It is time to eliminate conference-based officials

[chrisrn1965]

It is well past time to eliminate officials being part of conferences. It creates the appearance of conflicts of interest even if that is not truly the case. This is not just in inter-conference games. We have certainly seen our share of favoritism shown to OSU and Michigan in the BIG. I do not think that the missed down last night was an intentional screw job because we were unlikely to convert 3rd and 11 anyway and it just made the refs look like fools. The calls that were more problematic were the intentional grounding call on Clifford, the non grounding call on Nix, and the phantom late hit on Brandon Smith.

You cannot call the grounding on Clifford and then not call it on Nix. Nix was in the tackle box and clearly trying to avoid a sack which is the intent of the rule. The late hit was a joke. Smith was clearly letting up and Nix slipped. That extended what could have been the game tying drive for Auburn.

Officials should be national and undergo continual evaluation. Human beings are imperfect and errors will occur but egregious errors should result in discipline and re-training. If the official continues to be subpar fire them.

 

[CJFisJoePaII]

It is well past time to eliminate officials being part of conferences. It creates the appearance of conflicts of interest even if that is not truly the case. This is not just in inter-conference games. We have certainly seen our share of favoritism shown to OSU and Michigan in the BIG. I do not think that the missed down last night was an intentional screw job because we were unlikely to convert 3rd and 11 anyway and it just made the refs look like fools. The calls that were more problematic were the intentional grounding call on Clifford, the non grounding call on Nix, and the phantom late hit on Brandon Smith.

You cannot call the grounding on Clifford and then not call it on Nix. Nix was in the tackle box and clearly trying to avoid a sack which is the intent of the rule. The late hit was a joke. Smith was clearly letting up and Nix slipped. That extended what could have been the game tying drive for Auburn.

Officials should be national and undergo continual evaluation. Human beings are imperfect and errors will occur but egregious errors should result in discipline and re-training. If the official continues to be subpar fire them.

Well, beyond that, the call they made against Clifford / PSU is patently contrary to the Rule Criteria provided to all Conferences and their Officials. This is excerpted directly from the NCAA's Rules Interpretation Manual on enforcement of Intentional Grounding:

Note 1: In all cases except when the ball is thrown directly into the ground, there is no foul unless there is pressure on the passer. This is implicit in all guidelines
below

The IG call on Clifford/PSU costing them 7 yards (and then the SEC Officials followed it up by taking a 2nd down from PSU) was clearly made in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to the NCAA's Rule Enforcement Instructions and Criteria for Intentional Grounding.

 

[MacNit07]

Well, beyond that, the call they made against Clifford / PSU is patently contrary to the Rule Criteria provided to all Conferences and their Officials. This is excerpted directly from the NCAA's Rules Interpretation Manual on enforcement of Intentional Grounding:

Note 1: In all cases except when the ball is thrown directly into the ground, there is no foul unless there is pressure on the passer. This is implicit in all guidelines
below

The IG call on Clifford/PSU costing them 7 yards (and then the SEC Officials followed it up by taking a 2nd down from PSU) was clearly made in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to the NCAA's Rule Enforcement Instructions and Criteria for Intentional Grounding.

Rules/Smules…they wanted an Auburn victory.

 

[PSU2UNC]

It is well past time to eliminate officials being part of conferences. It creates the appearance of conflicts of interest even if that is not truly the case. This is not just in inter-conference games. We have certainly seen our share of favoritism shown to OSU and Michigan in the BIG. I do not think that the missed down last night was an intentional screw job because we were unlikely to convert 3rd and 11 anyway and it just made the refs look like fools. The calls that were more problematic were the intentional grounding call on Clifford, the non grounding call on Nix, and the phantom late hit on Brandon Smith.

You cannot call the grounding on Clifford and then not call it on Nix. Nix was in the tackle box and clearly trying to avoid a sack which is the intent of the rule. The late hit was a joke. Smith was clearly letting up and Nix slipped. That extended what could have been the game tying drive for Auburn.

Officials should be national and undergo continual evaluation. Human beings are imperfect and errors will occur but egregious errors should result in discipline and re-training. If the official continues to be subpar fire them.

Can anyone provide history and/or rationale for having conference based crews? If basketball, which has way more teams, can do a national based crew system, you would think it wouldn't be hard for football. And it is not as if there are different rules between conferences. It really doesn't make any sense.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

It is well past time to eliminate officials being part of conferences. It creates the appearance of conflicts of interest even if that is not truly the case. This is not just in inter-conference games. We have certainly seen our share of favoritism shown to OSU and Michigan in the BIG. I do not think that the missed down last night was an intentional screw job because we were unlikely to convert 3rd and 11 anyway and it just made the refs look like fools. The calls that were more problematic were the intentional grounding call on Clifford, the non grounding call on Nix, and the phantom late hit on Brandon Smith.

You cannot call the grounding on Clifford and then not call it on Nix. Nix was in the tackle box and clearly trying to avoid a sack which is the intent of the rule. The late hit was a joke. Smith was clearly letting up and Nix slipped. That extended what could have been the game tying drive for Auburn.

Officials should be national and undergo continual evaluation. Human beings are imperfect and errors will occur but egregious errors should result in discipline and re-training. If the official continues to be subpar fire them.

^^^^
This.

 

[republion]

Well, beyond that, the call they made against Clifford / PSU is patently contrary to the Rule Criteria provided to all Conferences and their Officials. This is excerpted directly from the NCAA's Rules Interpretation Manual on enforcement of Intentional Grounding:

Note 1: In all cases except when the ball is thrown directly into the ground, there is no foul unless there is pressure on the passer. This is implicit in all guidelines
below

The IG call on Clifford/PSU costing them 7 yards (and then the SEC Officials followed it up by taking a 2nd down from PSU) was clearly made in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to the NCAA's Rule Enforcement Instructions and Criteria for Intentional Grounding.

I think football needs to lose the “loss of down” verbiage on intentional grounding as people and these refs (SEC) seem to take it literally.
It’s not really a loss of down, as the refs are just saying the QB was as good as sacked, so we’re gonna spot the ball where the QB got rid of it and move on to the next down. You aren’t actually losing a down. They are just allowing the previous down to stand with a minor adjustment.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Can anyone provide history and/or rationale for having conference based crews? If basketball, which has way more teams, can do a national based crew system, you would think it wouldn't be hard for football. And it is not as if there are different rules between conferences. It really doesn't make any sense.

Basketball officials are also assigned by conferences. They simply aren't exclusive to one conference.

 

[CJFisJoePaII]

I think football needs to lose the “loss of down” verbiage on intentional grounding as people and these refs (SEC) seem to take it literally.
It’s not really a loss of down, as the refs are just saying the QB was as good as sacked, so we’re gonna spot the ball where the QB got rid of it and move on to the next down. You aren’t actually losing a down. They are just allowing the previous down to stand with a minor adjustment.

No, it is loss of down as it is a Penalty - including a penalty flag being thrown. It is one the few Penalties that includes not only loss of yardage (spot foul), but also loss of the down. Virtually all penalties replay the down when accepted, IG is one of the few that does not. Beyond that, the Rulebook is explicit (both in Rules Verbiage and Interpretation Manual) that IG is not to be called if the QB is not under duress on a downfield pass like that. The SEC Officials call was in direct contradiction to what the NCAA Rulebook explicitly states.

 

[Art]

Can anyone provide history and/or rationale for having conference based crews? If basketball, which has way more teams, can do a national based crew system, you would think it wouldn't be hard for football. And it is not as if there are different rules between conferences. It really doesn't make any sense.

Cost and availability (which also translates into cost). Big Ten pays $3mm and change for officiating in all sports. That buys 2-3 NFL crews.

 

[Midnighter2]

It is well past time to eliminate officials being part of conferences. It creates the appearance of conflicts of interest even if that is not truly the case. This is not just in inter-conference games. We have certainly seen our share of favoritism shown to OSU and Michigan in the BIG. I do not think that the missed down last night was an intentional screw job because we were unlikely to convert 3rd and 11 anyway and it just made the refs look like fools. The calls that were more problematic were the intentional grounding call on Clifford, the non grounding call on Nix, and the phantom late hit on Brandon Smith.

You cannot call the grounding on Clifford and then not call it on Nix. Nix was in the tackle box and clearly trying to avoid a sack which is the intent of the rule. The late hit was a joke. Smith was clearly letting up and Nix slipped. That extended what could have been the game tying drive for Auburn.

Officials should be national and undergo continual evaluation. Human beings are imperfect and errors will occur but egregious errors should result in discipline and re-training. If the official continues to be subpar fire them.

Don’t forget the BS PI call on JPJR.