tidehawk said:
Did you ever think WHY PHS is getting 12-15 penalties a game? I bet if you go back and see how many fouls are called on PHS, especially of the 15 yd variety, you might see it is not just one crew - it is a pattern developed by PHS.
As a matter of fact, I have given that some thought. Let me preface what follows by giving a little background info: I was a softball official for 20+ years and know first hand how much of a thankless job it is for officials of all sports; I know that you are only as good as your partner(s); and I also know first hand that it isn't about the money! So, I'm not here to attack you but to have an open discussion because your post intrigues me.
So, let's rule out bias because I truly believe that (nearly all) officials are capable of leaving that outside the lines. I think that leaves us with two possibilities: 1.) the subjective nature of rules interpretation (especially in football); 2.) coaching.
It is commonly accepted that one could call holding on practically every play. So, as a rule, and since we've eliminated bias, one would expect calls of those type to even out over the course of a game/season since, afterall, holding and/or PI is enforced the same for either team. However, if a team is prohibitively stronger than its competition, you would expect those numbers to be skewed in favor of the stronger team. More talent and depth tend to wear opponents down, tired opponents tend to hold more. Friday, PHS was called for holding a few times, once a QB sneak, McGill wasn't flagged for holding all night (that I can recall) despite the fact that the PHS defense whipped their O-line and had the QB scrambling for his life. Now, I'm not saying PHS didn't hold on the play I mentioned but you've got to wonder about no holding calls by a line that couldn't slow down the rush. No need to really go into the PI calls but let me say that every PI, even one offensive, went against PHS.
So, if I remove bias as a possible explanation and if we can agree that as a rule penalties tend to even out, the only other explanation I can find is coaching. Am I to believe that PHS isn't getting good coaching???? Our coaches teach poor technique and every team we play teaches it correctly? Please. The PHS staff is supposed to be top notch, I mean they've won 30 in a row and only lost three over the last 5 seasons.
As for the 15 yard variety, I presume you refer to the personal foul type. Sure, there have been a few this year, and I'm not about to argue whether they were deserved or not, but nothing like in previous years. I know we had a player get two in the Wetumpka game but neither of those were of the late hit variety. We've actually had a small number of PF's this year.
Well, I've tried to give some of my view and could go on ad nausea. Perhaps I'm reading too much into your post, but it seems to me to indicate that PHS has a reputation amongst the brethren. Once a team is "known" for something, it seems everyone wants to pile on. Calls should never be made on reputation, that brings the bias factor back into play. We always had a saying in softball: call what you see. I'd be interested to see you expand further upon your previous post and share your view about the WHY. Oh, I apologize for the length of this post and am not trying to highjack the tread, regardless of how it may appear
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