Bobref

I don’t have much to add to @Moshiner1345’s insightful analysis of the play from an official’s standpoint. I’ll just reiterate that, regardless of how you interpret the slo mo and replay views, I would never fault that official’s judgment on a play like this, regardless of whether - with the benefit of technology - I thought it was the correct call or not.

Oh, God! Now I understand! You’re one of those!

I guess I stand corrected. 🥱 If you have access to video, I’d love to take another look. You seem very sure of yourself.

All good ideas. If you make your only goal to advance deep into the tournament, you are probably misguided. Keep in mind that improving your officiating, and that of your crew, gets you nothing, unless you improve relative to other crews. Playoff assignments are a zero sum game, meaning any move up results in a corresponding move down by someone else. If you are getting better, but so are others, you may not see any movement, even though you’re doing everything right.

I am solidly in favor of going to 7 man crews in the upper levels of the playoffs. You don’t have to go any further than the first half of the 1A game to see an example of the benefit. There was a play that covered about 20 yds. and ended up with the runner diving over the pylon with the ball. The Head Linesman was forced to make a call while he was still running down the sideline trailing the play. Not his fault at all. It’s just a play that’s impossible to cover adequately with a 5 man crew. With a 7 man crew, there would have been an official stationary on that pylon, letting the play come to him. The knock against going to 7 is that it introduces some unfamiliar mechanics, and a couple of new faces, to an officiating crew that has demonstrated excellence at 5 man mechanics … and does so at a time when a mistake or miscommunication could cost a team their season. In my opinion, the difficulties in transitioning to a 7 man crew at, for example, the Regional level, are overrated. By that time, you have plenty of good officials available to supplement the 5 man crews. Let the crews choose their own additional officials, but the IHSAA should place stringent requirements to qualify as eligible for selection. In 2017, my last year of officiating on the field, I worked as the back judge on a 7 man crew in the North-South All Star game. I had never worked as a B on this crew, and our deep wings were 2 college guys I met for the first time at the dinner the night before. Some pregame study of the mechanics, and a nice pregame conference, and everything went fine. Is it optimal? Of course not. But the additional coverage is a benefit that far outweighs any transition issues, IMO. But another benefit that cannot be ignored these days is that expansion of the number of officials who get to work further in the playoffs is a sound retention strategy at a time when officials are leaving for a variety of reasons, one of which is frustration over the inability to advance in the tournament. However, I have not yet been able to convince anyone who matters of the wisdom of my viewpoint.

Whether a job is “better” is different things to different people. For Riley, the USC job is better than any SEC job … primarily, IMO, because at USC his vaunted offense won’t have to face an SEC defense every week. He was bound to jump somewhere before that happened.

USC was the best job available that didn’t involve having to play a regular season SEC schedule. He had no stomach for that.

As it so happens, I was the evaluator on the 2A game, and was in a position to get a decent look at that play. I made a note to discuss it with the crew in the postgame debrief. Everyone was in the right position, looking at the right things. The covering official felt that the objectionable contact occurred after the ball was already past the receiver. Without going to the video, I have no reason to question his judgment. Either way, it was a bang-bang play and the classic judgment call. So, if it turns out the objectionable contact was a hair before the ball was past the receiver, I’m not going to fault the official for making his judgment at game speed. Either way, to label that no-call as “egregious” is, well … egregious.

I did not get a good look at either play.

When I was at St. Ed’s, it was more like Brothers of the Right Cross. Those guys really packed a punch.

Not really. There were a few misses, but not many. Some outstanding work as well. If you have a question about anything in particular, I’ll try to answer it. But I don’t want to list the few errors I saw, since I’m guessing upwards of 99% of the people who watched didn’t know they were errors.

I was pleased to see that the officiating was pretty good for all 6 games. Not perfect, there will always be a few misses. But officiating was a non-factor this weekend, just the way we like it.

The mighty, mighty Eagles of Lakewood St. Edward take on Springfield in the main event. If they win, that will give the Eagles 5 titles in the last 12 seasons.

Guess he wasn’t looking forward to competing in the SEC every week.

Not in high school.

Chronic whiner. I don’t suppose there’s a possibility his usual disregard for officials is amplified by the identity of the Referee on this crew? In any event, I left at halftime. But I spoke with 7 other observers who also watched the first half. The overwhelming consensus was that the crew was having a very nice game. Not in high school.

First game where I felt there was a real mismatch talent-wise.

Precisely … if your judgment was that the runner was down before the contact.

The announcement by the R on the field mic was “personal foul.” No further explanation.

You get what you pay for.

Somebody has to.

I also think they should have a retired official in the booth to lend expertise when needed. Hopefully at some obscene rate of compensation. 😉

I urge you to contact the IHSAA and report that there were "five schools that voted for us that we have never ever been to or officiated." That is not supposed to happen. If every crew that had this happen to them reported it to the IHSAA, perhaps they would be a little more aggressive in policing the schools in this regard.

It's not appropriate to call out an official by name on this site. And when the whistle blew in relation to the flag is meaningless in this situation. The foul either occurred before or after the ball was dead. That's the only thing that matters, and the timing of the whistle and the flag don't change that. I thought the contact was after the ball was dead, the covering official thought otherwise. The video will not lie.

The clock stops for a first down. If the ball was down inbounds, the R starts the game clock as soon as the box is set, he doesn't wait for the chains. I agree that this particular Referee gets the clock restarted very quickly following a first down. I gave him an upgrade in the postgame debrief for that. Always want to keep the game moving.