Refereeing in the CFL

[Don Miller]

Armour ejection a mistake: CFL - now the CFL admits their referee screwed up. That call definitely hurt Calgary in this game and a call like this could cost a team a win in a playoff game. I realize the game is fast and lots of bodies are rolling around. That call should be reviewable and if it had been the head ref Bud Steen would have seen that there was no intent on Armour to hit the official. I am sure that Armour will be charged up for the rematch in Regina.

[Solar Max]

"We're sorry" works when you're a Rider fan, and not so much if you're a Stamps fan.

[Shi Zi Mi]

They can't go back and replay the game, so the Stamps get jobbed without compensation.

So mostly, I'm interested to see if the league has the balls to publicly discipline the official who came forward after the play, and according to Armour, the official said that "he saw the entire thing and it was deliberate". Quite frankly, a bit of an investigation should also take place as to the reasoning of said official as this smacks of bias.

When I say publicly discipline, I don't mean flogging........but a news release with the actual penalty and name of the referee would be appropriate.

[B.C.FAN]

They can't go back and replay the game, so the Stamps get jobbed without compensation.

So mostly, I'm interested to see if the league has the balls to publicly discipline the official who came forward after the play, and according to Armour, the official said that "he saw the entire thing and it was deliberate". Quite frankly, a bit of an investigation should also take place as to the reasoning of said official as this smacks of bias.

When I say publicly discipline, I don't mean flogging........but a news release with the actual penalty and name of the referee would be appropriate.

I don't like the idea of public discipline. It's not a common practice in sports or business. The fans shouldn't know which officials have been disciplined, or have graded poorly. It would just make their jobs more difficult.

[Vern Halen]

That's true - these guys are paid peanuts compared to what their contemporaries are making in the NFL - I would like to think that CFL officials do have a love of our game (the CFL) as well...that's why they do it for next to nothing.

[TheLionKing]

Perhaps the referee in Thursday's rematch will eject the Riders' starting middle linebacker after the 2nd play. :lol:

[notahomer]

Part of these 'bad calls' go back to the CFL players too. The Lions had a bad call where a Lion (Marsh?) was pushed into the MTL kicker by another MTL player, and the MTL ends up getting a first down. Apparently Armour claims he was pushed into the official by a Rider. Since this call was only made due to a deliberate act by a Rider to shove a Stamp into an official maybe the Rider should sit the next game out? Just an idea....

[Shi Zi Mi]

They can't go back and replay the game, so the Stamps get jobbed without compensation.

So mostly, I'm interested to see if the league has the balls to publicly discipline the official who came forward after the play, and according to Armour, the official said that "he saw the entire thing and it was deliberate". Quite frankly, a bit of an investigation should also take place as to the reasoning of said official as this smacks of bias.

When I say publicly discipline, I don't mean flogging........but a news release with the actual penalty and name of the referee would be appropriate.

I don't like the idea of public discipline. It's not a common practice in sports or business. The fans shouldn't know which officials have been disciplined, or have graded poorly. It would just make their jobs more difficult.

And I see it as accountability in a league that struggles for credibility........any perception, whether true or false, that there is no discipline or accountability does major damage to credibility......that's why I see a need for public disclosure.......particularly in an incident that is very, very clear to all that saw it.......there is absolutely no doubt that the official erred......so take the high road, apologize for the mistake, take your lumps and move on.......it's the honorable thing to do and the league looks far better in the long run than if they never say another word about it.

[Vern Halen]

True again - we'll probably all have moved on in 3 months...except for Stamps fans, perhaps...

[No Ka Oi]

Refereeing in the CFL seems better this season than in any year I can remember. Refs are huddling up to discuss calls and Video replay has helped them get it right, although it interrupts the flow of the play with the long delays. On Saturday, it seemed like they took 10 minutes to make the obvious call that C. Roberts' knee was down, way before the ball came out.

[Rammer]

They can't go back and replay the game, so the Stamps get jobbed without compensation.

So mostly, I'm interested to see if the league has the balls to publicly discipline the official who came forward after the play, and according to Armour, the official said that "he saw the entire thing and it was deliberate". Quite frankly, a bit of an investigation should also take place as to the reasoning of said official as this smacks of bias.

When I say publicly discipline, I don't mean flogging........but a news release with the actual penalty and name of the referee would be appropriate.

I don't like the idea of public discipline. It's not a common practice in sports or business. The fans shouldn't know which officials have been disciplined, or have graded poorly. It would just make their jobs more difficult.

And I see it as accountability in a league that struggles for credibility........any perception, whether true or false, that there is no discipline or accountability does major damage to credibility......that's why I see a need for public disclosure.......particularly in an incident that is very, very clear to all that saw it.......there is absolutely no doubt that the official erred......so take the high road, apologize for the mistake, take your lumps and move on.......it's the honorable thing to do and the league looks far better in the long run than if they never say another word about it.

I think that this gives us a good look to what the CFL/Higgin's is thinking in regards to exposure of the offending referee....

Higgins explained the decision to eject Armour was made by veteran head referee Jake Ireland after conferring with an official who said he saw the contact, threw the flag and ruled it intentional.

"(Ireland) has no other option at that point. There are no recourses for him. He can't go to replay," said Higgins, who added the offending official will face disciplinary action.

"That individual won't be named as it's hard enough to attract young officials to the game without persecuting them publicly. But we'll let our clubs know how it will be handled internally."

[Hambone]

I'm quite OK with the way things are currently handled re: discipline of officials. In the case of the Armour incident the league was quick to acknowledge the error. They can't take the mistake back, but quick acknowledgement without naming names is a good thing. Just as in the business world there is no reason or purpose for publicly airing out a company's internal dirty laundry, unless laws are broken, there is no reason to publicly acknowledge internal discipline of specific officials. For the most part this is still small town Canada. All of these officials have regular day jobs and make personal sacrifices for the pittance they receive. Can you imagine if in the Armour incident it was instead: 1) Wes Cates getting ejected; 2) the Riders lost; 3) the official who "saw everything" was named in the paper; 4) and he happened to live in Regina. I expect there would be another manure delivery soon to happen.

The CFL is no different than other pro sports leagues. All evaluate the performance of their officials after every game. Those evaluations become a big part of an official earning future assignments and most particularly playoff assignments. The CFL now has the crew arrive in town the night before the game so they can meet to prepare for each game. I'm sure the crew itself does a debriefing amongst themselves after each game reviewing their performance. The funny thing is it wouldn't surprise me to find out they are far more critical of their own performance after a game than we as fans are of them. In that regard it could be a case of forgive not what you ask for, because it might happen. I know this issue is a pet peeve of Lloyd's. Airing out CFL officiating errors publicly could actually be counterproductive to his cause. If we as fans think they make 2 or 3 "errors" per game and they point out that their own self-critiquing identified 9 or 10 where would that put their credibility in our eyes? I also fear that public airing of these things will only serve to discourage existing CFL officials from continuing and new officials from joining. The net result will be a decline in the quality of officiating.

As an aside I found this USA Today article on NFL ref Ed Hochuli. It points out the sort of money NFL zebras earn along with some demographic data. Hochuli's day job is as an attorney. I suspect given the monetary resources of the NFL there are things they can do for their officials that are simply beyond the CFL's means. But I do expect that much of what Hochuli and his crew do is replicated in the CFL.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... ials_N.htm

[MacNews]

Thanks Hambone that article was amazing!!

[Shi Zi Mi]

I know this issue is a pet peeve of Lloyd's.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that league credibility as it pertains to officiating is a major CONCERN of mine.

That being said, I understand the rationale with not naming names.......and I must say I am impressed with Higgins statement........a definite breath of fresh air and complete 180 from the George Black days.

I'm satisfied with how this was handled.

[Hambone]

Shi Zi Mi will be pleased.

The league has disciplined the official who made the call to toss Jajuan Armour. Line Judge Henry Chiu was left off Jake Ireland's crew in last week's game in Winnipeg. Chiu was one of 7 officials to be demoted to the amateur ranks for the rest of the season. I'm assuming that may be a normal thing to have some extra guys up during the summer months to cover for guys being away on vacation etc. Whether Chiu would've been part of that group anyways is anyone's guess.

I believe Chiu is a relatively inexperienced official being groomed by the CFL. I came across a 2005 Junior Football article on the web that said he had 5 CFL games under his belt back then. So I'm assuming he has limited experience. Facts N Figs usually carries a page on officials listing their years of experience and # of games officiated but I don't have my 2008 copy yet.