AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USOfficial’s call was correct, but it wasn’t right
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Pac-10 supervisor of officials said his guy got it right when he called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Washington QB Jake Locker at the end of last Saturday’s game with BYU.
Based on my conversations with several people on Monday, I say this: The call was correct. But it certainly wasn’t right.
In case you missed it, here is what happened. Washington trailed 28-21 but Locker drove his team down the field and scored on a three-yard run with only two seconds left. Locker jumped off the turf, flipped the ball over his shoulder into the air, and started celebrating with his teammates.
Locker was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Washington had to kick a 35-yard extra point that was blocked. BYU won 28-27.
Pac-10 referee Larry Farina said after the game that under the celebration rule, as written, that his crew was required to make the call. “It is not a judgment call,” he said. And the Pac-10 office backed him up.
So I called Rogers Redding, the SEC supervisor of officials, and Doug Rhoads, the ACC supervisor of officials, and asked them to help me understand this. It just didn’t make sense to me that an official would not have the discretion to keep a flag in his pocket in an end of the game situation like that.
There are two full pages in the rulebook on this. Rhoads read the whole thing to me. And the way the rule is written the official was supposed to call that penalty. There is a laundry list of specific acts in the rulebook and if the player commits any one of them, it’s 15-yards, period.
But that still doesn’t make it right.
Here is the problem that got us to this point. The excessive celebration rule was put in many years ago to clean up some of the excesses in player behavior: Simulated throat slashing, taunting, the real knucklehead stuff that has no place in the game.
But coaches and school officials were complaining that the rule was applied inconsistently from conference to conference. Based on my very unscientific observation, I found that to be true. What was an unsportsmanlike act in Baton Rouge might get overlooked in Boise.
So the NCAA football rules committee, which includes coaches, decided to simplify things and just list a bunch of those specific acts that would draw an automatic unsportsmanlike penalty. It is kind of like a zero tolerance policy. If a player commits one of these acts, you throw the flag, no questions asked.
And before the season started the various supervisors of officials made their stops and told coaches that player behavior and safety was going to be a point of emphasis for this season. When they say it is a point of emphasis, that means the officials are going to be looking for these kind of fouls and making sure they are called when committed.
So you ask, and logically so, why didn’t the official just say “To heck with the rule? I ain’t calling it because it takes the game away from the players.” For making that independent judgment that official could get downgraded in his evaluation and possibly lose his next assignment.
It could be that because of this one call and the uproar that it has created, this won’t be an issue for the rest of the season. You can bet that a lot of coaches have shown this film to their players this week and said: “Give the ball back to the official when you score. Gift wrap it and say “thank you” if necessary. Offer to buy him lunch. Ask about his family. Just don’t get a penalty that will get us beat.”
But the fact that it might not happen again misses the larger point. In my opinion there has to be a happy medium between officials having total discretion over when to call the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the rigid set of standards in the current rule. One of the things that makes college football a better game than the NFL is that the emotion is real and it’s spontaneous. There is a reason that the NFL is called the “No Fun League.” College football does a lot of things to imitate the NFL. It doesn’t want to do that.
The rules committee needs to go back to the table and address this. And here’s why: The game and the stories about the game should be about the players. The officials I know are hard-working guys who are really dedicated to being good at what they do. The last thing they want is to be a part of the game story. In this case, even though the rulebook was followed properly, the story was about the officials.
And that is not good for the game.
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Comments
By buck b
September 9, 2008 8:04 AM | Link to this
Didn’t Vandy get screwed on a similiar call against UF in Gainsville in OT several years ago?
In that case it was the MAN holding Vandy down on behave of the Gators…so the Gators and the SEC could improve their Bowl slot….
By Get over it
September 9, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this
Can we please put this story to bed already? This would be a non-issue if the kicker would have just made the stupid extra point. The fact is, everyone always wants to blame ONE play or ONE call on why they didn’t win the game. There are 60 minutes in a game to build a lead. Sure, you can call it a stupid rule. Yes, you can say the ref shouldn’t have called it. And yes, it would have been the feel-good story of the day for Washington to come back and beat BYU. But it didn’t happen. Get over it.
By keniboy
September 9, 2008 8:22 AM | Link to this
i agree with you, tony, this has gotten out of hand the other way. some toning down was needed but to take away to right to celebrate seriously takes away from the game. totally agree with the NFL analogy. it is not fun and college is for the excitement level. let the pendulum go back the other way and allow some discretion.
By Spike
September 9, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this
buck b.. you are exactly right. I saw it. Vandy got screwed in that game. The rules need to be changed. This simple act of throwing the ball in the air should not be a 15 yard penalty.
By rick
September 9, 2008 8:30 AM | Link to this
This article or blog is a waste of time. Please bring something to the table
By uga_b
September 9, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this
They still haven’t eliminated some of the homecooking on other plays like pass interference that we saw in the UT UCLA game and from what I heard in the Wake Ole Miss game. Pass interference is a bigger problem. The unsportsmanlike conduct rule has gotten out of hand. Starting with flagging the USC(Carolina) DB that started to do pushups like on the practice field when he made a mistake. He was celebrating his mistake? I know kids watch this, but spontaneous emotion shouldn’t be removed. If it is not directed at the other team it should be ignored, as this was.
By rick
September 9, 2008 8:33 AM | Link to this
This article is a waste of space and time. Please bring something to the table, that is not three days old and has been wore out. Right call, bad rule; everyone agrees. Please go on to something else.
By dogfan
September 9, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
I don’t get what all the fuss is about. The guy didn’t miss the kick - it was blocked. It’s Washington’s fault for not blocking. If they were trying a field goal instead of an extra point the ire would be aimed at Washington for failing to block the BYU players. Oh yea! I’ve seen the replay several times - the Washington player didn’t “flip” the ball. He “threw” it - at least 12-15 in the air. The penalty was deserved and called correctly. And it had no damn affect on the outcome of the game.
By SAKA
September 9, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
Tony, would you have written this column if the play/penalty in question had happened with five minutes to go in the game, instead of at the very end? Should referees start jettising various rules as games wind down? One of my pet peeves is all-too-frequent declarations of TV sportscasters, to the effect of “you gotta let ‘em play”, or “you can’t make that kind of call in the last two minutes of a game!”
By dannymight
September 9, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this
gee, you should just give the officials your list of when and where rules should be ignored. that would save them all the trouble of worrying about what you think every time they throw a flag.
By bobby
September 9, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
This isn’t about the “no celebration” rule anyway. It has been the rule in college for at least the past 40 years (since I played) that you can’t spike or throw the ball after a TD in college. Every player knows that. The kid broke the rule and got penalized. No different from any other breach of the rules. A penalty was assessed and they had a chance to overcome it and didn’t.
By leland
September 9, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
Mr. Barnhart—You argue that the players should determine the outcome of a game, not the referee, and at the same time that the referee should be able to use discretion in making calls. But if the referee can use discretion in making calls, doesn’t that take the game away from the players and place it right smack dab in the hands of the referree? Leland
By Bob
September 9, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this
“But coaches and school officials were complaining that the rule was applied inconsistently from conference to conference. Based on my very unscientific observation, I found that to be true. What was an unsportsmanlike act in Baton Rouge might get overlooked in Boise.”
Its also inconsistant within the same conference Tony. Funny you should mention Baton Rouge. Last year in Baton Rouge Tim Tebow taunted the LSU crowd with some mysterious phone gesture after a touchdown. The refs didn’t even bat an eye. Fast forward a few weeks later to the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville. Mohammed Massoquoi gets flagged 15 yards for taunting the Florida crowd with a mock Gator chomp. I can discern no meaningful difference between these two acts. Both players taunted the opposing crowd after a score, but only one got flagged. 15 yards is a long way and can be the difference between winning and losing in these type of games. If they are going to call this crap they need to be consistant with it or not do it at all. Simple as that.
By MP
September 9, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
Tony, since you mentioned safety let me bring that up. What is up with all the helmets falling off these days? It has been happening with greater frequency the last 2-3 years. Prior to that you rarely saw a helmet come off during a play. Now it happens at least once a game. Someone is going to get seriously hurt SOON.
Why is there no rule about buckling the chin strap? Are the helmets fitted differently these days? They seem a lot looser than before. Everyone on the field seems to have a lackadaisacal attitude about it.
As far as the celebration rules…if the ref’s have to call it they should have some latitude to call it a 5 yarder instead of a 15 yarder. Otherwise the dude should have made the kick.
By Elvis
September 9, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this
Rick:
I charge that YOU are a waste of space. YOU saw the title of the article. YOU chose to read the article. Then, YOU wasted MY time by slipping in yet another goober take for us to read. YOU appear to compound your own issues in life with inapropriate reactions.
Tony:
I am glad this happened in a game that did not involve my team, and can be a warning for the future. This is, unfortunatly, something that has been brewing for a while. Players are the ones who created the need for this rule in the first place. Taking off helmets in the 90’s all the way to the current posing and walking 20 yards downfield after a tackle do not add to sportsmanship or enjoyment of a game. It appears that 0 tolerance has to be used.
By azcat225
September 9, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this
“The last thing they want is to be a part of the game story. In this case, even though the rulebook was followed properly, the story was about the officials.” Whose fault is that, Tony? The media’s fault would be my answer. The story should be about the rules and how they are written, but that would take a little extra effort to write a story like that.
The sad part of this is it will probably result in a few extra officials taking stock at the end of this season and deciding they’ve had enough of every one’s crap and hanging up their whistles. There is a growing shortage of qualified officials in this country at all levels and for all sports and the misdirected media spotlight is one of the factors causing the shortage.
I don’t know if it has gotten better or worse—-probably worse—-but during my son’s senior season here in Georgia in the fall of ‘06, the only games for which the GHSA was able to guarantee a full officiating crew (six plus the timekeeper) were the 5A and 4A games. Midseason that year a crew I spoke with before the game told me most 1A and 2A games were getting four man crews, at least in the non-metro areas of the state.
I would submit to you, Tony, that you’re not helping with the statement that the call was correct but not right. A much more fair statement—-fair to all the men and women who officiate the games we and our kids play, officiating solely out of love for the game—-would be simply that the rules needs to be reexamined and possibly rewritten.
By athensdawg
September 9, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
YAWN.
This is almost as exciting as listening to the bandwagon georgia people complain about ESPN bias…or having a root canal.
I was brought up to believe that if the officials have to decide the game, you didn’t do your job as a player and a coach.
Udub could not play special teams. They had a kick blocked. The call had nothing to do with it.
Could it be that this is a way for our buddies in the media to drum up some sympathy for poor ole ty willingham?
He’s run out by the white supremisists at notre dame and now the pac 10 is picking on him….poor guy….
It’s easier to be the victim of poor officiating than to say your special teams sucked at a crucial moment in the game. The truth is that Ty willingham didn’t do his job as a coach….
clearly, this is more important than ohio state vs. usc….or any other games this week.
By baloney
September 9, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
This would never happen to UGA. They are too class act.I’m glad we don’t have to worry about that. There is a reason we will be in the hunt for the NC for many years.
By Miles
September 9, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this
Was this the same Pac 10 crew that screwed up the Oregon vs. Oklahoma game a few years ago? The Pac 10 should be renamed the Pathetic 10…
By Fort Worth Dawg
September 9, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this
So, in summary, if a Florida player does the Gator chomp it is okay. If a player from any other team does it then it is taunting, and thus a penalty. The exception to the exception is if the player from the other team is a kicker who had to make a second field goal because Urban called timeout. Any questions? If you are confused just have all of your team run on the field; that’s still just a simple 15-yarder, right?
By Ramblin Wrecker
September 9, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this
This is the equivalent of people wanting the refs to just “let them play” late in NBA basketball games. How can you apply the rules differently late in the game compared to the first half? You can’t. I don’t know how much football Jake Locker has watched, but throwing the football more than 10 feet in any direction (that isn’t being tossed to the official in a respectful manner) will get a penalty. I think what Tony and the other complainers miss about this is what was Locker thinking? Because he made a decision to break a rule, and he did so because he thought the situation would override the rule. You can’t tell me the officials should look the other way. The same old axiom applies: act like you’ve been there before. But even beyond the discussion about the rule, is the complaining that the officials changed the outcome of the game. Wrong. Last time I checked 30 yard field goals from the center of the field are fairly routine operations. The trajectory is not altered a whole lot from a PAT, not like a 50 yard field goal. So the notion that those extra 15 yards somehow allowed BYU to block the attempt is pure folly. BYU just wanted it more than Washington. That block could just as well happened on a 7 yard routine PAT. Complain about the breakdown in field goal protection, not the penalty.
By Objective Gator
September 9, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
Bob, The mysterious phone gesture at LSU last year was in response to LSU fans obtaining his cellphone number and leaving hundreds of treatening messages on his voice mail. LSU fans were even spotted with tee shirts with his cellphone number printed on them.
By joe
September 9, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
Yes it was something that should not have been called, BUT, if their kicker had done his job and made the PAT, this would be a non issue. Similarly, if the officials had called the saftey correctly in the UT/UCLA game, Tenn would have won the game on their last second kick by two points…but alas they didn’t and UT ended up losing in OT…such is life.
By Joe D.
September 9, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this
Interesting takes from Dog fans…The MECCA of excessive celebrations!
By Bob
September 9, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
Oh, I’ve been wondering about that for months. Thanks. He still should have been flagged. I’m sure his publicist screens all of his calls now.
By Eric1
September 9, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
Tha call probably didn’t affect the outcome of the game, but it still sucks! WDE!!!
By Diamond Dawg
September 9, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this
It’s crazy to think that the Universities make so much money on beefing these guys up, telling them to go destroy the opposition, having them knock heads for 4 hours and expect them to act like perfect gentlemen after a big play. I say, let em celebrate, as long as it doesn’t turn into a dance routine. This whole “drawing attention to oneself” rule is stupid. It’s not taunting the other team and they need to change the rules.
It’s ridiculous to see refs chasing down a player after he scores just to make sure he doesn’t get too happy about it.
By Ted Striker
September 9, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
The NCAA could loosen up on their celebration penalties and it wouldn’t detract from the game one bit.
As for unsportsmanlike conduct: Fan behavior in the stands is 10x worse than anything that typically is seen or heard on the field.
By Mark
September 9, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this
Who has the longest winning streak in Div-1 football?
By dabaxter
September 9, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Why is nobody talking about how Ole Miss was ROBBED by a late BOGUS pass interference penalty putting Wake Forest into field goal range?
By You got to be kidding me
September 9, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
To the person wondering about helmets coming off more these days… look closer next game… its usually those guys with the hair extentions (you know the ones that hang nastily out the back of the helmets)… hmmm? When is this ridiculous fad gonna pass and when are coaches gonna start banning it from their players? When I played we had personal hygiene rules such as no facial hair and hair allowed to only a certain length!
By GATORZONE
September 9, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this
I may be old school, but I am sick of players in Pro, college, and high school with the “me first” attitude that is so prevalent. I was at a HS game last Friday night and the QB for our loosing team was preening around on the sideline shaking his head and beating his chest (as many pros do) and it was ridiculous.
Look at Deangelo Hall last night. Me-first all mouth and cannot back it up.
Football is a team sport and the teams that treat it as such win the most. That is why I think the Falcons will be much more successfull this year than people think.
It is all about the team attitude that is getting very diluted thanks to the “Ocho Cinco”s of the world.
By bohgey
September 9, 2008 11:43 AM | Link to this
If these rules hold fast, and I hope they do, what will the refs do for the UGA-FL game this year? It is eerily similar to being in a fight back in school. It doesn’t matter who throws the first punch, it is all on who throws the last one. So I encourage Coach Cryer to try to top the celebration penalty.
If I remember correctly, Vern Lundquist from CBS circled Trinton Sturdivant and the referees cited him as the at-fault during that excessive celebration. That was because he was taunting the Florida players. Otherwise, that entire celebration was only the Dawgs. Florida considered it a slap in the face, but wasn’t it just like Jake Locker and his team celebrating? By all means it was excessive, good Lord it was excessive, but what else made it different from Washington celebrating? It sparked our season, and you know what, Florida got great field position on that following kick-off. Which I question when the penalty should have been assessed? I suppose that because it was in the final seconds, the penalty had to be assessed for the PAT, but why not in our game? I’m now curious.
I say, who cares how much celebrating went on. If Coach Un-Willing-ham would have restored order, he would have made them realize that there was a kick to be made. Take responsibility for the actions and go finish the game. Sure the referee seemed to take away the game from Washington, but he surely wasn’t going to give the point to them. It just seemed like BYU was a little more focused on the PAT attempt. Good for them.
By Rico
September 9, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this
I think the argument is more about letting the kids have some fun rather that “it cost them the game” or “it doesn’t matter, the kick was blocked”. Screw all of that - the fact is that the kid - a sophomore - was excited at scoring such a big TD late against a ranked team. He threw his hands up, up went the ball, and he jumps into his lineman’s arms. I don’t think BYU would have complained if it wasn’t called, and you can bet if it were a BYU player that did it and it was called, that the Cougars would be screaming JUST AS LOUD.
But Locker said it best when he said, “I apologize for enjoying the excitement of the game”.
That’s the most incriminating reason why.
By Rico
September 9, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this
I think the argument is more about letting the kids have some fun rather that “it cost them the game” or “it doesn’t matter, the kick was blocked”. Screw all of that - the fact is that the kid - a sophomore - was excited at scoring such a big TD late against a ranked team. He threw his hands up, up went the ball, and he jumps into his lineman’s arms. I don’t think BYU would have complained if it wasn’t called, and you can bet if it were a BYU player that did it and it was called, that the Cougars would be screaming JUST AS LOUD.
But Locker said it best when he said, “I apologize for enjoying the excitement of the game”.
That’s the most incriminating reason why.
By St. Bernard
September 9, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this
If the kicker had hit the kick from 35 none of this would matter and no one would even be talking about it. A 35 yard XP is not impossible. How about we put some blame on the players for not blocking and getting a kicked blocked.
By Joe
September 9, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
The penalty call is getting old. The sad thing is that there was absolutely nothing “unsportsmanlike” in what Locker did. He didn’t showboat or taunt the other team. He only jumped up in excitement. What most haven’t seen is that there were 2 dead ball plays in the game, that were both unsportsmanlike and a safety concern that were not flagged. One involved a player throwing his hand into the facemask of an opponent player, snapping the players head back. The other involved a player diving on another player well after the play was whistled dead. Those plays should be reviewed by referree committees before they defend the call on Locker as being “correct”.
By shane #1
September 9, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this
Why is tossing the ball into the air “excessive celebration”?. Dumb rule, change it.
By Mike
September 9, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
Life ain’t fair…move on. Everyone has something they can complain about…Japser Sanks’ fumble call, passinterference the year before that kept a UGa winning drive alive, etc etc
Refs make mistakes. I doubt if this call had not beenmade that anyone would have complained, but simply put, these refs followed the book. Don’t like it? Change the book.
Makes as much sense as folks gousing that Gore won becuase he had more popular votes than Bush in 2000. Them ain’t the rules.
By Let the Big Dawg Eat
September 9, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this
Well, it’s almost time for…
the Gamecocks to get their whuppin’!
By Cecil Samara
September 9, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
If the call is “correct”, it is “right”. Period. It is NOT a judgment call. Sorry, UW, Locker blew it for you (and your kicker).
By Fouch Potato
September 9, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
To the “If they can’t make a 35-yarder, they don’t deserve to win” crowd, you’re missing the point. The point is that if they didn’t call it, there is a 98% chance the Huskies make the PAT. A 35-yarder though has about a 60% success rate. The refs didn’t take the game away from UW, but they sure made it more difficult. And I’m sure you would have the same attitude if it were your team that was on the end of that call…
By Bob
September 9, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this
Fouch, there are countless calls over the course of any close game that one could argue effected the outcome. This one is just getting a lot of attention because it came at the end. If this had happened on the first series of the game and BYU won by one point not a single person would be talking about it, but it would have the same effect. My philosophy is that if you keep the game close you run the risk that something like this will happen. The ref did what he was required to do. The rules are the rules. That’s football and that’s life. If Locker thinks that’s unfair what until he gets in to the real world. He has no idea what unfair is.
By Wil Walton
September 9, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this
I did not read ALL of the posts, but has anyone thought about blaming the QB Locker? All coaches were told about these rules prior to the season, and if Willingham did not express it to his team, then blame him. Stop blaming the official. Stop blaming the NCAA. If it had been Stafford, I’d blame him too!
By OAKIE
September 9, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this
I’m wondering how many of the he broke the rule that’s it crowd would’ve felt had it happened to their team. To say he thought about it and did it intentionally is ridiculous. ps.. whos stafford ??
By Wil Walton
September 9, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this
Oakie, let me ask you a question. If you’re excited and you break a law, does the fact that you’re excited get you out of trouble? I agree that the rules are ridiculous, but they are the rules and you play by them. Matthew Stafford, Georgia’s QB.
By Chris in Bama
September 9, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this
I think the call was complete BS…not faulting the official. It is the NCAA’s fault because that is a rule that should never be written. What happened to celebrating and the horse-collar? Young kids should be able to celebrate when they make a big play as long as it is not derogatory or excessive. Remember Bama and Florida in 2005 when Bama beat #2 ranked Florida 31-3? I do and I know that at the end of the game a Bama player did the gator chomp to a Florida player and the crowd and then “slit his throat”. Nobody made a call on that(IMO)and it wasn’t necessary to make that call. This was done to retaliate from a Florida player doing the chomp in the 2004 game.
By Chris in Bama
September 9, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
The point that is being made is that Washington could have went for 2 points and possibly won the game or kicked from 15 yards closer to tie the game and go to OT. A Player throwing the ball into the air (which is nothing like a law!) Should not prevent a team from winning. It is a completely stupid rule! I think that it is VERY sportsmanlike to celebrate when you make a play. Yes the kick was blocked and maybe their special teams suck, but is it possible that if they weren’t let down by that stupid call that they may have performed better? The possibilities that make a game a game could not be explored. NCAA SUCKS! Period!
By Chris in Bama
September 9, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this
Another thing that p** me off is when people get on here and do nothing but critsize Tony….If you don’t like his blogs then don’t come here. Keep your pathetic mouth’s shut a go somewhere else where someone agrees with you. This blog should be for discussion and not to critisize the writer. Some of you idiots are moving away from the point of the blog.
By Columbus Dawg
September 9, 2008 3:15 PM | Link to this
I just want to say to “Let The Big Dawg Eat”, it IS time for them chickens to get that whuppin!!!!!
By Chris in Bama
September 9, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
sorry I forgot to use spell check because I sure can’t spell worth a flip.
It’s just I’m mad as heck” and I’m really **not gonna take it anymore.
You people are ignorant and pathetic.
By Dave
September 9, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Tony Barnhart is a typical journalist. He thinks it should be up to the ref’s to decide whether or not to penalize a team. Had the ref decided to not enforce the rule allowing Washington to win instead of BYU, just how would that be fair. This rule was not a surprise. The player knew the rule, the coach knew the rule and they blew it. Fire the coach, expel the player, but don’t blame the ref. He was the only one who did his job.
By Football Fan
September 9, 2008 4:55 PM | Link to this
The origional reason for college team sports was to educate participating students with lessons that could not be taught via lecture in the classroom.
One of those lessons was the importance of placing the best interests of the team before one’s own best interest.
Another lesson was to play by the rules or risk your team suffering a setback if you do not do so.
The Washington player broke the rules. His team had an opportunity to still pull out a win if the kick a PAT the range of an easily made field goal. They did not perform this task and lost.
It could be pointed out that Washington had 59 previous minutes to put the game away and failed to do so.
It is not about a ref or an individual player. In football you either win as a team or lose as a team.
By dogfan
September 9, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
In regards to the celebration penalty - why is it just applied after a touchdown? When one team makes a big play, e.g. fumble recovery, interception, big hit, sack the qb, etc. and start doing their silly a* dances, etc. it’s seldom - if every - called. Why? (just curious)
By Rich Simpson
September 9, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this
TO: “GET OVER IT” IT IS EASY TO SAY “GET OVER IT” WHEN IT’S NOT YOUR SCHOOL THAT LOST BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED AFTER THE PLAY WAS OVER. SECONDLY, IT JUST HAPPENED THIS PAST SATURDAY. YOU ARE TREATING THIS DISCUSSION AS IF IT HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO. IF YOU DON’T LIKE TONY’S COLUMN, I SUGGEST YOU “GET OVER IT”.
By 87Dawg
September 9, 2008 6:34 PM | Link to this
I want the game to be called correctly from the first play to the last. I have the same problem at basball games when the home plate umpire gets tired and the strike zone starts to include anything thrown between the dugouts, or in basketball when fouls don’t get called in the last minute of close games. Having said that, the NCAA left too little room for interptetation of this rule. Something needs to be changed.
By BYU Fan
September 9, 2008 8:35 PM | Link to this
The only play that anyone has seen from that game is the celebration call at the end. Nobody saw the egregious holding right in front of the officials when BYU was about to sack Locker on the 4th and 10 in the same drive. If the refs had gotten that one right, perhaps the whole thing wouldn’t be an issue at all. The truth is that the officiating was horrible throughout the game, but the only call that anyone ever focuses on is the last one. And give the Cougars credit for blocking the kick. The ball was so low to the ground when they blocked it, that the angle of the kick didn’t make much of a difference. They probably would have blocked it from 20 yards too.
That said, if the same thing had happened to BYU I would be frustrated (just as I was at the blatant holding no-call), but I would never say that the refs were to blame for the loss.
By GM
September 9, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this
Rules are rules. If you don’t like them, try to get them changed, but I don’t understand why this is even a discussion.
If you don’t want the refs to be a part of the “game story”, then why not coach your players to follow the rules? It was a correctly called penalty. Cry me a river.
By Whopper Dawg
September 9, 2008 10:34 PM | Link to this
Just get the rules correct. Don’t blame the official for making a call according to the rules which is his job.
By bkdunn
September 10, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
Wow — I’m like ecstatic about the rational comments to this blog post. Holy ——. I guess maybe Georgia should be my SEC team. Seriously. Refs make and miss a ton of calls every game. If the refs decided this game, then they’ve decided every one-score football game played since the beginning of time by making or not making calls. This is a complete non-story and I can’t stand when people try and make stories out of non-stories. And Go Dawgs, apparently.
By Fan of the Game
September 10, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this
It looked to me like he was throwing the ball behind his back (his arm extended over his head and down passed his shoulders).
either way - it was a BS call.
By Bruce
September 10, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this
As a GHSA football official, I get asked about controversial calls all the time from friends and family. Yes, I even got asked about this one. The official did the right thing… he enforced the rules of the game. The problem seems to me to be one of whether this kind of celebration is unsportsmanlike or delay of game. I ‘ve always felt it should be a five yard penalty for delay. Maybe when the NCAA gets it right, it’ll trickle down to the High School level as well.