So Many Flags, So Little Time

Watching BC-Montreal...

Let's have a "Purge" game where anything goes and there are NO flags. Just one, please.
The number of flags is getting ridiculous and ruining the game(s).

What I can't stand is how long it takes them to call any flag. The stupidest, most obvious offside or procedure and they all have to huddle like a bunch of idiots for 30 seconds before we get the official call. It's absurd. I can deal with the penalties -- just make the call expediently, please!

Yup. A lot of truth in that. One way or another, they need to keep the flow of the game moving.

with so many fans waiting to criticise every call at the drop of a hat, it is not wonder they take the time to try to make sure they got it right.

All you ref bashers from previous years are responsible to this. enjoy

Get a grip. The officials are over calling the game which is likely due to the massive expansion of video review this year. The officiating has to improve there is absolutely no doubt about that, but what’s killing the game this year, and slowing it down to an unbearable snails pace, is video review. Tonight’s BC/Montreal game had TWO coaches challenges on the SAME BLOODY PLAY!!!

Video review is killing the game far more than the quality of officiating ever has and until the league can get a grip on how to use it, how to review a play based on video evidence not what is assumed to be shown (ex. BC’s called back TD at the end of the first half) and how to use in a way that compliments the on field officials rather than hang over their head like sword it MUST BE ELIMINATED.

Video review is killing the CFL game.

“Officials are overcalling the game…”

Really? What does that actually mean?

Getting mad at refs for flags is like getting mad at cops for the crime rate. Cops don’t cause murders, they just clean up after. Refs are in the same boat, that call what they see…players are responsible for infractions and they are getting called. Even Glen Suitor, who HATES officials, blamed the flags on the players yesterday and stated the officials’ performance was upwards of 95%…can any player claim that kind of success rate? No way.

I can’t count the number of stupid acts by players this year…behind the play crap, elbows to the QB’s head, fights, taunting…it’s just stupid…and most of them coming from some of these hotshot US players who figure their you know what doesn’t stink.

Even the most partisan fans who truly understands this game knows officials don’t have any affect on the outcome and they’re in a no win situation. But, the bottom line is the game can’t happen without them especially in a streetfight game like BC/Mtl yesterday.

There are a few instances with new interpretations of rules (such as roughing the passer and game balls into stands) which seem pretty tedious this year but every year there are growing pains with certain calls that are new interpretations. These will improve.

Other than that the players just need to stop taking dumb penalties.

I DO NOT want to see football turn into hockey where very few of the players have respect for the rules or for each other because it's expected that the officials be lenient. For the most part I do not buy the 'gotta let them play' argument. PLAYERS take penalties. If there are too many penalties, coaches need to make their players accountable for the fouls that they commit.

sometimes I think that on average, NA football players have got to be the dumbest athletes on the planet. How many thousands of times does one have to be told not to hold ever.

Actually they are told to hold, in certain cases use your judgement, if it could mean a free shot at the QB grab something because there’s a decent chance you’ll get away with it. There IS holding on almost every play. 150 snaps in a game and it gets called maybe 5 times.

about time they started calling it a lot more then.

I am also referring to holding on kick returns and hold on receivers etc.

There’s no truth to this…it simply isn’t true. Single, simple calls like holding or procedure are quickly applied and the games moves on. The officials huddle when its a double or triple penalty. These instances can be quite complicated and the correct application (keeping in mind the refs have to consult with captains first as they do have options to decline any penalty) is difficult for even the most experienced officials…and it has to be done in front of 30,000 screaming fans and a national tv audience. Spend a few minutes with the CFL rule book, available on line, and go to the chapter that deals with application of penalties…see if you can figure it out.

agree...no truth to that particular complaint

I don’t blame the officials for this. This is a professional league and at the pro level, in any sport, officials are told how to call the game by owners who have little to no clue how to officiate that sport. It’s all part of the business and the business is profits which come from putting an entertaining product on the field. What we are getting right now is what the owners and league have mandated to the new head referee. I fully expect as the season progresses the officials to loosen their grip on the game and let the teams play. Currently they are trying to find a happy median between the over called mess that has gone on so far and the chaotic disaster that was left by Higgins. This entire season may turn into a work in progress as they try to fix what Higgins destroyed, but if done right, and I think they are headed in the right direction, it will be worth it. It just may take a lot of time.