One the things that makes me maddest is when I'm on a ref cause he messes up and another ref tells me "He called a state championship game!" So what!!!!!!?

3 of the 6 games were poorly officiated this year. Batting 500 isn't good for officials, assigning secretary's and Julian.

No real easy fix on this one. The officials are independent contractors who go through rules clinics & trainings to be able to officiate games, we all know that. Assignors (now that the traveling official teams have been done away with are doing all they can to put the best people out there at all times. Unfortunately there are some officials that are still cutting their teeth since from what I hear there is practically a state wide shortage of officials.

 

I agree the best ones should be there for the finals, but even the best officials get harped on by some of the coaches for one thing or another. Human element is always going to be there in sports, especially @ this level of play where replay & coaches challenges are not existent.

 

I want to see perfectly called games where the officials are right 100% of the time & its left up to the kids to decide who wins & who loses, but in all my years on this sphere of dirt & water that is spinning through the universe I have yet to see this game yet.

No real easy fix on this one. The officials are independent contractors who go through rules clinics & trainings to be able to officiate games, we all know that. Assignors (now that the traveling official teams have been done away with are doing all they can to put the best people out there at all times. Unfortunately there are some officials that are still cutting their teeth since from what I hear there is practically a state wide shortage of officials.

 

I agree the best ones should be there for the finals, but even the best officials get harped on by some of the coaches for one thing or another. Human element is always going to be there in sports, especially @ this level of play where replay & coaches challenges are not existent.

 

I want to see perfectly called games where the officials are right 100% of the time & its left up to the kids to decide who wins & who loses, but in all my years on this sphere of dirt & water that is spinning through the universe I have yet to see this game yet.

 

A missed call is one thing... Not knowing the rules or applying them improperly is another.

Just because a guy is a college ref does not make him any better than a high school official. Might have to do with ones work or family life as I have seen terrible college games in the past also. State needs to get back to doing the camps they did several years ago statewide so everyone is on the same page. And they do not need to charge a arm and leg to attend these!

By my call name, I think you can guess that I will side with the officials. Here is the question I ask and I put you in the assignor seat- do you want the 25 year high school official that only does high school games( freshman , JV too) went to many camps early in his/her career and has worked playoff games or the 10 year younger official that works primarily OVC-MIdsouth conference college games, familiar with technology( microphones, timing pieces, etc ) goes to officiating camps in the summer and will work some Friday nights? Don't give me " the best official" BS - make the frickin' call and tell me who you choose and why.

 

If the younger ref is attending camps more recently then I want him. He's been updated on newer adjustments to the rules and he has officiated at the college level which players play at a much faster rate. Going from the OVC or Mid South down to a high school game should look much slower and IMO should see calls easier. The knowledge of the Mike and time pieces is an added bonus.

A missed call is one thing... Not knowing the rules or applying them improperly is another.

 

Didn't say it was right, I hate it as well. Just saying human error gets you @ times.

 

Just like the NCC-Mayfield touching the football call. Its tough to break yourself away from what you see every Saturday & Sunday on TV all day long being different on what is happening Friday night in a game. It is bad that the call was blown, but once again, human error is part of the game, whether it is a mental lapse of the rules or not seeing a call that was seen by others.

Didn't say it was right, I hate it as well. Just saying human error gets you @ times.

 

Just like the NCC-Mayfield touching the football call. Its tough to break yourself away from what you see every Saturday & Sunday on TV all day long being different on what is happening Friday night in a game. It is bad that the call was blown, but once again, human error is part of the game, whether it is a mental lapse of the rules or not seeing a call that was seen by others.

 

I guess we have different opinions of what we consider human error... A missed call, inadvertent whistle, not seeing something, etc. are human error. Not knowing or improperly enforcing a rule are not human error, IMO. That is a lack of training and education. There are multiple officials, there should be someone on the crew who can say "Wait, hold on, let's talk about this" and make the right call.

College refs are way over rated and care less about the high school game. They are just in it for the money

They have to call 8 games to be playoff eligible so if they qualify let them call. Not fair to 9nly do 2 or three games and get all of the gravy

Some do not like this one

I guess we have different opinions of what we consider human error... A missed call, inadvertent whistle, not seeing something, etc. are human error. Not knowing or improperly enforcing a rule are not human error, IMO. That is a lack of training and education. There are multiple officials, there should be someone on the crew who can say "Wait, hold on, let's talk about this" and make the right call.

 

Its not that I dont agree with you. I didn't see the play that everyone is talking about, so I dont know how blatant it looked, but its still the human element. They should have gotten the officials together to discuss it if they didn't think something was right. The white cap has to keep control of their crew.

I guess we have different opinions of what we consider human error... A missed call, inadvertent whistle, not seeing something, etc. are human error. Not knowing or improperly enforcing a rule are not human error, IMO. That is a lack of training and education. There are multiple officials, there should be someone on the crew who can say "Wait, hold on, let's talk about this" and make the right call.

I agree, I brought up a point to a friend and he hammered me on it, here it is. I know we don't have replay, but in the state championship, Tackett was there, when an misapplication of the rules happens, as in the muffed punt in the mayfield game, would it be a good idea for him to alert the officials on the correct application?

EVERY other level of football "grades" officials, and has a set way of determining each officials score. This is a tough process with so many games on a given Friday night throughout the state. However, i am sure there are plenty of qualified individuals to handle the observation portion of grading officials in the state. Probably need use regional "all star" crews at the regional title games, and allow them to stay together throughout the rest of the playoffs. Ensuring that no regional crew refs their own regions teams from there on. Just another reason to centralize the semi finals. 24 crews, then cut to six, then to 2 or three depending on how the state finals work out. This year would have been three. I do not think that doing it on an individual basis would work out, as crews seem to work better as a whole. Deciding who gets the white hat, and their own crew would be based on performance and ability also. If a ref doesn't make the cut, it is up to them to improve their performance, as pay will work accordingly.

No one will work for free as these observers will need to be paid for their time. Put the cost on the officials and many will quit as they do not make much anyway . School are not going to pay and Tackett is not going to cover the cost. Who will pay these guys

College game and high school game are totally different, and some of the college guys worked some of the state championship games where people moaned and groaned about different calls. Sorry to tell you but Kentucky Christian University vs. Louisville Male and I will take the Bulldogs.

 

There is not a perfect answer to this, but I think a better way would be to try to keep crews together from a particular association-that way at least their training has all been the same. Saying this doesn't mean the officials selected all have to be from the same crew, but rather the five should all be from the same association.

 

Yes and assignors who send guys to the finals who blow calls should hold those guys accountable, and if the assignor keeps sending guys that botch calls then they too should be held accountable.