As most of you know, I have an employee from New Orleans that has been a "white hat" for the last 20 years. Just this fall he moved up to the video booth....and he loves it. He gets paid the same as the guys on the field (about $2k per game, which includes his expenses), and the game preparation required is nothing compared to what the "on-field" officials must go through. He and his new crew are contracted every week to work games for the Big 12, the MWC and the Southland conference. For instance, last week they worked and Abilene Christian game, and last night they worked the Univ of New Mexico vs Colorado St game in Albuquerque. Next week they are working the TCU game at OU in Norman. (Last year, he and his crew worked our UMASS game up in New England.)
Anyway, I was talking to him about the different officiating crews in college football, and the poor calls we are seeing this year for "targeting". He said the "targeting" call is being misused far too much this year, and that it's the biggest problem in college football. Furthermore, he said most of the time it's not targeting at all. But he also said that if we have game officials we don't like, it's VERY EASY to get them off your schedule. He said the referee crews are all contract employees, and that they all work in an "association" with other crews. He said the head coaches and AD's for any university have a ton of power, and can EASILY have a crew removed from their schedule. And if it's just not working out, they can also EASILY hire another "association".
He is absolutely right on this. And targeting is the most inconsistently enforced (or not enforced) rule in the game. One tackle will be a completely questionable call that is enforced with an immediate ejection plus a 1/2 game suspension in the player's next game, while a much more 'textbook' targeting infraction IN THE SAME CONTEST will get completely overturned. It is absurd and it is one of the many NCAA FBS "inconsistencies' driving fans away from the game.
Yeah, I discussed Cooper's targeting call from the UAB game with him. He agreed it's getting called far too much, and based upon the fact that the UAB receiver had already tucked it, turned up field and run 5 yards, it probably shouldn't have been called. He said referees are confused and many don't understand the rule. Remember, this is info from an INSIDER!
Confirms the lack of concern of our athletic department. Sports aren’t everything in life, but have some pride and backbone.
The game as a whole has gotten too wussy. Watched a little of the SEC Classic Channel the other night and it had a 1980 UGA game with Hershel Walker vs. Tennessee. Walker was driven out of bounds by a host of UT tacklers and after he was a full yard out two more UT defenders flew in and hit him. I was like, "where's the flag!?" as if I was watching the game live. No flags, and no one, including Walker, got upset about it. Just lined up and played the next down.
We have gotten accustomed to the new WUSSY rules and expect a flag every time someone gets hit, even a little late. Or, OMG! if a defender lays some wood on a clean tackle!
Noli in Boca working UNT at FAU. Gautreaux is in Charlotte.
Looks like we get Antee or one team will get someone they have seen far too recently.
Last edited by FriscoDawg; 10-21-2017 at 05:48 PM.
Antee as expected.
There is a center judge back there who could also call holding if the calls were there. The hands to the face is a point of emphasis, and it was a blatant one that had to be called.
Officiating did not beat Tech last night. And nobody better say it did.
It may not be saying much, but at this point Antee and crew are probably no worse than top 2 in C-USA. Before this week Rodney Burnette would have made it a top 3, but failure to know how to apply the 10-second runoff rule at the end of the game that gave ODU a play it didn't deserve ended that.
It wasn’t even the missed calls or bad calls that pissed me off last night. It was the horrible spotting of the football that we never challenged! They were short of the mark by at least a half yard right in front of me but got the first on the bad spot. No challenge, sticks where rushed forward and USM scored on the very next play. The one horrible no PI call where our receiver was clothes lined was the point where I knew we were in trouble.