I all too often on this site got criticized for being too hard on the officials over the years, they are only human, they make mistakes like everyone else in life, yes granted but when a bad call or calls that should not be made because the ref doesn't understand the rule book of the league and cost our team the game I have a problem with that.
The officials are supposed to know the rule book inside out before they call a game, why should it come down to Glenn Johnson head of CFL officiating afterwards to apologize for the two bad calls that cost the Cats the game against Ottawa. it's all after the fact, they should have got it right the first time.
Also I watched that game several times again off the PVR and also went unnoticed by the CFL officials were the number of Holding calls by the Ottawa Offensive Line, Gott and company on Hickman, Hall and so on that are not called, I counted 10 that went unnoticed where the Ottawa player had a hold of the Ti-Cat defenders jersey and shoulder pads, not a block but a firm grip and grab not allowing the defender to get through the line and more so after the hit on Burris the Cry Baby!!
So you don’t tell the sideline official to raise the green flag confirming the turnover after 10 seconds. A close play like that, you tell the ref to announce that the play is under further review and you make sure to get all the angles.
As fans of the Ti-Cats sitting in the stands or watching TV we were all thrilled by Brandon Stewart intercepting a Burris pass and making it a pick six,thrilled !Finally we score a TD on a day when the wind is slowing the passing game and not much offence has happened from either team.Finally we are all excited at a CFL game .The Officials then take it away from us again! W T F!!!!!!!
Is there no Discretion from Officials with the reason being entertainment of the fans ? One set of fans will always be upset by the discretion unless they do not see it as a clear cut foul with the TV camera angles.These Officials IMO and most here know it,were influenced by TSN allowing Henry to call out Simoni Lawrence in spite of the video evidence showing "the hit" being completely legal!!! The CFL Officials were influenced by either Henry or RB coaches or the TSN panel of sheep resulting in the taking away of the pick six and the removal of ENTERTAINMENT from Ti-Cat fans !Thanks, this league needs more discretion with the aim of ENTERTAINMENT for the fans.I would like to add stronger words ,I am totally upset by this and we want to see more action taken by the CFL to increase entertainment not take it away !
Understand how the Winnipeg Blue Bombers feel ,they have also been robbed this season by CFL officials .
To make it all worse we have lost two QB’s and our fight has been lessened by this ,our frustration increased by the above.
CFL Football is entertainment ,keep it simple and let the FANS have some .
ANGRY as much as the rest of the Ti-Cats Nation!!!
One more self-serving rant, and then I am on to Saturday's game.
Are not all "changes in possession" reviewed now? So it seems maybe part of the problem is with the 'Command Centre'. Maybe they need two officials, one with a rule book. I am not sure what exactly an "extended" video review would entail, but it sounds scary. Some reviews are reaching 5 minutes now, a long time when you are sitting in the stands, admittedly, that might include time for commercials.
How about a public apology from CFL over the PA at Saturday's game, and comment on TSN from Whinning Hank about the illegal hit by Hinds, and his suitability for the game?
Wait, is that a rainbow I see, ending in a pot of gold in my backyard?
I don’t know if “everyone really is against us”, but it does show that despite playing poorly on Sunday, they still did win, kind of. Last year’s Grey Cup was probably a win too, I don’t think the officials are against us, they’re just trying to call too much and need to put the flags away and only throw them when they are absolutely 100% positive a penalty has occurred anything inconclusive should be let go for ALL teams and ALL games. I hope this is a lesson for the officials.
There were missed/bad calls on both sides in that game, the mystery face mask call on Abdul Kanneh that lead to a recovered fumble by Ottawa was never mentioned. It's easy to say that the calls cost the game, but it wasn't the last play of the game, all it cost Hamilton was the lead. Every team in the league has had these missed calls, in cases it really has determined the outcome, but the league chose to release this statement now, why? All it did was throw the officials under the bus.
Kind of surreal. Player gets fined for criticizing officiating and two days later the league does the same. Does that mean Orridge will donate half his pay ? At least Hamilton won't have to worry about that officiating crew come the post season as they likely will be home watching.
The “mystery face mask call on Abdul Kanneh” was actually not a face mask penalty. It’s listed in the game log as “Unnecessary Roughness - General”, and face mask penalties are listed as “Unnecessary Roughness - Face Mask”. I can’t guarantee what it was for, but I suspect that it was for one (or both) of the following:
[b]RULE 7 – FOULS & PENALTIES
SECTION 2 – MAJOR FOULS
Article 3 – Unnecessary Roughness[/b]
A player shall be penalized for any act of unnecessary roughness against an opponent, including but not limited to:
(h) Contacting an opponent above the shoulders in an unnecessarily rough manner, including the long snapper on kicks from scrimmage and convert attempts,
(i) It shall be illegal to tackle around the head in the open field or use a straight arm tackle above the shoulders,
Sure, there other missed or bad calls in games, some of which affect the score directly like these ones did. But this wasn't one of those. (The early fumble call, confirmed by the Command Centre, is another one I'd like to have heard about from the league. It sure looked to me like the ball was moving forward before it came loose. I could be wrong.)
Why did the league release the statement? Possibly because a formal complaint was raised by the Ticats, and they decided to release the answer themselves rather than have it leaked to the public by the Ticats. Or maybe they just felt that it was the right thing to do.
With regards to plays being reviewed, I as well thought all turnovers were reviewed but in addition, all scoring plays are reviewed. So was this play reviewed and can the command centre rule that no flag occurred? if not, perhaps this should be permitted. This is the second game this year the for the Cats in which the refs had an impact on the final score and a potential victory for the cats. The first the Game 1 against Montreal. Also, Lawrence got fined for saying it like it is. How wrong is that?
I don’t think the command centre actually looks at the penalties during a turnover unless it is the penalty that RESULTS in a turnover. (Like the Kanneh UR on Banks) If the penalties happen on the same play but did not effect the turnover, they don’t seem to be reviewed (possibly because they simply aren’t told to check them). I think the same is true as regards to a scoring play (they review it to see if the player had crossed the goal, caught the ball, etc.) but they do not appear to review these kinds of plays for penalties unless they are specifically being asked to do so.
And ah… yes. The Game 1 against Montreal in which Banks returned a TD which was called back on that horrible Illegal Block call to Grant. I still don’t think he touched him - if he did, it was a light graze. The guy obviously dove, but I suppose the angle the official had made him ASSUME something had happened, much like they said happened this time in the article.
I also recall a plunge by Zach that you couldn’t see the ball cross but it looked like it had based on the way the hall was in his arms and the position of his body, but the officials and commentators said that you can’t assume these things. So can, or can’t you assume things? Make up your mind, refs.
I hope we blow them out next week or get blown out by them so that this didn’t cost us.
Also, what about the poor Argos? They’re affected by this too. (Ew, hate feeling sympathy for them) This could’ve cost them a home playoff game and there’s nothing they can do about it. If we won both games against Ottawa and they beat Winnipeg, Ottawa would’ve finished third and played Argos at Rogers Centre.
I find the officiating in the CFL to be bush league. I don't know how many games I've watched that refereeing has cost a team a win or an extremely good chance at a win.
The CFL needs to improve the officiating. I understand you can't get it right all the time, that's human nature but at least improve the error rate. So many bad calls. The game earlier in the year against T.O in Toronto was awful. It seemed like the refs were doing everything they could to keep the game close in that one. Yeah, I am biased with the Ticats but in general the officiating sucks in this league.
No football fans like to see their team lose because of bad calls.
You’re 100% correct, Ottawa lost one to Toronto as a result of an overturned penalty from the Toronto based command centre, there wasn’t even a flag on the play. It almost looks like calls are going Toronto’s way to help keep them in the game, keep fan interest while they struggle at the gate. Too many calls from the command centre don’t make sense, we all see the same game video, so what is it that they use as a reason. They should have to justify their calls. I’m biased Ottawa, but calls going both ways is killing great plays for all the teams in the league.
At least they admitted their mistakes...and don't be over-sold on NFL refereeing...there are too many blown calls a game to count...the general public isn't completely informed of them hence their ratings and the union for the refs are very strong and take a very dim view of criticizing their people...no surprise...comes down to money always!
That’s true, the NFL officials are just as guilty of bad calls. There has been a lot of crap dumped on the officials, but I wouldn’t want to be one. A buddy of mine has worked CFL games in the past and does a lot of Jr Football, the teams don’t like to see him, he’s flag happy and throws them on some of the weakest infractions, the borderline hold away from the play. I tell him every time I see him at a game to keep his flag in his pocket, never does. It may be why he isn’t working the CFL anymore.
I was very hesitate to post this, however correct me if I'm wrong, this was the same ref that cost us our Grey Cup last year. As far as this year is concerned, he does not impress me one bit. I will never forget his face. This ref cost us a few games if I'm not mistaken.
Now I can relax, Thank You