to throw a flag and then pick it up and waive it off after a play if further thought or a discussion with other officials who had other angles leads to the calling official changing their mind. The nice thing about football is that you can throw a flag if you are pretty sure that there was a penalty and then have a few more seconds to process what you saw, as well as get more information from other officials, before you have to commit to the penalty call. However, there is nowhere in the rule book that allows for a penalty flag to be waived off due to instant replay. It isn’t clear if the flag was waived off because of the replay or if it was waived off due to a discussion with the other officials on the field that wasn’t announced until after the replay. If it was the second one, the referee did a poor job handling the situation and announcing things in a clear way.
3. Was there a block in the back?
WVa: First. There were two blocks in the back so if they can waive off a flag by video review now, then they should be able to throw the flag based on it as well. I don’t believe they can in any case unless there is a provision for fighting which there wasn’t one here. Second, there’s always something on kick-offs, definitely a few things.
Charles: I’m not sure about the possible block in the back that led to the flag being thrown but there were certainly two blocks in the back that could and should have been called at the end of the play.
4. How was the situation handled overall?
WVa: If you watch the officials during the play instead of the players, you will see a crew that “checked-out”. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t appear they are engaged during the play very well, and at one point are all so far out of position it ultimately costs them their jobs. The ACC did the right thing by admitting the mistakes by the crew and the review crew and suspending. I personally wouldn’t hire the review officials for another game and would make the on field crew earn their way back.
Charles: I agree with WVa that at least some of the crew appeared to have checked out during the play. Yes, it is the end of the game and at night but you have to stay engaged the entire time. There was definitely a lack of hustle by some officials that helped lead to people being out of position. There was also the matter of the confusing announcement of the flag being waved off and the officials also missed a Miami player running onto the field from the sideline during the play; since the player didn’t participate in the play that would have been a dead ball foul and not impacted the touchdown.
Upon reviewing the footage of the play, the ACC agreed that the situation had been mishandled. The conference ruled that the Miami player’s knee was down and that there had been an illegal block in the back as well as the Miami player entering the field. The conference did say that the decision to pick up the flag was made correctly but was announced incorrectly. As a result of the play and the mistakes that were made, the ACC is suspending the on-field officials and the replay crew for two games.
Officials are not perfect, football is a fast-paced game, and there is a lot happening on the field. Mistakes will happen and while that is never desirable it is a fact of life. Officials are always reviewed for the performance in games and mistakes are noted and impact the officials ratings which are used to determine who works conference championship games and bowl games and who is hired back the next year. It is rare for officials to be suspended for mistakes during a game so the fact that the ACC did this shows just how bad these mistakes were. In my opinion missing a call is one thing and is understandable but not being engaged in the play and not handling the overall situation in an appropriate manner is not acceptable.
The post Officially Speaking: Block in the Back, Instant Replay, and the ACC appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...