[Cat Daddy]

Is it bad officiating, bad football, or both, that have led to so many penalties in high school football this year in Eastern Kentucky?

[WideRight05]

Bad football. Plain and simple, just BAD football.

[bac2369]

A lot to factor in. Officiating is terrible in some games and most can tell its for the home team.

[KHSchoolFootballFan]

Better watch out, you will be attacked by the moderators for this post.

[THEBIGDAWG]

The Officiating is Bad and the worst I have ever seen. I do not know where they are getting these clowns but some of the worst this season I have ever seen.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Bad football. Plain and simple, just BAD football.

Not diagreeing with you there.
Ive never seen the mountains this bad. Ever.

[Noodler]

I would hate to be an official but if you choose to be do your job. There was a fumble tonight that a breathitt county player came out with the ball and they have the ball to Morgan county. Don't know what the thinking was behind that. These calls always seem to come at a crucial point in a game but once again I would hate to have their job.

[panther nation]

Bad football is part of it, but there has been a lot of bad officiating this year too. I think they go hand and hand. Over all IMO the officiating has been really down this year along with football. I have seen more no calls this year than I can ever remember in my life.

[geauxtigers75]

A lot of bad football, a lot of badly hidden home cooking, welcome to the 2013 season.

[i know, right?]

I have seen a whole lot MORE just terrible football then I've seen homecooking. It is like no one is teaching fundamentals anymore. It's sad to think what will become of this sport in the years to come.

[OrangenowBlue]

The football officials are trying to match their brethren in the basketball realm. Anal intrusion by basketball officials has been a common occurance for some of the home teams in the 13th, 14th and 15th region for many years.

[eagles2011]

I have seen a whole lot MORE just terrible football then I've seen homecooking. It is like no one is teaching fundamentals anymore. It's sad to think what will become of this sport in the years to come.

I've thought the same thing all year . 7th and 8th grade has been terribly bad this year two kids can't block can't tackle just seem not to no fundamentals at all .

[VHSL-helper]

Boy, am i surprised. When I clicked on this thread, I thought it was going to be about the Grundy @ East Ridge game
I thought the fireworks was a nice touch, Those Warriors sure know how to trreat the Homecoming dates right... dinner AND a show.

[Cellking]

Bad officiating and home cooking in Eastern Ky. is the norm. Always has been.

[Granny Bear]

^^
Yep, but this year is different. It's hard to put your finger on just WHAT is different...an intrinsic factor of some kind.

Interesting what OrangenowBlue said, back in the "day" when I got my officiating license, you were required to get both in one test. LOL That's when I started learning about football!

My concern mostly is about the injuries that a poorly disciplined game can lend itself to create.

[footballfever]

Until there is some accountability it's never going to get much better.
1 thing I think would help is to do away with crews.
Individual officials should be assigned to a different Referee each week and also a different position. This would make officials know mechanics of all positions and also be on top of their game as far as rules and hustling.
There should be 2 years mandatory middle fresh JV ball with more experienced officials.
There should be an observer at least 4 times a year to watch each official.
There should also be a meeting before season and toward end of season to watch film and go over things as far as rules, mechanics etc.
We will never agree on judgment calls but not hustling, being out of position and not knowing rules shouldn't happen.

[Granny Bear]

Until there is some accountability it's never going to get much better.
1 thing I think would help is to do away with crews.
Individual officials should be assigned to a different Referee each week and also a different position. This would make officials know mechanics of all positions and also be on top of their game as far as rules and hustling.
There should be 2 years mandatory middle fresh JV ball with more experienced officials.
There should be an observer at least 4 times a year to watch each official.
There should also be a meeting before season and toward end of season to watch film and go over things as far as rules, mechanics etc.
We will never agree on judgment calls but not hustling, being out of position and not knowing rules shouldn't happen.

Agree and agree!!!

But, is there enough "interest" in the position?

[footballfever]

Agree and agree!!!

But, is there enough "interest" in the position?

Probably not. I do think getting out of the good old boys crews would help.

[MustangSally]

The Officiating is Bad and the worst I have ever seen. I do not know where they are getting these clowns but some of the worst this season I have ever seen.

Do you know how to solve the issue?:pondering:get off your butt and put the time in to become an offical:Thumbs:Then we'll at least one great official in Kentucky:Clap:

[E's Army]

Lot of crews are getting old and keep up with the game. I have been watching the same guys for 20 years. They seem to get better games because of their seniority. Need some young guys to step up and start calling.

[MustangSally]

Go to http://www.khsaa.org and learn about becoming an offfical

[Tica]

In last night's game against Trigg County @ Trigg, Paducah Tilghman was flagged for 13 penalties for 96 yards.

Trigg County was not penalized at all. A flag against Trigg was thrown in the final 3 seconds as time expired, but the penalty was never assessed and the refs hastily left the field.

A remarkable display of even handedness. I have seen more poor officiating crews this year than I have seen in 20 years of watching HS football.

[Pulp Fiction]

Kids work all winter, spring and summer for the season..... Lifting, 2-a-Days, passing leagues, camps........

But the refs (only if they want to referee post-season games) have to attend a once a year pre-season rules clinic. Usually last about 2 hours.


Now the regional referee associations may make the refs in their region attend the pre-season rules clinic and they usually have weekly meetings as well.


But there needs to be MORE QUALITY TRAINING for referee's.

And yes, I used to referee varsity football as well as middle school and elem. school games...... refs will make mistakes and refs will have bad calls. Coaches and players understand judgment calls. But there is no excuse for a rules mis-interpretation.

[zebraman]

Until there is some accountability it's never going to get much better.
1 thing I think would help is to do away with crews.
Individual officials should be assigned to a different Referee each week and also a different position. This would make officials know mechanics of all positions and also be on top of their game as far as rules and hustling.
There should be 2 years mandatory middle fresh JV ball with more experienced officials.
There should be an observer at least 4 times a year to watch each official.
There should also be a meeting before season and toward end of season to watch film and go over things as far as rules, mechanics etc.
We will never agree on judgment calls but not hustling, being out of position and not knowing rules shouldn't happen.

Okay, that totally makes me laugh out loud.
1) Crews have been on the way out for a few years.
2) We have a very difficult time having enough officials to cover all varsity games. So you want people to not call varsity until they have 2 years lower level first? In a perfect world, that would be awesome!!! However, look around, our world is not perfect.
3) I LOVE when I get evaluated and my crew on the field can get input for a person to improve. However, we are unable to get evaluators that know the rules and mechanics that can assist. Those that know how, still call.
4) A meeting before and at the end?? ummm what about the 9 meetings in between? We have 11 meetings this year that is a business meeting and training. This includes film review, rules study sessions, and discussion groups.

[insideinfo]

Bad football, when they are 4 or 5 illegal procedures every half and 3 or4 offsides every game you go to anybody can make these calls. I don't think many coaches these days either know fundamental football or they don't coach it. This is the reason the same schools have the best teams every year. I have been to at least 10 games this year and only one that I thought was refereed bad and it was bad on both sides and I have seen this crew many times and it was par for the course for them.f

[khsgamenight]

I think one of the big problems is that fans don't know the rules as well as they think they do. They hear the college and pro rules explained on TV every Saturday and Sunday and then assume the rules are the same for high school. Also, there are rules changes every season on which fans are not up to speed. I think the officials do a credible job. They do it because they love it...it's sure not for the pay. These guys have full-time jobs aside from refereeing. No one is out to cheat for anyone and if there is any home cooking, I haven't seen it...in KY. Ohio is another story.

[Spirit100]

Bad football is part of it, but there has been a lot of bad officiating this year too. I think they go hand and hand. Over all IMO the officiating has been really down this year along with football. I have seen more no calls this year than I can ever remember in my life.

So first off why the bad football? Are coaches and players minds elsewhere? And if so the officiating must be following the same example?

Just because the economy sucks and yes poop runs down hill. Players shouldn't sacrifice discipline and execution, unless the coaches have taken a hiatus on that as well. Just a theory!

Is that the case?

[footballfever]

Okay, that totally makes me laugh out loud.
1) Crews have been on the way out for a few years.
2) We have a very difficult time having enough officials to cover all varsity games. So you want people to not call varsity until they have 2 years lower level first? In a perfect world, that would be awesome!!! However, look around, our world is not perfect.
3) I LOVE when I get evaluated and my crew on the field can get input for a person to improve. However, we are unable to get evaluators that know the rules and mechanics that can assist. Those that know how, still call.
4) A meeting before and at the end?? ummm what about the 9 meetings in between? We have 11 meetings this year that is a business meeting and training. This includes film review, rules study sessions, and discussion groups.

1. Every regular season game I have watched over the last 32 years have been done with crews. Every game I called from 1990-2000 was on the same crew. I think they have done away with them in playoffs.
2. In a perfect world all the calls would be right so we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
3.I think coaches evaluations are useless . It would be nice if there were dependable evaluators for each association but back to the perfect world.
4. I would like to know what association you are in that requires film review. rules study and group discussion.
I certainly don't believe the 13th region Paul Pietrowski association requires anything like that. Wish they would!!!!

[blue rainbow]

^^
Yep, but this year is different. It's hard to put your finger on just WHAT is different...an intrinsic factor of some kind.

Interesting what OrangenowBlue said, back in the "day" when I got my officiating license, you were required to get both in one test. LOL That's when I started learning about football!

My concern mostly is about the injuries that a poorly disciplined game can lend itself to create.

Granny Bear, I have to agree about the poor disciplined games creating injuries... these were true Friday night... broken bones, concussions, blown out knees, ambulance runs from several games all in 1 night !!

[OrangenowBlue]

We can blame coaches at the high school and grade school level but we have to also look at the sports ignorance on the modern day child. When I was in the fifth grade, I knew the rules of high school, college, and professional basketball and football. Many of todays kids do not know the rules of high school football after they have played for four years. They do not watch sports on television as they are too busy texting, facebooking, or killing zombies. The only time they are outdoors participating in any activities is organized practice or games. So during the off season they are getting no exercise except maybe lifting weights. Kids do not eat right as they mostly eat junk food as their parents let them. Look at high school annuals from twenty and thirty years ago and look at them today. The "fat people' population has quadrupled. The skinny kids still have a little pudge in their bellies. In twenty years, Eastern Kentucky is going to look like a retirement village for Sumo wrestlers as most people gain weight as they get older.