Thought I’d write this little ditty after reading another in a long line of postings that seem to push ALL the FALL controversies into the arms of the referees. Granted, I’m pushing the discussion maybe a little too far into the arena of passionate and opinionated fan bases, but I only did that to balance the anti-referee rhetoric. I am hoping for a fair and balanced discussion on the matter…
THE FALL
Is it just me, or is the FALL in collegiate wrestling misunderstood. “That’s a pin!!”, “call the fall, ref!!”, “what are you waiting for?”, screams the fans from the upper deck, while the referee is no more than a foot from the action, carefully surveying the shoulder blades of the wrestler desperately trying to avoid the pin. When it’s finally called, we get, “about time, I could see it from here” (which happens to be 200 feet from the action), or if it’s not called, “missed that one, blind as a bat, obvious bad call” (while still the same 200 feet). Doesn’t have to be 200 feet either…but that’s where the calls were coming from at MSG…we get the same from far closer views at Wreck Hall.
I get it, I really do. In the heat of the moment, many will want a call when their guy’s on top, even if it’s not there. Not unlike stall calls at CHA…maybe a smidgeon before it’s warranted
.
Here’s what I got, just one man’s opinion, nothing more. Many fans want to lay their perception of a missed call all on the ref. Do refs miss calls? Yep, they do!! Do fans “miss” calls (meaning they want a fall when none is there)? Absolutely, and hundreds of times more often. Do most falls get called appropriately? Yep, I believe they do.
So what’s at issue? One thing I’m sure of…many fans think they know better than the guy closest to the action. I know what I’m talking about (head baseball umpire for 7 years, 4 years of girl’s softball, a year of men’s softball, 3 years of youth basketball, and a year of men’s basketball, all organized sports, but not High School or College). Umpiring/refereeing is much harder than it looks…and the fans always had it right when I wore stripes…ALWAYS. And re. falls in college wrestling, we’ll even take a snapshot (a moment in time) to make our point, even though a fall in college wrestling is only called when the hold is maintained for…ready? One second.
I believe mistakes are made by referees, but that’s part of having imperfect men (none are perfect, btw!) making the call. It’s just not as horrible as some make it out to be. And I, for one, believe there’s also “quick” falls called, when a wrestler isn’t held for the requisite 1 second, but we don’t discuss those with the same passion or fervor. I even saw one I thought was blatant at the NCAA Championships…any guesses?? But either way, it’s not that bad…and not as inconsistent as stalling calls.
So here’s the rules. First is from the NCAA Wrestling Handbook, and the second rule (for comparison) is from a freestyle handbook.
NCAA Wrestling
Any part of both shoulders or part of both of either wrestler held in contact with the mat for one second constitutes a fall. The one-second count (one-thousand-one) shall be a silent count by the referee and shall start only after the referee is in position to observe that a fall is imminent, after which the shoulders or scapulae area must be held in continuous contact with the mat for one second before a fall is awarded.
International Freestyle
When the defensive wrestler is held by his opponent with his two shoulders against the mat for a sufficient time to allow the referee to observe the total control of the fall, the resulting maneuver is considered to be a fall.
There you have it. What do YOU think?
THE FALL
Is it just me, or is the FALL in collegiate wrestling misunderstood. “That’s a pin!!”, “call the fall, ref!!”, “what are you waiting for?”, screams the fans from the upper deck, while the referee is no more than a foot from the action, carefully surveying the shoulder blades of the wrestler desperately trying to avoid the pin. When it’s finally called, we get, “about time, I could see it from here” (which happens to be 200 feet from the action), or if it’s not called, “missed that one, blind as a bat, obvious bad call” (while still the same 200 feet). Doesn’t have to be 200 feet either…but that’s where the calls were coming from at MSG…we get the same from far closer views at Wreck Hall.
I get it, I really do. In the heat of the moment, many will want a call when their guy’s on top, even if it’s not there. Not unlike stall calls at CHA…maybe a smidgeon before it’s warranted
.Here’s what I got, just one man’s opinion, nothing more. Many fans want to lay their perception of a missed call all on the ref. Do refs miss calls? Yep, they do!! Do fans “miss” calls (meaning they want a fall when none is there)? Absolutely, and hundreds of times more often. Do most falls get called appropriately? Yep, I believe they do.
So what’s at issue? One thing I’m sure of…many fans think they know better than the guy closest to the action. I know what I’m talking about (head baseball umpire for 7 years, 4 years of girl’s softball, a year of men’s softball, 3 years of youth basketball, and a year of men’s basketball, all organized sports, but not High School or College). Umpiring/refereeing is much harder than it looks…and the fans always had it right when I wore stripes…ALWAYS. And re. falls in college wrestling, we’ll even take a snapshot (a moment in time) to make our point, even though a fall in college wrestling is only called when the hold is maintained for…ready? One second.
I believe mistakes are made by referees, but that’s part of having imperfect men (none are perfect, btw!) making the call. It’s just not as horrible as some make it out to be. And I, for one, believe there’s also “quick” falls called, when a wrestler isn’t held for the requisite 1 second, but we don’t discuss those with the same passion or fervor. I even saw one I thought was blatant at the NCAA Championships…any guesses?? But either way, it’s not that bad…and not as inconsistent as stalling calls.
So here’s the rules. First is from the NCAA Wrestling Handbook, and the second rule (for comparison) is from a freestyle handbook.
NCAA Wrestling
Any part of both shoulders or part of both of either wrestler held in contact with the mat for one second constitutes a fall. The one-second count (one-thousand-one) shall be a silent count by the referee and shall start only after the referee is in position to observe that a fall is imminent, after which the shoulders or scapulae area must be held in continuous contact with the mat for one second before a fall is awarded.
International Freestyle
When the defensive wrestler is held by his opponent with his two shoulders against the mat for a sufficient time to allow the referee to observe the total control of the fall, the resulting maneuver is considered to be a fall.
There you have it. What do YOU think?
