Officiating is bad in the Pac-12.
That’s the narrative that has and continues to attach itself to the self-proclaimed “Conference Of Champions.” But while bad calls seem to repeatedly rear their ugly heads on a weekly basis up and down the left coast, the league appears to be being singled-out for a problem without exclusivity to the conference this region calls its own.
Bad calls are a part of the game. Heck, bad calls are a part of every game. Be it balls and strikes on the diamond, fouls on the hardwood, offsides on the pitch, or any bevy of judgement calls on the gridiron, there is, has, and always will be mistakes made by umps, refs, and whatever else we call the humans that officiate our games. But while these mistakes have always existed, today’s television production coupled with the amount of games televised has brought to the forefront the same mistakes that spent the bulk of our existence drowning in obscurity.
That’s right, officials didn’t all of a sudden get bad. I mean, come on, there’s a reason it’s cliché to yell at the “zebra” or “blue” from the stands. Anyone who’s partaken in or has kids in youth sports has experienced the less-than-adult behavior sadly prevalent on playing fields across the country. Yet, in the HD generation, where every penalty is viewed from more angles than a young woman in the mirror prior to a night out, human beings are no longer being excused by “bang-bang plays,” but rather crucified as if they have the same time and replay availability as the viewer at home.
Sure, booth reviews have helped regarding specific plays, but that doesn’t entail the clipping, balls and strikes, or foul calls regularly occurring outside of the list of reviewable offenses. Referees don’t get to review the holding call that nullified that critical touchdown. They’ don’t get to take a second look at the pass interference no-call that impeded a receiver from making a game changing catch. And they definitely can’t tell you what is and isn’t a catch in the NFL, because really…who the hell can? But you can, because you’re privy to the super-slow-motion, magnified and rotated replay the network televising the game is going to spend 10 minutes showing you a time or a thousand.
I’m not excusing it all. Yes, officials are privy to their share of buffoonery similar to that of the Miami/Duke debacle of a week ago. There have been some titanic meltdowns on their part and the Pac-12 has been far from exempt. But to suggest we’re somehow in the age of moronic officiating and that “in my day it used to be better,” is short-sided and akin to your elders walking 6 miles to school and back, in the snow, uphill both ways. It’s a highly scrutinized, imperfect science, being burned at the stake by the social-media witch hunters made famous via the Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Youtube’s of the world. And that’s not a Pac-12 problem, but a problem facing and afflicting every conference in the FBS world.
Did the Pac-12 referees bungle that Miami/Duke game? How about the Nebraska/Michigan State game from a week ago? Those are just a couple examples of infamous gaffes in recent history, but beyond those are the more common, less publicized mistakes that lead to a death by a thousand cuts.
In this neck of the woods, such would entail last week’s Arizona State/Washington State game, in which the Cougars were awarded a 5th down after an inadvertent whistle led to a touchdown following a failed initial fourth down attempt. Or the 2 touchdowns Husky fans would like back after a holding and questionable offensive pass interference call denied them of such in a relatively close game with Utah. How about Oregon? They’re still waiting for the indisputable evidence that overturned an apparent interception at Arizona State a couple weeks ago, while the Sun Devils continue to curse the touchdown awarded the Ducks in overtime, after replay appeared to show Bralon Addison’s foot clearly on the line at the time of the catch. Those are the things Pac-12 fans will point to as damning evidence of the conference’s subpar officiating, but I’d argue are simply examples of the same type of complaints fans of every team and conference nationwide would cite regarding their own conference’s incompetence.
Everyone has stories, and everyone will continue to due not to an increased level of ineptitude, but rather the exponentially larger magnifying glass today’s television coverage has put these games and officials beneath.
Is that a Pac-12 problem? Sure, but it’s every other conference’s problem as well. And thanks to technology, a certain level of arrogance, and fans and media’s inability to see the forest through the trees, it will continue to be for the remainder of time.
Good luck, officials!
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