[More Cowbell]

Regardless of which game is being played, there are always going to be bad calls. I have been to a couple games this year and I have seen bad calls from officials. These calls did not change the game. The players were able to overcome the bad calls. But we don't see them on here whining about it.

On the contrary, the very reason I started this thread is because so many players and fans were getting on here on griping about the officiating. So I wouldn't give them a free pass, either.

[Braves_Fan_26]

Refs have it hard in any sport. But some of them make it that way on theirself. I have seen deliberate bad calls by refs and some that were mistakes because they didnt see what really happened. What kills me most is in football, you have about 4-5 refs in a game, all with different vantage points of a play and sometimes they have to come together to decide what to call. A good example would be both the games I have seen Magoffin play at home this year. In both games, the refs had to get together to decide plays and it would take them 5-10 minutes each time, they looked so confused. My point is, why is it like that, why take so long to make a call, thats when it makes the refs look like they are bought off or whatever term you want to use. Now im not blaming the loss to pike central on the refs, the boys from magoffin just didnt have anything for them. Their pass defense is horrible and the play calling on offense is even worse. Also the boys just seemed like they didnt care, when they should have sucked it up and went out there and played even harder, hit them as hard as they hit you. What I mean by that is the team seems like they are so afraid to hit someone hard or to even hit them at all, they miss alot of tackles and ive some just stand around. The O-line is horrific, no blocking whatsoever. This team still has alot of work to do and coach mccoy needs to show some fire with his players. If something isnt done they wont win a game the rest of the year. Ok back to topic now, the refs cant be blamed for everything, if a team loses its the teams fault, you win and lose as a team. The refs arent playing the games, they are only calling what they see.

[More Cowbell]

Refs have it hard in any sport. But some of them make it that way on theirself. I have seen deliberate bad calls by refs and some that were mistakes because they didnt see what really happened.

I will agree with the latter part of your statement, but not with the first. I would say that H.S. refs making a bad call intentionally is extremely rare. The main reason why this may be somewhat more prevalent in pro (and possibly college) sports is the presence of gambling. A professional referee can make a lot of money by taking payouts from organized crime, which may make it worth the risk of being caught. But to think a local ref is being paid off (with MUCH less money) and putting their career and personal integrity on the line is almost unfathomable.

I am not denying that bad calls happen, though, I just believe most are honest mistakes. Like you said, sometimes the refs were all out of position and no one actually saw what happened, so they have to make a judgment call. Usually they're right, sometimes they're not. But they are human, and they can make mistakes.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

Well if you watched the Cinci game last night you would have seen a make up call... even the announcers said it was a make up call. Heap getting called for offensive pass interference..the Ravens loosing the TD...then the ref makes a call against the defense. THE BAD call cost the RAvens the game. I KNOW...... if you look at the rest of the game you could have siad it was something else....
Here is my point. When a ref misses a call on a scoring opportunity,,,, it has the direct affect on the overall score.......right...... so when a ref misses a call on a play like that ,,,his mistake has caused a team to loose or win......Which in turn you can say that the REF caused the team to loose the game..... And these calls were being made by PROFESSIONAL refs. now why in the world would you think that a high school official is going to be any better than a Pro Ref..... I am not bashing the REF just saying. people make mistakes,, which in turn can cause collateral damage to teams....
Alot of power for an individual.....?????
I am glad that their are mostly good refs around here. But you can hear stories about other games.....

[FOX SPORTS]

Here is my point. When a ref misses a call on a scoring opportunity,,,, it has the direct affect on the overall score.......right...... so when a ref misses a call on a play like that ,,,his mistake has caused a team to loose or win......Which in turn you can say that the REF caused the team to loose the game.....
I am glad that their are mostly good refs around here. But you can hear stories about other games.....

We've heard your point.

I disagree...the other side of the argument and an example from the game last night you referred to...If Baltimore hadn't have turned it over 6 times the game would not have been close enough for it to be in the officials hands.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

I used last night as an example..........................just forget it......!!

[FOX SPORTS]

I used last night as an example..........................just forget it......!!

I understand your argument and such...it's just my opinion that if teams take care of business throughout the game, one ref's call makes very little difference.

[thecavemaster]

The need for officials and some part-time decent money leads
to a mixed bag of people becoming refs. Some don't really
know the game; some don't get adequate training; some don't
put forth much effort. When you parse out how much money
officials make per hour, it often exceeds $30.00. Most of
the time, officials don't decide games, though as human
beings, they are going to make mistakes. However, several
times each season, an official's call DOES change the
outcome of a game. And, on a few occasions, the ineptitude
of an official compromises the quality of the game
itself...and officials with agendas (VERY few) compromise
the integrity of the game itself.

[bigt9976]

There are three things that you can not control one is the refs, two is the weather, and three is the other team. So it does not do any good to bash the refs they may stinck and you may not like them but what can you do.

[IntheZone]

That may be the case, but I doubt that all the bad calls went against one team in favor of the other...

yea they did lc threw the ball all nite and didnt get 1 holding call and when we went back and watched the game film they held from play 1

[DEVILOLOGIST]

someone holds on every play.....it can be called on every play.... Teaching our kids to block with open hands leaves alot of determination of what is and is not holding inthe hands of players. Some refs see it as a block some see it as a hold. Dont pull the jersy! dont wrap around the body...but we do teach our kids to hold the shoulderpads at the side of the ribs..... that is how open hand blocking is taught......

[DevilsWin]

Have you guys seen the TD call in the state game last year with Mercer and Russell?????? If you seen this play then you have seen A BAD CALL by the referees. Not whining about them scoring because they never scored !!!!!
HEY we lost but that call lost it for us,,,well along with bad passing but allowing the TD gave them 6 points which then in turn gave them a chance for 2 more points.
So yea I would say that the ref's called "A" bad call that lost the game for us....

I've seen the Insight Cable Broadcast of this game and watched that play from Multiple angles in slow motion. That was the right call. Kasey Clark knocked the ball from the QB's hands and the O-Lineman recovered in the end zone.

[red_devils_rule]

I've seen the Insight Cable Broadcast of this game and watched that play from Multiple angles in slow motion. That was the right call. Kasey Clark knocked the ball from the QB's hands and the O-Lineman recovered in the end zone.

Yes he did but his forword movement was stoped so there for the ball is dead and its russell's ball at the one,and there backs where pushing the qb to get him over the line and thats not aloud in high school football so yes the ref's costed us on that one

[DevilsWin]

Yes he did but his forword movement was stoped so there for the ball is dead and its russell's ball at the one,and there backs where pushing the qb to get him over the line and thats not aloud in high school football so yes the ref's costed us on that one

You are correct that if his forward progress was stopped the ball should have been blown dead and given to Russell on the 1 yd line but the ball was knocked loose and recovered by the other team. You can't advance the ball on a fumble unless the player that fumbled recovers. However the ball was purposefully knocked loose by the Red Devils so the play wasn't blown dead. The backs were not pushing him from behind. I don't know what film your reviewing to come to this conclusion but it can't be as thourough as the Insight Cable broadcast. They had all the angles and super clear and super close zoom. Just like a ESPN game. I watched this play 20-30 times in slo-mo frame by frame.

[red_devils_rule]

You are correct that if his forward progress was stopped the ball should have been blown dead and given to Russell on the 1 yd line but the ball was knocked loose and recovered by the other team. You can't advance the ball on a fumble unless the player that fumbled recovers. However the ball was purposefully knocked loose by the Red Devils so the play wasn't blown dead. The backs were not pushing him from behind. I don't know what film your reviewing to come to this conclusion but it can't be as thourough as the Insight Cable broadcast. They had all the angles and super clear and super close zoom. Just like a ESPN game. I watched this play 20-30 times in slo-mo frame by frame.

I under stand that and they where pushing him from behind i have that tape and i also have the tape that we taped and i know what we coaches seen on our game tape and so on, and i also know we as coaches made some bad calls, But i am going to brake out both dvds of this game and watch them again,

[More Cowbell]

Well if you watched the Cinci game last night you would have seen a make up call... even the announcers said it was a make up call. Heap getting called for offensive pass interference..the Ravens loosing the TD...then the ref makes a call against the defense. THE BAD call cost the RAvens the game. I KNOW...... if you look at the rest of the game you could have siad it was something else....
Here is my point. When a ref misses a call on a scoring opportunity,,,, it has the direct affect on the overall score.......right...... so when a ref misses a call on a play like that ,,,his mistake has caused a team to loose or win......Which in turn you can say that the REF caused the team to loose the game.

I mainly started this thread to talk about the local high school officiating. But since you brought it up...

That one call did not cause the Ravens to lose the game. Yes, it was a bad call, but even if they don't call it and they get the extra point, it's still just a tie game. Plus, the Bengals' Carson Palmer would have had about 2 minutes and multiple timeouts to try to get them into position for a winning field goal. Best case scenario for the Ravens, they go to overtime with a 50/50 chance to win.

In addition, the subsequent holding call on the Bengals (which I actually thought was correct) gave the Ravens a 1st-and-goal from the 5, which gave them a chance to score the tying TD and run the rest of the clock off. So they did not come out of the situation too badly. IMO, it was Billick's kooky play-calling near the goal line that cost them the chance to tie the game...

[Old Timer]

This thread title should be changed to "Fan's Whining" instead of ref bashing

[mandan]

I think we as fans have been spoiled by the use of instant replay in the NCAA and Pro games. HS refs obviously don't have the luxury of reviewing plays. Their integrity is questioned often on this board by various comments in posts. When you say "it's hard to win at places like Belfry, Johnson Central, Breathitt, Prestonsburg, etc." is that because of the refs, or the fact that they usually have good teams?

[red-neck-fan]

I have been watching high school football for almost 30 years, and they have came a long way, but the last 4-5 years, I have noticed a decline in consistent officiating across the board. I ahve also notice that there are several officials that I believe do not really understand the rules interpretation. One game a similar play will be ruled as one penalty, and the next it will be ruled another way. In other words, sometimes its called, and then other times its not.

The KHSAA needs more consistentcy. If it's a hold by one team then its a hold against the other. Also, I have noticed officials who are on certain sidelines, only call penalties for that side. It's sad that grown men will dictate the outcome of gamees played by young adolescents. Shame on those officials!

[DEVILOLOGIST]

touchett

[Noexcuses]

More Cowbell every school has people who cry about the refs.Its almost a sickness.Its the same people over and over.Lawrence County has a few who cry about the refs all the time.But they are only a few and everyone knows who they are.

[More Cowbell]

yea they did lc threw the ball all nite and didnt get 1 holding call and when we went back and watched the game film they held from play 1

That's the opinion of your team's players and coaches...

Now, what does someone from the other team have to say about the way the game was called?

[red_devils_rule]

ok there is a hold on every play and if a ref called holding every play the game would not ever end

[Noexcuses]

.I dont want to mention any names but we have one guy here in Louisa that does enough crying over the refs for the whole county, so most dont say much.

[Benchwarmer]

Have you guys seen the TD call in the state game last year with Mercer and Russell?????? If you seen this play then you have seen A BAD CALL by the referees. Not whining about them scoring because they never scored !!!!!
HEY we lost but that call lost it for us,,,well along with bad passing but allowing the TD gave them 6 points which then in turn gave them a chance for 2 more points.
So yea I would say that the ref's called "A" bad call that lost the game for us....

I was there and yes it was a bad call.

[FOX SPORTS]

This thread has just about run it's course, don't you think?

Yep, Closed.