EDMONTON — If Tre Ford‘s body language didn’t say it enough on the field on Saturday night, he made sure to say the words himself after the game.
It would be really nice if along with professional football we could also have professional officiating. It is like the league headquarters has decided they like dramatic finishes for good ratings so they put away the flag for the trailing team and make none infraction calls against the team in the lead to try to get a dramatic finish. The league review centre is mostly a waste of resources. How often do they actually go against their fellow employees the refs. They have each others backs and rarely overturn a call. If we want meaningful review it needs to be an independent body. It is frustrating for the players because it is hard to know what will be called because of lack of consistency and there doesn’t seem to be any accountability for the refs.
I know this is a long standing complaint and I’m sure there are good refs in the league but we need to improve if we want to be considered a professional league.
Good theory getting independent refs for the command center but I don’t think realistic. The officiating including the command center has been pretty awful but they are the best of the bunch in Canada. The command center is staffed by retired refs for the most part as far as I am aware. That’s about as independent and competent as it will get. There are just no other Canadian rules officials that are better out there and any good young refs presumably should become on field officials.
As a life long fan I can sincerely say that this league is now a joke
People are not stupid they know what the rules are
The only chance they have is to immediately start calling penalties as they happen
Trying to create drama by ignoring the rules is self destructive
Ambrosie is a buffoon
Save the CFL
Go stamps
The head referees rotate in the Command Centre so it is pretty consistent. What we don’t know and can’t see during the game is the support ref calls. Sometimes you think ‘oh they’re calling more penalties bc its this particular Head Referee’ but that’s not the case. The support team and the Head don’t know who will be working together weeks in advance and I think that’s a good thing so that the calls stay mostly non biased.
Previous comments just sound like Homers to me. Referees will never be perfect. NFL is just as bad at times (with some ridiculous timing rules too), or rather, just as susceptible to inconsistencies. We are all human. CFL rocks!
Tre Ford may be the next rising star, i would trade for him if he becomes available. don’t loose out.
He’s showing lots of promise, but still a work in progress. His passing game needs to improve but it seems to be on the upswing, so it’s all looking good for him right now. I severely doubt if he’s going anywhere soon, Elks would be crazy to trade him.
I agree w this big time.
I’d be more worried about him getting squashed. A mobile qb is amazing to watch and scary when he goes down.
Ford took a few hits last game. I don’t know if he can endure that every game to still be as mobile. He may start thinking twice about taking off and play differently.
I agree it’s not realistic but somehow the review process needs to improve and the reffing needs to become more consistent. You can’t quit calling penalties on the team that is trailing and start making questionable calls on the team that is leading and stopping the clock when it should be running in hopes of a dramatic finish.
you are correct the refs need to go back school and learn to officate properly
I have said it for a long time - we need to take all the restrictions off the command centre. They need to be able to call on field safety calls as well as fix botched calls.
Unlike the other officials there are not a bunch of 6’5" 300 pound guys blocking their view and they have a different point of view.
Last part that needs to change - Replay the play on the staduim screen, involve the ref in reviews, and let us hear the cnversation. If you are worried about players language - fine the team every time it’s picked up by a refs mic.
Agree with your oft stated position on this except for the fine per swear word. None of the participants are wealthy enough to endure that.
By the way, Happy Forum Anniversary Squishy! 
That was why I suggested a team fine…Usually in other sports there is a hand signal that says they are doing a review. If everyone went to their huddle when they started that would likely work too. Gotta keep it family friendly…
Thanks @Jon I didn’t know what the heck that was…