[Football1]

I have stayed off the site intentionally as I do my best to stay positive on here. Anytime you talk about refs you run the risk of simply being chalked up as a sore loser. But if you know me you know that is not how I go about things. Facts. The personal foul that was called on Diamond was a miss. And yes, for the 1 or 2 who don't know it yet - he is my son. A kid comes to block him and he puts him on his can and that costs him a 15 yarder (2nd one in 4 years of starting football). The film tells the story on some of the other calls as well. The personal foul call that made the field goal possible was a miss. 23 was in bounds when he made the hit. The fumble was a terrible miss. 13 was down - that was not a fumble 100%. The penalties on the extra point were wrong. The pass interference call was likely the biggest miss of the night. On the touchdown where 28 swept left for 23 yards our 50 (shirt pulled out 6 inches from pads on film) and 23 (literally was tackled) were held in clear sight - no call. Painful stuff for a team that was trying to make history for their school.

All that said, what does it matter? Did those calls and misses change the outcome of the game? Fact is we will never know but my feeling is they did. Were those guys inaccurate or unethical? Who knows. This has been a hard year for me and refs. I do my best to teach my sons to respect all authority and learn to accept defeat with honor. Losing is a part of life and must be accepted with grace if you are ever to overcome it. This year my son lost 2 games of his senior season to a ref who ejected him with 50 seconds to go in a game that was already decided for FAR less than fighting I assure you. And now he gets the memories of some inaccurate calls that likely cost him and his team a District Title. That is life.

Don't lecture me about how to lose. I have posted 2 times in four years about refs. Our loss to Pulaski 3 years ago and this one. In both cases the film and the statistics tell a clear story. Still, Russell County is a great team with an amazing RB, a top notch secondary, and good fans. I wish them the very best in the playoffs. But to not speak the facts of this game is as big a tragedy as all the people who complain about refs every time they lose. And the film plainly shows that there were several critical calls that likely altered the outcome of this game that simply were wrong.