Bad officials take away from big games
After watching the Freeman
Scotties knock off the previously unbeaten Kettle Falls Bulldogs, 17-14, I
was reminded of one of the sad realities of high school sports... big
games being called by bad officials. In no way does this poor job of
officiating reflect on Kettle Falls coach Don Fox and his Bulldogs. Coach
Fox is and always has been a credit to the coaching profession and should
always be recognized as such. Four
crazy claudes & their crazy calls The
four crazy claudes that called this game were, at best, junior high
caliber officials and they should never have been assigned this particular
game. Of the nine flags thrown, eight of them were on the visiting
Scotties. Two of those included controversial unsportsmanlike
conduct calls on Freeman. Assistant coach Kelly Neely was
called for one of those midway through the first quarter for a comment
that would have been normally ignored by any other official, and with 2:16 left to play the
Scotties were hit with another unsportsmanlike conduct flag. Another
suspect call came at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Freeman was
hit with a late pass interference call. The official in the area did
not throw his flag but moments later out came the flags of two other
officials. Freeman fans came unglued. This eventually led to a Kettle
Falls touchdown run by Lucas Fox that tied the game at 14-14. Help
Wanted: Clock Operator The
waning moments of the third quarter seemed to go on forever and ever because it did
go on forever and ever. Kettle Falls were 1st & 10 at their own 20 yard
line with 21.5 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs' first play was a
pass play that went incomplete and that left 21.5 seconds remaining.
A timeout was then taken by Kettle Falls with 21.5 seconds
remaining. Next Fox carried the ball for two yards and that left
only 21.5 seconds remaining in the quarter. All during this time, Scottie
fans are screaming and yelling for the officials to get the clock
going. Freeman coach Jim Wood even questioned officials why
the clock did not start. The referee looked at him like he had lost his
mind. All this time the officials were clueless to the
fact that the clock had not started. In now way did the officials
ever instruct the clock operator to take time off the clock. Finally, after conversing and
what-not, the referee made a big, animated motion with his arm for the clock
operator to start the clock. Even then the clock operator did not
start the clock. Kettle Falls took the snap and then just let the clock
run down when it eventually started. Former
Scottie coach noted Former
Scottie head football coach (now an elementary principal at Freeman) Jeff
Smith was on the Freeman sidelines and made the comment that playing
in Kettle Falls was always tough for opponents because they have overcome the
officials as well as the Bulldogs. Keep in mind that if these four
officials were in a large association such as Spokane or Seattle they
would have never been assigned such an big, important game. If the
world were a fair place, where would these four find themselves in the
world of high school officiating? Let's take a look. The
Difference A good official
will always put the game and its players ahead of himself. A poor
official will always put himself/herself ahead of the game and its
players... A good official is out there to make sure that the game
is decided between the two teams. A poor official is out there to
decide the game come hell or high water... A good official will talk
and listen to coaches and players in a professional manner. A poor
official will not listen to anyone and usually takes great offense to the
smallest of communication. They believe in and rely on the unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty or the technical foul... A good official will admit
his/her mistakes and try get the call correct whenever possible. A
poor official will never accept the fact that he/she may have erred and
will make no attempt to correct it or get it right... A good
official does not try and draw any attention to himself once he/she steps
foot on the playing field. A poor official will come out and show
the world that they have arrived everyone best beware... A good
official knows he/she is a good official. A bad official can read
this and not even recognize the fact that they are a poor official. Small
Associations vs. Large Associations The
best officials usually come from the larger associations because of the
greater number of officials and the best ones always rise to the
top. The large schools (4A and 3A) demand and pay top price to make
sure they get the best officials their association has to offer.
Then it tends goes down from there according to school size and the ladder
of officials from best to worst. The Spokane Officials Association
has always done a good job of spreading all good officials to all levels
of competition. Often times you will see the smaller schools such as
Freeman, Lakeside, Chewelah get assigned officials that work 4A and 3A
levels of competition. The high quality of officiating tends to be
very noticeable.
When it comes to the smaller associations such as the Stevens and Whitman
Counties in District 7 and Okanogan, Chelan and Grant Counties in District
6, schools are generally faced with using, at best, mediocre
officials. The low quality of these officials tends to cause undue
havoc and mayhem in games in the smaller associations. These
officials find themselves working varsity games only because the are the
best of the worst. If they were in a larger association they would
never step foot into varsity competition. Imagine being a high level
official from a large association having to work with someone from Stevens
County. From personal past experience, it can be a very humiliating
experience. It is very hard for a good official to get into a groove
with a partner who doesn't know his head from his foot. It makes you
not want to ever work with that person ever again. This is the
reality of officials. So
what can be done Just
understand that poor officiating is going to happen in the smaller
associations and all the screaming, shouting and carrying on is not going
to change that fact. It usually antagonizes those officials and causes
them to get even worse. So, when Kettle Falls travels to Colfax, they are
going to get hammered by the Whitman County Officials. Just go into
the game with that mindset and if by some chance the officials have a good
game, then consider it a true wonder. So many times fans have the
expectation that the officials are going to call an even and fair
game. That is their first mistake. |