[b]They've been throwing penalty flags this season like they're going out of style.
But who, exactly, is “they??
Merely out of curiosity, we thought we'd take a look at which officials are contributing the most to this year's orange crush on CFL fields across the country. Of course there aren't records that indicate which official actually throws a flag, but let's consider this a guilt-by-association statistic. If you're part of the crew, you're contributing to the penalty total.
Al Bradbury is the winner among head referees, as his contests have featured an average of 22.9 penalties per game. That's nearly five infractions more – per game – than the CFL average over the last several seasons. Kim Murphy, who some regard as the league's top game caller, isn't far behind with 22.5 penalties in the matches he has overseen.
The good news is the number of penalties is dropping. There hasn't been a game with more than 25 infractions since late August, and the average is down to 21.6. That's still, however, nearly 20% more than last year.
So consider the accompanying list as a warning that the game you're watching could feature more penalties than usual from these flag-happy officials.
The official who has been involved in the games with the fewest flags is umpire Ritchie Miller, the brother of Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller. Games involving Ritchie Miller as an umpire have featured only 18.6 penalties, which is right around the league average from the past few seasons.[/b]
[b]FLAG HAPPY
The CFL officials who have been involved in the games with the most penalties this season:[/b]
[b]REFEREES:---------G-- Pen.-- Pen/G
Al Bradbury:---- --11-- 25----- 22.9
Kim Murphy: ------12-- 270--- 22.5
Dave Foxcroft: ---11-- 235---- 21.4
Tom Vallesi:------ 11-- 230---- 20.9
Andre Proulx:----- 11-- 223---- 20.3[/b]
[b]OTHER OFFICIALS:--------- G --Pen.-- Pen/G
Cam Schwieder, linesman: ---9-- 219-- 24.3
Parry Steen, umpire: ----------9 --219-- 24.3
Thomas Cesari, line judge:- -9-- 214-- 23.8
Jocelyn Paul, side judge:--- -10-- 236-- 23.6
Chris Shapka, line judge:---- 8--- 187-- 23.4
Brian Chrupalo, field judge: 10-- 234-- 23.4
Bryan Taylor, field judge: ---11-- 255-- 23.2
Dave Gatza, back judge: ----10-- 231-- 23.1
Ben Major, umpire: ----------12-- 277-- 23.1[/b]
[b]
Speaking of officials, the CFL was left a little red faced on Saturday night in Winnipeg when the Bombers were unable to challenge a completed pass by the Tiger-Cats late in the second quarter since the TSN feed was down.
It turns out the play still could have – and should have – been reviewed.
The first way to review a play is for the command centre in Toronto to review it. That's how it's normally done since they use the TSN feed and its replays.
If that goes down, like it did on Saturday night, it's up to the game observer to do it himself using the feed from the broadcast truck. The only problem on Saturday for game observer Ken Lazaruk is the truck feed was down as well. It was a double whammy.
That's when referee Kim Murphy told the Investors Group Field crowd that the play couldn't be reviewed due to technical difficulties. The boos rained down.
Well, it turns out there was a third option that was forgotten about because it had never been used. Lazaruk was supposed to review the play himself using the in-house cameras at IGF. All he had to do was go next door to the stadium's production room to look at the replays and make a ruling.
“In all my days in the league, we've never had to do that,? CFL vice-president of officiating Glen Johnson told The Blitz on Tuesday. “We've had to use the other on occasion where we get the truck feed, where the broadcast feed has had a little blip or there's some challenge. So we've actually had to use that in the past, and it's been successful.
“But the third protocol, we had never actually used. It had never had to be enacted. So we had some process issues there.?
Johnson said the CFL has inspected or will inspect every stadium this week to make sure all broadcast feeds are in working order, and he is reminding game observers about the third protocol to review plays.[/b]
[url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/09/30/cfl-blitz-which-officials-throw-the-most-flags]http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/09/30/c ... most-flags[/url]