In watching the end of BYU’s 28-27 college football win over Washington, I saw the worst officating call in memory (and that’s saying a lot).
The situation: Washington’s stud QB Jake Locker had just run in for a touchdown with two seconds left to bring the Huskies to within 28-27. Locker got up in the end zone, flipped the ball up the air in celebration and chest bumped a teammate (see beginning of the celebration here). The rest of the offense piled on in jubilation. It’s the kind of celebration you see on virtually every score in college football and there was nothing showboating or offensive about it.
But the ref (from the Pac-10) threw a flag for “excessive celebration,” setting the Huskies back 15 yards for the point after. The gimme kick from the 20-yard line became a longer attempt from the 35; it was blocked and BYU held on.
It was an abysmal, undefensible call yet the head ref did defend it:
“After scoring the touchdown, the player threw the ball into the air and we are required, by rule, to assess a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty,” Larry Farina said in a statement given to Washington officials. “It is a celebration rule that we are required to call. It was not a judgment call.”
Following the rule certainly didn’t make it easier for the Huskies to accept.
“It’s one that they almost have to call,” coach Tyrone Willingham said. “It really should be a no-call, but it’s one they have to call when they see it.”
I’m sorry, but that’s BS and spin by the ref. Keep the flag in your pocket and let the players decide the ending. The penalty is supposed to be for “prolonged and excessive” celebration and covers a player throwing the ball high in the air; Locker did neither. ESPN rightly slammed the call during its college football coverage and if there is justice, this ref will be suspended for a game for an appalling lack of judgment.
on Sep 6th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
It would be great if they didn’t have to call it, but I actually agree with the ref on this one. The rule CLEARLY says a player cannot, specifically, toss the ball in the air after a touchdown. I mean, the rule prohibits SPECIFICALLY what the player did. He has only himself to blame.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 12:16 am
As much as I hated the call, Jake did do something that is specifically mentioned as a penalty.
According to Bob Condotta at the Seattle Times:
“The rule in question is Rule 9, Section 2, Article 1 of the rule book.
Section C of that rule states that “throwing the ball high into the air” is an unsportsmanlike act.”
Now, it is a judgment call on what is considered “high in the air”. To be honest, after Jake scored, I did wonder about him flipping the ball in the air, but I never would have imagined the ref throwing the flag. I just think it was a bad call because it clearly wasn’t unsportsmanlike and it’s not like he stopped, planted and threw the ball “high” in the air. They should have just let them play. That being said. U-Dub still should have converted the extra point.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Locker didn’t “throw the ball into the air”. He had just scored, was excited–adrenaline flowing; the ball was dead and he just tossed it away as he jumped up, paying no attention to the ball or where it went whatsoever; the ref immediately threw a flag for “excessive” celebration. There was nothing excessive about it. The refs–all of them–were complete idiots, just as much as the idiots who wrote a BAD rule. My God, imagine that, some kid getting excited about having just scored a touchdown in a close game giving his team a chance to win… clearly reason enough to punish him. The refs handed the game to BYU, which is THE cardinal sin of officiating.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 2:45 am
This echo the last comment. But i think it’s interesting point to reiterate.
I profess: I know next to nothing about football… but I think there’s one principle in officiating that is the same in every sport: A good referee rarely stand out in a game.
I was taught that people wouldn’t really notice the officials when they are doing the job intelligently. But when they stick out - usually something is not quite right (cause they have somehow interrupted the flow of a game).
The point of any game is to let the competitors test out their skills/ strength. So that’s a silly rule really. I don’t know - hopefully the debate will help redefine the rule to the betterment of this game.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 3:08 am
If refs literally interpreted a call on every play, there would be penalties galore, which is why the best swallow the whistle from time to time.
I have seen other cases of college celebrations this season just like Washington’s where no foul was called. The rule, as explained by ESPN, referred to the ball being tossed “very high,” clearly not the case with Locker.
BYU might have won anyway in OT or the kicker still might have missed the PAT, but the ref overreacted and gave someone the equivalent of a year in jail for going 60 in a 55-mph zone.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 9:25 am
It’s not like he missed the PAT wide; the PAT was blocked by BYU.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Worst call in memory would take some work here in the Pac-10. Once again, PAC-10 refs interjected themselves into a game. Maybe they need an “inservice” on letting the PLAYERS play the GAME. Last year they blew an OSU-UW call, the booth “forgot” to tell the field they were reviewing the call, 3 officials and the one who was supposed to buzz the field “forgot.’ The Pac-10 apparently hires congenital morons as refs. Locker basically “gave up” the ball, just like every player does AT THE END OF A PLAY. Then there were 3 seconds of basically high-fives, no maliciousness, no excess, not affecting the other team at all–well, it bears repeating, Pac-10 refs are the dumbest morons on the planet, apparently.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 11:42 am
The players, not the official, decided the game. A player (Locker) threw the ball high into the air after scoring a touchdown. The NCAA has made it a very strong point of emphasis this year to enforce celebrations. By rule, that specific action qualifies in and of itself as a celebration. It must be called.
Not calling the penalty would have been deciding the game. Not calling the penalty would have been saying “I’m going to ignore what I just saw because of the time of the game it occurred.” A good official calls fouls consistently throughout the game, without bias. The officials did that here, without a doubt.
Even then, all Washington had to do was make a 35-yard (instead of 20-yard) extra point… But they couldn’t even get a kick off. Who’s to say they would have gotten the original extra point into the air.
A great call that didn’t cost Washington the game.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am
It sounds like it’s not the ref’s fault. The player did something that the rules specifically forbid, and the ref called him on it. However, it’s a dumb rule, and it should be changed. If it’s not changed, it is up to coaches to really get their players to understand this rule, and not cost their teams the game.
on Sep 7th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
If you don’t know Pac-10 officiating, you don’t know what a screw-up this is. They apparently hire morons. Just one in a loooong list (Ask OU) of the last 4-5 years where they just can’t seem to “get it up” to make a correct decision–which is to LEAVE THE REFS OUT OF THE GAME and LET THE PLAYERS PLAY THE GAME. They apparently love to call attention to themselves. For the totally blind officials of the Pac-10, what MOST of us saw: A tall guy giving up the ball after the play was over, the ball was not spiked, not in any way show-boating, just a DEAD BALL at the END OF A PLAY, and, secondly, 2.5 seconds or so of basically high-fiving. No maliciousness, not interfering with the other team or play in general. God, What fools these fricking Pac-10 refs are. Go ahead, “morons.” Call EVERYTHING according to the book—what a laugh given everything you’ve gotten WRONG and AGAINST THE BOOK the last 5 years.
on Sep 8th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Well, looks like the supervisor’s happy with it…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2008165457_uwfb08.html
As is one of the guys who wrote the rule…
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-1-59/Edsall–Celebration-penalty-the-right-call.html
The funny thing is that the NCAA Rules Committee is entirely made up of coaches. You’d think that they’d be the most opposed to these sort of “let them play!” calls…and yet, every year, they tell everyone how much they dislike celebrations and the celebration rules get tighter. Not calling that sort of thing is what gets officials suspended.
on Sep 8th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Shocker! The supervisor and a coach who helped write the rule like it. Everyone else knows it was a BS call that never should have been made.
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am
The funny thing is that the NCAA Rules Committee is entirely made up of coaches. You’d think that they’d be the most opposed to these sort of “let them play!” calls…and yet, every year, they tell everyone how much they dislike celebrations and the celebration rules get tighter.
It’s not like it’s a bunch of mavericks enforcing their stupid moral strictures on everyone else. If the coaches at large don’t like something, it changes (cf. 2006 timing rules). They like it. Blame them, not the poor bastard who has to call it if he wants to stay in the league.