AHSAA refs and SEC refs, Tidehawk.....

talisitider · Nov 17, 2004

Dan,

I've seen where you posted on the football forum about your disgust about the SEC refs. You talk about the two calls that have stood out this year, FL-UT (clock operation) and of course the PI missed in the UA-LSU game. You say that something needs to be done by the SEC. Gaston will apparently handle the situation in house as he says. What will be done is a question mark. Did they ever say what was done to the crew or official(s) in the UT game? If so I missed it....

With that said what does the AHSAA do in situations like this? I know I have heard about coaches sending in tapes and complaining about certain crews before, and I have seen some bad calls in HS, some that were bad misinterpretations of the rules and some that were just blown no calls. I've also seen these refs again in the next couple of weeks or next season at games. What is the punishment that can be handed out?

I mean you obviously know that you yourself can't call certain games being employed by one school by day and I guess they try to not put refs in these situations as best they can. But you yourself have probably seen posts on the football forum talking about SEC refs' bias for certain teams and bad calls against others. Do you think this could possibly be true? Do you think it could happen on a HS level?

I mean they might try to put refs in games where they are not tied to that school in let's say a current manner, but who's to say that they might not despise that school for a past reason or on the other hand have a buddy in a town whose son plays on a certain team that they just so happen to be officiating. Basically do you think a scenario like this is possible? I mean I've seen some bad calls and just wondered if you thought something like this could play into that. Have you ever felt like this has happened or might have been a likely scenario in your time as an official?

bamajake · Nov 19, 2004

Talistider, I am not TideHawk but maybe I can add something. First, if an AHSAA official screws up too badley he or she can be reprimanded, suspended or barred from officiating. For a permenant ban, it has to be something really atrocious -- just blowing a call won't do it.

Is it possible for an official to work a game where he or she has some sort of bias? Well, I would guess that it is possible. In Alabama, a high school coach has the right to "scratch" officials that he doesn't want to work his games. It is up to the official's association booking agent to make sure that the official does not get into any of the games. For unknown situations, it is up to the official to step forward and tell the booking agent about any potential problems. For example, if I got an assignment to work a playoff game at the school where my sister teaches, I would tell my booking agent about the conflict. I personally would not have any bias toward that school, but if the opposing coach somehow found out that my sister teaches there, every call that I made would be questioned.

To a great extent, it is up to an individual official to have the integrity to step forward and let the booking agent know about any possible conflict of interest. It is sort of an honor system. Does it always work? No, but we do the best we can with the situation.

As far as bad officials continuing to work games, the reason is simple -- there is a shortage of quality officials. As the older, more experienced officials deside to give it up, there are fewer and fewer younger guys getting into officiating. Many who do give it a shot quit after a year or two. As a result, it becomes necessary to put less experienced, less qualified individuals on the field on Friday night. Quite frankly, there are guys working on Friday nights who really should only be working junior high and middle school games until they get some experience. However, in order to fill out the necessary crews, they have to work on Fridays.

talisitider · Nov 19, 2004

Thanks for your reply. Yeah that would explain some of the bad calls, refs that should be doing middle school and junior high games to get experience being out there on Friday nights.

What does it take to be an official for the AHSAA? For some it looks like just a uniform, but I admit there are some good ones in all honesty.

tidehawk · Nov 19, 2004

talisi -

Sorry I took so long - haven't been on computer for a few days. I believe the crew was disciplined for the missed call and clock mismanagement in the UT-UF game - might have been 1 game suspension, can't remember. My big gripe is that suspending them is not going to change the outcome of a game. The call in that game directly affected who won and I believe ultimately cost Zook his job. I also believe that the no call on the PI cost Bama their game. It radically changed field position and affected at least 2 scores, one for each team. A phone call from Gaston or disciplinary action does not change anything - boy, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear Shula tell Gaston where to get off!

The AHSAA does take action when a coach sends a tape. Now, they might view the tape and see the officials were right - the coaches are notorious for not knowing rules as they should. However, if it is deemed bad enough. the tape will be sent to the officials association and the official or officials can be reprimanded or suspended - it is up to the commissioner. Flagrant things (such as last year when an official who was supposed to hold the chains in a playoff game showed up intoxicated) are usually handled by the AHSAA.

An official is not supposed to work a game where he might have a conflict of interest (recent alumnus, kinfolks at a school, work at the school, etc.). There are those who slip through the cracks, but not many. As far as the SEC, I heard Bobby Skelton, who reffed in the SEC and the NFL, say that you are not supposed to work your alma mater, but I don't know if that has changed. I would HOPE, however, that even that would not affect your judgment to the extent that the game has result-changing calls. My main gripe is that these type calls are being made and seemlingly the SEC is OK with it. These are supposed to be some of the best officials in the country - it sure looks otherwise to me.

But jake has a point - HS officials are getting to be a rare breed. We have a lot of older guys retiring and not enough quality young guys taking up the slack. We need some good, mature younger guys to take up the torch and become an official. I am afraid you are right, jake - there are some guys working on Friday nights that need more seasoning with JV games.

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