Charles
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Officially Speaking: Indiana vs Duke, Big Call in Big Apple
Charles via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Big Ten got their part of bowl season underway on Saturday when Indiana took on Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl. The game proved to be an exciting shootout and its ending provided instant controversy when officials ruled an Indiana field goal attempt that would have forced a second overtime to be no good. Field goals are rarely controversial calls but this one proved to be as the ball passed above the goal post, making it not immediately apparent on tv whether it was inside or outside the post as can be seen in the video below.
As can be seen in the video, the Indiana kicker clearly thought he made the kick though I think we would all expect him to plead his case in that situation. The camera angle at the 30 second mark in the video seems to give the kicker and the Hoosiers some backing as it makes the ball look like it passed just inside the upright and thus should have been ruled good.
By rule, a field goal is good if it passes above the crossbar and between the uprights of the goal post. The word “between” is crucial in this as it means that the ball must pass entirely inside the uprights and cannot have any part of the ball directly above the upright post. In this case, the ball clearly passes above the crossbar and the question is, did it pass between the uprights.
The decision on whether a field goal, or extra point, is good or not is made by two officials who stand on the end line of the endzone, one official directly underneath each upright. This gives the officials the best possible position to rule on whether the ball passes inside the upright.
While some of the replay camera angles seem to suggest the ball may have passed inside the upright, all of these views come at an angle and not from directly under the goal post. The angled camera shots make it very difficult to determine exactly when the ball passes over the crossbar and what its position was relative to the upright at that time. In the camera shots, such as the one at 30 seconds into the video above, where we see the ball inside the upright, we cannot tell if the ball is crossing the crossbar at that time or if it has yet to do so. Unfortunately, we do not have a camera angle from where the official is standing or the top of the crossbar.
This is clearly a close play and most people are probably wondering why the officials didn’t even bother to review the kick as opposed to just leaving the field. The officials actually handled the situation entirely appropriately as by rule, the play is not reviewable. Rule 12-3-1-b covers when field goals may be reviewed by instant replay and it states:
“Field goal attempts if and only if the ball is ruled (a) below or above the crossbar or (b) inside or outside the uprights when it is lower than the top of the uprights. If the ball is higher than the top of the uprights as it crosses the end line, the play may not be reviewed.”
The ball was clearly higher than the top of the uprights as it crossed the end line and thus the play cannot be reviewed. The official was in the best possible position to rule on the kick and we don’t have an angle that provides a conclusive shot showing whether the ball passed entirely inside the upright as it went over the crossbar. Thus, I will give the official the benefit of the doubt on this one. I do think the replay rule needs to be changed though as kicks like this are the ones that need replay the most.
However, in order to make accurate replay determinations in situations like this, a method of positioning cameras on the goal posts will need to be developed.
The post Officially Speaking: Indiana vs Duke, Big Call in Big Apple 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 Big Ten got their part of bowl season underway on Saturday when Indiana took on Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl. The game proved to be an exciting shootout and its ending provided instant controversy when officials ruled an Indiana field goal attempt that would have forced a second overtime to be no good. Field goals are rarely controversial calls but this one proved to be as the ball passed above the goal post, making it not immediately apparent on tv whether it was inside or outside the post as can be seen in the video below.
As can be seen in the video, the Indiana kicker clearly thought he made the kick though I think we would all expect him to plead his case in that situation. The camera angle at the 30 second mark in the video seems to give the kicker and the Hoosiers some backing as it makes the ball look like it passed just inside the upright and thus should have been ruled good.
By rule, a field goal is good if it passes above the crossbar and between the uprights of the goal post. The word “between” is crucial in this as it means that the ball must pass entirely inside the uprights and cannot have any part of the ball directly above the upright post. In this case, the ball clearly passes above the crossbar and the question is, did it pass between the uprights.
The decision on whether a field goal, or extra point, is good or not is made by two officials who stand on the end line of the endzone, one official directly underneath each upright. This gives the officials the best possible position to rule on whether the ball passes inside the upright.
While some of the replay camera angles seem to suggest the ball may have passed inside the upright, all of these views come at an angle and not from directly under the goal post. The angled camera shots make it very difficult to determine exactly when the ball passes over the crossbar and what its position was relative to the upright at that time. In the camera shots, such as the one at 30 seconds into the video above, where we see the ball inside the upright, we cannot tell if the ball is crossing the crossbar at that time or if it has yet to do so. Unfortunately, we do not have a camera angle from where the official is standing or the top of the crossbar.
This is clearly a close play and most people are probably wondering why the officials didn’t even bother to review the kick as opposed to just leaving the field. The officials actually handled the situation entirely appropriately as by rule, the play is not reviewable. Rule 12-3-1-b covers when field goals may be reviewed by instant replay and it states:
“Field goal attempts if and only if the ball is ruled (a) below or above the crossbar or (b) inside or outside the uprights when it is lower than the top of the uprights. If the ball is higher than the top of the uprights as it crosses the end line, the play may not be reviewed.”
The ball was clearly higher than the top of the uprights as it crossed the end line and thus the play cannot be reviewed. The official was in the best possible position to rule on the kick and we don’t have an angle that provides a conclusive shot showing whether the ball passed entirely inside the upright as it went over the crossbar. Thus, I will give the official the benefit of the doubt on this one. I do think the replay rule needs to be changed though as kicks like this are the ones that need replay the most.
However, in order to make accurate replay determinations in situations like this, a method of positioning cameras on the goal posts will need to be developed.
The post Officially Speaking: Indiana vs Duke, Big Call in Big Apple appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...