CFL admits referee mistakes

CFL Talk
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CFL admits referee mistakes
July 10, 2007

The director of officials for the Canadian Football League, George Black, has acknowledged two mistakes were made by the referee in the game between the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday.

Black told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday that Bud Steen erred on one play by not allowing it to be reviewed, and by reviewing another play that, according to the rules, should not have been reviewed.

On the first play, Saskatchewan receiver Andy Fantuz had the ball dislodged when tackled and Calgary recovered it. It was adjudged to be an incomplete pass, but Calgary head coach Tom Higgins challenged the call, believing it to be a completed pass followed by a fumble.

Shortly after challenging the call and conversing with Steen, Higgins picked up the flag. Higgins appeared to have made a significant mistake by not following through with the review, particularly after television replays showed the ball was fumbled after the catch and recovered by the Stamps

Black said what Higgins was trying to say to Steen was lost in translation.

"We had a communication issue. The referee was incorrect," Black said. "He should have reviewed it."

On the second play, Saskatchewan's James Johnson intercepted a pass by Calgary quarterback Henry Burris. After falling to the ground, Johnson regained his feet and ran out of the end zone and was tackled, which produced a fumble that Calgary recovered.

In the television audio replay of the play, the sound of the referee's whistle can be clearly heard after Johnson fell to the ground following the interception. The official closest to the play deemed Johnson had been downed by contact, hence the reason for the whistle and the immediate stoppage in play.

Black said because the whistle had blown, the play should not have been reviewed. Following the review, Steen said the player was downed by contact, which appeared to be a phantom call.

"You can't question judgement calls. It's somebody's judgement," Higgins said on Tuesday. "It's too bad, it happens and you move on."

[url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/article.jsp?content=20070710_165151_2768]http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/ar ... 65151_2768[/url]
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Go Riders

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Yes and that was the chant of the refs at this game.

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I missed this game but it sounds like a good thing the CFL is acknowledging mistakes were made. This should mean fewer mistakes in the games to come.

I think refs go though early season brain cramps too. The trouble is, their mistakes are usually so much less forgivable because they can sometimes affect the outcome of a game. I'm not sure that's what happened in this game but even if it is I'm inclined to cut them a little slack only because they're human and we all screw up from time to time and it's early in the season.

Just make sure these kinds of blunders stop happening soon.

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Actually, I thought it was your Stampeders chanting that…

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The Fantuz fumble was the much bigger blunder because the Riders ended up scoring a touchdown on that drive. The endzone interception was Rider ball either way, but it just looked bad since the ref seemed confused.

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I think its the right call to admit that mistakes were made here. Hopefully the ref can learn from it and move on.

Glad it happened in a game where it didn't really matter, though. Mistakes in such lopsided games are a lot more forgivable then mistakes that decide the outcome.

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While some bad calls have really stood out over the years, all in all, I'm happy with CFL officials. From watching various sports I would rank the officials for all of the pro leagues thusly:

      1. MLB
      2. NBA
      3. [b]CFL[/b]
      4. NFL
      5. NHL
      6. WWE

It is the quality of officiating that keeps the games on the up-and-up. WWE officials make me suspect that the matches are fixed. :thdn:

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WWE? My god, even pro figure skating judges are better than they are...LOL :stuck_out_tongue:

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Well that could be excusable only if they had not spent many dollars in the off season trying to improve it. Well guess what moeny not worth spending not much change in the blunders. So much for trying to make it that much better.

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Yes no kidding they to were cheerleading maybe that is the only positive that came out of it. By the way have you noticed it is always the Stampeders where they admit blunders. Firs it was the onside kick where a game winning touchdown was erased becuase of mistake that was admitted by the CFL afterwards and now there is two in one game. No I won’ty go there but regardless this time it did not cost the Stamps the game. What cost them the game is getting off the plane.

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Oh can you judge shakespear! Is the WWE even a sport? :lol: :lol:

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George Black is a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned. Game officials will always make mistakes, but its good to see the mistakes being acknowledged. For a change.

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You are right but maybe mistakes should be cut down so they do not have to make these statments right. In the off season it was documented by the CFL the product would be much more improved. Admitting mistakes I guess is an improvement. But this was definately going backwards. Remember to this crew was not a rookie crew.

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You know, you had me going for a while, thought you were starting to be reasonable, then you make the above statement. Took me 20 seconds to find an example of where Black admitted to a mistate that was not against the Stumps.

[url=http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=newser&func=display&topicnum=&nid=12050&writer=7]http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=news ... 0&writer=7[/url]
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CFL refs have always sucked at reveiwing plays.(In the last two years of coarse) They'll hopefully improve.

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They're improving slowly. The problem with instant replay in the CFL is the lack of camera's. We usually only see 2 or 3 different angles and on a lot of plays it doesn't give conclusive evidence. It's still better than no instant replay though.

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Leeing what is wrong with that statment. I can see it happening once but twice. So I have no idea why you would disagree but you are free to do so. But the fact is they blew a call in a Bc VS Calgary game where they did an on side kick it was recovered by the Stamps but the ref said they were not on side. Yet replays showed they were on side. The next day they released an apology. By the way the Stamps would have won that game. So as a fan I would say oh well this happens from time to time. But now this past weekend this occurs again. So then what is your point I would really like to know. I have no idea where I am being unreasonable. As far as your article it was not announced on a network that they made that particular mistake. I am sure they have made mistakes with other teams that is not what I am saying.

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Yes they blew a call in the game you are refering to. But you also said that they ONLY admit mistakes in stamps games.
Leeing simply showed you a case where they admited a mistake in a game not involving the stamps

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///i say bring in Dunigan////he'll straighten the zebras out.....and he'll still have time for the tsn. panel,,,,go Matty,,,,,...kidding aside...refs. are entitled to make mistakes...you just hope it isn't against your team 8) 8) .... especially if it could mean the game...the communication between the benches and the head ref. has to improve....and of course it helps if you remember the video review rules.... :wink: :lol: :lol: