TSSAA Officiating

[Wildmanfan]

Any thing worth doing is worth doing correctly. I have heard about the low pay and commitment of the officals for TSSAA. I am not necessarily saying anything about what it takes to get these guys out there. The fact is they are out there. They have accepted the pay and know what sacrifices are involved in what they do. I also know everyone makes mistakes. Even the pros make bad calls. Ok have I covered all the bleeding heart comments? probably not. I respect what they do. Is THAT it. Probably not but I am tired and ready to make my point.

 

I am watching the championship games, If this is the best of the best calling these championship games I think there should be some MAJOR concern with

officiating in TN. They are making some of the worst and obvious calls and non calls that I have ever seen.

 

I thought those kind of blatantly obvious calls only happened to some of the regular season games. Then I saw it in our semi-final game ( ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL ) If this is the best of the best calling these championship games I am just wondering if anyone agrees that something needs to be done to insure that the quality and maybe the education of officals should be looked at very hard.

 

Dont you all think some serious steps needs to be taken? Am I being too critical? If so does it mean that the officals are not making an excessive amount of bad decisions and therefore

everything is just hunky dorie.

Edited December 7, 2003 by Wildmanfan

[CoachtFAN]

At least the games have been blowouts so far, so no one can really claim that they lost due to blown calls.

[SatchUmp]

I got to see both the 1A and 2A Championship Games. I thought the 1A game was officated pretty good. The 2A game seemed to flow well. No huge misses that I saw from the officials. The 2A game's officials mechanics were however, very sloppy. All in all the officals seemed to keep the games fair and under control.

Like CoachtFan said, both blowouts, so you won't hear much on the officials. Funny how in blowouts the officals aren't mentioned, but almost every time in most close games, you'll hear someone with something to say about how the refs blew it.

[HLfan68]

This season I have seen call after terrible call. I know these men are giving up some of their time and trying and all, but it's just pathetic. I have seen them call penalties on kickoffs that cost a TD, and ultimately the game for one game that comes to mind. Just a moment ago in the Hillsboro championship game, Hillsboro's QB ran the option and kept it for a 30 yard gain. I guess it was to bad a ref was whistle happy and blew an inadvertant whistle that not only cost Hillsboro 30 yards, and a down also. I have seen that happen way to many times with teams that run the option, and if Germantown doesn't watch out tonight they may never be able to pull it on the option. I mean it seems to me that if a ref doesn't know where the ball is at HE SHOULDN'T BLOW HIS WHISTLE. One day an inadvertant whislte is going to cause a riot and a ref somewhere is gonna pay the price for his stupidity.

[bud]

Check out Ohio or Georgia for some of the best refs in high school. I TN is a bit behind in the area.

[Wildmanfan]

Well thats one reason I thought to mention it. Even with a blow out these are supposed to be some of the best crews. Thank goodness a call hasnt impacted the game. But the point is they have made calls and non calls that could have easily impacted a closer game.

[kp94881]

Bad calls usually have a "way" of evening out--especially if the victims don't berate the officials and give them a chance to make it up. Atdelott knew that tonite on the inadvertant whistle.

[cbg]

This has been a topic before on this board. Most are middle age (40-60 years old) and are out of shape. They seem to be on the average between 15 & 75 pounds overweight. What this does is keep them from being able to get into the proper position to make the correct calls on some plays. The athletes at the state championship level are much better than the officials. With regard to the poor or bad mechanics, there is no excuse for that. The problem is that the supervisor of officals may not (I really don't know for sure) be a good official and know what to look for. It is really a "good ole boy system" when it get's to the state title game.

[msgov]

My husband was in the stands for all of the games this past weekend - I was out shopping. He heard a Knoxville coach bet another coach that before the first half ended in the 4A game the crew would make a big error.

Sure enough with 7:06 left in the first quarter, the inadvertant whistle blew. Now that was not the only error on this play - shold have given the team the opportunity to completely replay the down or take the ball where and when the whistle blew.

In the 3A game Fulton fumbled the ball out of bounds and was VERY close to the first down. The officials (Nashville crew he thinks) moved the ball to the hash and then measured for the first down.

Neither of these errors by these crews had any change in the outcome of the game but they still were mistakes.

[Red81KPsmash]

Officiating a game is very difficult, I am sure. The fact that most of these guys are fat and out of shape makes it that much more difficult. However, there is little or nothing done about officials who make horrible calls. Players have to live with these bad calls and can even have their football careers ended by questionable or outright wrong calls. On a graver note, coaches can lose their jobs based on wins and losses, and a call can cause a coach to lose his way of providing for a family. I just wish there was a way these officals could have this emphasised to them.

 

As for the playoffs, I think the officals should not have called any games involving the two playoff teams that year.

[rebel00]

THE PROBLEM IS THAT OFFICIALS HAVE NO REAL EVALUATIONS AND PUNISHMENTS FOR BAD CALLS. THEY MAKE BAD CALLS AND THE COACH COMPLAINS AND GETS A 1 0R 2 GAME SUSPENSION AND $250 FINE. AND THE UMP OR OFFICIAL GETS NOTHING. THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS THREAT OVER COACHES TO MUCH. OVERALL FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ARE OKAY BASKETBALL OFFICIALS ARE PRETTY BAD AND BASEBALL UMPIRES ARE TERRIBLE IN TENNESSEE. PROBLEM IS THE GOOD ONES COME AND GO ON TO HIGHER LEVELS.

[pistachio]

What I noticed seemed to be a lack of pride. I bet the guy that blew the inadvertent whistle could have crawled under the turf, but I guess that could happen (the kid from Hillsboro was smooth). But, if i'm not mistaken, the correct signal is with the fist pointed toward the pressbox, not to the side. One of the top referees in the state should know that. Also in one of the games Saturday there was an official that had more flag hanging out of his pocket than was in it. He looked like a gun slinger that was afraid he couldn't throw one fast enough. In the 3A game the head man was not wearing a patch on his shirt like the others. Was he embarrassed of something or just didn't have enough pride to dress like the rest of the crew? And yes there were some big ol' boys out there trying to keep up with those fast kids. Maybe what I saw was not a lack of pride in their appearance. Maybe they spend all their time studying the rules and are the greatest football minds on the planet. I hope that's why they were selected!