Officiating as it is today

[Madclone1]

Do you think they throw flags for gunners that can't "blow through a hand check"?

Yep . . .especially when the gunner spins his back around in that nano second afterward. Like it is taught.

[ruxCYtable]

That double foul on Fizer was bull **** too! The man never fouled out of a game the entire year in '99 -'00 Pretty sure the ncaa and cbs rigged that ******* game so that MSU could get in.

Fact is, this stuff will continue to happen over and over for years to come. Doesn't matter what the sport. My suggestion is to have some old true ISUers become officials and start looking out for us from time to time too.

The double-foul involved Paul Shirley. You can't even remember what player it was called on but you expect perfection from officials.

[Madclone1]

Honestly, if I worked in the league office and got a call like that from a fan, I'd hang up too. They don't have to answer to you. They've got actual jobs to do and taking complaints from people on something about which they have no professional training or knowledge to support their opinions is pretty low down the list.

Q.E.D. You are a gem of an official! Congrats!

[3TrueFans]

Yep . . .especially when the gunner spins his back around in that nano second afterward. Like it is taught.

I would kill for you to find me some evidence of gunners spinning around and getting a blocking in the back call.

[ruxCYtable]

Q.E.D. You are a gem of an official! Congrats!

Wow, so now I'm a bad official because I don't think the Big 12 commish should have to listen to complaints from fans and might have other things to do?

The officiating in our games has been ****-poor this year. We agree on that. But excuse the hell out of me for not thinking just any average joe on the street knows enough about it to fix the problem. I guess that makes me an idiot and a bad official!

[Madclone1]

I would kill for you to find me some evidence of gunners spinning around and getting a blocking in the back call.

Ooops . . they don't teach to watch for that in your officiating clinics? Hmmmm.

[3TrueFans]

Ooops . . they don't teach to watch for that in your officiating clinics? Hmmmm.

I would just think that a gunner doing a spin in the middle of a play to draw a penalty would be youtube worthy.

[Madclone1]

Wow, so now I'm a bad official because I don't think the Big 12 commish should have to listen to complaints from fans and might have other things to do?

The officiating in our games has been ****-poor this year. We agree on that. But excuse the hell out of me for not thinking just any average joe on the street knows enough about it to fix the problem. I guess that makes me an idiot and a bad official!

Okay we agree on something . . . but I can't believe you are attacking fans whole have played the sport, followed the sport, love the sport, and know when things don't pass the smell test. BTW, it is not JUST this year . . this is a devolving pattern that is accelerating. But hey, I'm just a stupid joe off the street who has played and watched football for almost 50 years . . which includes the Golden Age of the NFL, old Big 10, old Big 8 . . but I shouldn't express an opinion because we should trust what is happening behind closed doors. I don't buy it 'cause it taint' working.

[isumills]

Ooops . . they don't teach to watch for that in your officiating clinics? Hmmmm.

Shouldn't have to be taught if you know the game of football and what's going on. If a guy turns his back at the last second or tries to spin to avoid contact, ain't no way in hell myself or any other official that I know of anyway would throw that flag. All your doing is showing your ignorance on the subject of officiating.

Hmmm... A fan in the stands who thinks they know it all.

[Madclone1]

Shouldn't have to be taught if you know the game of football and what's going on. If a guy turns his back at the last second or tries to spin to avoid contact, ain't no way in hell myself or any other official that I know of anyway would throw that flag. All your doing is showing your ignorance on the subject of officiating.

Hmmm... A fan in the stands who thinks they know it all.

Right. You need to convince 3TrueFans above . . he will throw a flag every time. Thanks for showing how consistently inconsistent you guys really are. Q.E.D. Back at ya!

[TheOne1]

Cry me a river, the officials do not get a slow motion replay to see if it was a hold!

[3TrueFans]

Right. You need to convince 3TrueFans above . . he will throw a flag every time. Thanks for showing how consistently inconsistent you guys really are. Q.E.D. Back at ya!

I can't even begin to imagine how you have so misunderstood my position in this.

[Mr Janny]

I am beginning to sense . . that we fans are slowly losing control of the game we love. The impression I have of officiating during the past several years in college and professional sports is that . . officials have taken over the game.

The infamous Detroit Lion - Chicago Bear football game last year when by every appearance . . Detroit scored the winning touchdown via a pass. The "lawyers" upstairs had to go into session to determine if the receiver controlled the ball all the way through the play. Most fans saw a touchdown . . yet the lawyers straining at a knat . . overruled the call on the field. The letter of the law overruled common sense. Good police departments TEACH discretion when it comes to writing tickets . . in short, you don't write tickets for everything you see. Yet officials, like the good little lawyers they are, are throwing flags left and right for EVERY infraction . . or so it seems.

The Iowa State - Texas game likewise was painful to watch . . just like every other game to this point that I have viewed on TV or listened to on radio. I have come to expect a "blocking in the back" call on every kickoff. Every long run from scrimmage . . . again, I am looking for a flag. To wit: Bruns was not a happy camper with all the holding calls in the Texas ISU game . . as he stated, one can be called for holding on almost any play. Yet, lawyers expect perfection and are constantly inserting themselves in the play. IMHO lawyers (officials) are slowly taking over the natural ebb and flow of collegiate and professional football.

The constant reviews have destroyed momentum associated with exciting plays. The flurry of penalties have become troublesome because so many of them are so ridiculously petty.

For us old timers, we remember when ISU played Arkansas (late 70s) in LittleRock . . .and how the Hogs scored the winning touchdown with 12 players on the field. It was exasperating . . but we moved on. I think the officials blew the call . . though many thought it might be some "home cooking." I would almost have that kind of scenario versus the power grabbing by the "show off" officials we are now seeing on the field.

Why can't we hold officials to a higher standard AND be able to rate or evaluate these lawyer teams on the field? We have placed obsessive compulsive lawyers/officials into positions of great power . . . and they have performed like dysfunctional OCD types.

Are we going to let them, conference commissioners, et al change the culture of football? Fans, football players, and coaches deserve better than this . . count me as one individual who is getting sick of how modern football has been turned over to the laywers by fiat. We need balance . . and we should start voicing our collective opinions in any forum we can . . otherwise we are going to lose the wonder and excitement of college (and professional) football.

Let's go ahead and dispel the myth that NFL refs are calling more penalties now, than they have in the past. It's simply not true. Here are the penalties per game, per team, stats for the past 8 years.

Year Average Penalties per game (per team)
2010 6.0
2009 5.9
2008 5.5
2007 5.7
2006 5.8
2005 7.2
2004 6.9
2003 6.5

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Penalties per Game on TeamRankings.com


There's not a penalty on every other play. They are not more "ticky-tack" than they've been in the past. It's all in the viewer's perception, and in this case, it's a false one. Penalties have been remarkably consistent.

[3TrueFans]

Let's go ahead and dispel the myth that NFL refs are calling more penalties now, than they have in the past. It's simply not true. Here are the penalties per game, per team, stats for the past 8 years.

Year Average Penalties per game (per team)
2010 6.0
2009 5.9
2008 5.5
2007 5.7
2006 5.8
2005 7.2
2004 6.9
2003 6.5

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Penalties per Game on TeamRankings.com


There's not a penalty on every other play. They are not more "ticky-tack" than they've been in the past. It's all in the viewer's perception, and in this case, it's a false one. Penalties have been remarkably consistent.

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true.

[Madclone1]

Let's go ahead and dispel the myth that NFL refs are calling more penalties now, than they have in the past. It's simply not true. Here are the penalties per game, per team, stats for the past 8 years.

Year Average Penalties per game (per team)
2010 6.0
2009 5.9
2008 5.5
2007 5.7
2006 5.8
2005 7.2
2004 6.9
2003 6.5

NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Penalties per Game on TeamRankings.com


There's not a penalty on every other play. They are not more "ticky-tack" than they've been in the past. It's all in the viewer's perception, and in this case, it's a false one. Penalties have been remarkably consistent.

Two points:

What percentages of those calls are for blocking in the back. pass interference, or holding? Point: with exception of off sides or procedure calls . . . the rest are potential GAME CHANGERS . . hence, should not be called unless it is a BLATANT foul. We have 325 pounders playing by rules developed over 70 years ago when linemen weighed 160 pounds. How can one not use their hands when you are trying to stop a 350 charging defensive lineman?

Second, how many non penalty reviews occur now .. interrupting momentum, flow of the game, and negating potential scores.

These are my primary discussion points.