Just a quick thank you to the refs that sacrifice time with their family, do the best that they can calling a game, making hard split second decisions for little reward, or respect (especially with armchair umps who gripe but can’t be bothered to research how to do it themselves if they can do better).
Life as an official is never easy, someone can always do better so some think, but some of us who have done it wish to thank you for your dedication, sacrifice, and thick skin.
And some of us who have done it just wish they would at least show some consistency.
And I guarantee you those have were not as consistent as they think they were.
Quite clearly you haven't done the research yourself either.
I have tried this a few times myself. Never seems to go over well.
Pretty damn good idea as my father was recognized for his officiating by the Riders in 84 and other organizations for his work in training and testing of officials in various sports. I also officiated other sports at the collegiate level for over a decade as well.
I guess your team hasn't been burned game in game out like mine has. Lol I just want consistency that's all I'm asking.
Tough to agree when your team is the victim of several brutal calls. So much so that even the opposition's newspaper questions the calls.
I agree that it is a thankless job, but there needs to be consequences for poor officiating.
I would hope that Ned Flanders at least had words with the officials after the Calgary Edmonton game.
I assume your father was Paul and yes he deserves to be honoured for his work. That does not excuse poor officiating and I think that he would agree.
And the Montreal game Riders game, Argos game
Every team has been "burned". The good ones know how to prevail and fans tend to focus as their team as always being the victim. If you are looking for bias, look in the stands, not on the field.
I put one up last season...thought I would link it here as well.
These guys are always bashed. They put a lot of effort into what they do, and as many have mentioned, a lot of these guys are successful in their own jobs, and do this because they are so passionate for the game.
Well said! :thup:
I'm not one to blame a loss on anyone but the losing team. Officiating can impact games, but team always have opportunities before and after a bad call to win a game. However, that's no excuse for inconsistent officiating nor should it be accepted. Consistency is the #1 quality anyone asks of officials. I would rather have officials who consitently call a penalty too strict/not tight enough than one who changes his standard from play to play. Unfortunately the current CFL crews fall into the latter far more often than the former.
Totally agree. However, some of what may appear to be inconsistency has more to do with the angle the officials see different plays from. We fans have the advantage of multiple angles, and we see what appears to be the same infraction called differently. But officials may see the play from different angles and distances, and because of that may call it differently because they see it differently. Also, some of the other consistency issues may be due to different officials calling things differently, especially related to PI calls.
CONSISTENCY, is the fundamental Factor that is Missing from CFL Refs it has been my beef and always will be my beef until it is cleaned up! How can you call a head shot on a QB to one team and the same head shot or worse not call the other team? Come on Mr. Ref supporter answer that! This guy makes it sound like Refs don't get any compensation at all for the job they do, is it for free, No they get paid for it, if you do a job a screw up many times will your clients or employers forgive you??
There are a number of reasons that could happen, primarily being that the official(s) saw different things on the two plays.
Any chance you could provide details - game, quarter, time - on the two hits you're talking about? At least then, we could watch the two plays and compare them, including comparing the views the various officials had of the hits. Without that, we're all just chucking darts in the dark.
How about the first quarter of the Edmonton Calgary game. Edmonton gets called for pass interference in the endzone, supposedly for a tiny tug on the jersey, resulting in a Calgary touchdown. Last Edmonton play of the game, much larger tug on the jersey, no call, resulting in a calgary win.
Again consistency, call it once, call it every time. The refs are professionals they should give professional results. I accept that mistakes are made and I agree they are human but I don't think consistency is too much to ask for.
I just watched those two plays, and my first impression was that I'm glad I don't ever have to make split second decisions like that in my work, with thousands of people watching. I still don't know whether the early one against Edmonton was the correct call, but I'm pretty sure the non-call at the end of the game was correct.
Here's what I saw on the two plays.
On the play in the first quarter, Rwabukamba was trailing Arthur on the play, reached in and contacted the receiver, and just at that moment, Arthur adjusted to the ball by leaning backwards. My guess is that the official (#49) saw the contact and saw Arthur "fall" backwards, and threw the flag based on that. Correct call? Maybe not. Understandable? Yes.
On the final Edmonton play in the game, Smith game Stamps's jersey a quick tug on the way downfield - most officials will let that go if it doesn't look like it affected the receiver's run - and then ended up running right with him the whole route. There was contact both ways as the ball was coming in, with both players fighting for position. When the ball arrived, Smith actually had better position, looked back to the ball (right hand still on Stamps to maintain position) and knocked it down with his left hand. Pretty sure the official made the right call there.
I couldn't see the official's number on the late play, but based on his position on the field, it was probably the same one as the earlier play.
We also have the advantage of focused multi points of angle, slow mo, wide angle, extreme close ups, PVR's, and not having to watch multiple players at one time. So unless spectators want to see refs huddle up for a 10 minute video review after every single play looking for infractions then there will be some missed and some miscalled.
Maybe they should just take the refs off the field completely and have all calls made from command central.