What Grinds My Gears

[devolg]

This week in whats grinding my gears...

Instant Replay

Why now all the sudden in College football do we have this insatiable need to review every single Touchdown, every single catch & every single turn-over. I noticed it early on this season & then it hit a all time high in the ridiculous category during Cincinnati's visit to USF on Wednesday. This past Saturdays meeting of USC v ND wasn't much better. I mean seriously why do we even need refs if every call is gonna come from the replay booth. At this rate we should just run a play & then wait for the replay booth to give its stamp of approval. Meanwhile we can fire the refs & save everyone a few moments of their lives.

On this same token why is it we can spend 5 minutes reviewing a fumble but were incapable of reviewing a pass interference or late hit call? To many times these penalties are called when it's not happening or not being called when it's more than blatant. The NCAA needs to take a serious look into the entire replay process because it's completely laughable at this stage.

Fumbles

Gone now are the days when you got tackled to the ground, coughed up the melon & it was no question a fumble. This dissection of every replay to determine the point at which the player was down & when the ball popped lose is ludicrous. Where I come from the play is alive till you hit the ground & are no longer in motion. If you fall to the ground & lose the ball it's a fumble!!!!!

Helmets

This is happening on both the collegiate & professional levels. Every week, every game their are countless helmets flying off players heads. What gives? This used to be something you saw maybe once a week. Has their been a significant change in the design that I missed the memo on or are players really getting that lazy about strapping them on & at what point do the governing bodies step up & remedy the problem before somebody is seriously if not fatality injured.

 

[weisbank4]

This week in whats grinding my gears...

Instant Replay

Why now all the sudden in College football do we have this insatiable need to review every single Touchdown, every single catch & every single turn-over. I noticed it early on this season & then it hit a all time high in the ridiculous category during Cincinnati's visit to USF on Wednesday. This past Saturdays meeting of USC v ND wasn't much better. I mean seriously why do we even need refs if every call is gonna come from the replay booth. At this rate we should just run a play & then wait for the replay booth to give its stamp of approval. Meanwhile we can fire the refs & save everyone a few moments of their lives.

On this same token why is it we can spend 5 minutes reviewing a fumble but were incapable of reviewing a pass interference or late hit call? To many times these penalties are called when it's not happening or not being called when it's more than blatant. The NCAA needs to take a serious look into the entire replay process because it's completely laughable at this stage.

Fumbles

Gone now are the days when you got tackled to the ground, coughed up the melon & it was no question a fumble. This dissection of every replay to determine the point at which the player was down & when the ball popped lose is ludicrous. Where I come from the play is alive till you hit the ground & are no longer in motion. If you fall to the ground & lose the ball it's a fumble!!!!!

Helmets

This is happening on both the collegiate & professional levels. Every week, every game their are countless helmets flying off players heads. What gives? This used to be something you saw maybe once a week. Has their been a significant change in the design that I missed the memo on or are players really getting that lazy about strapping them on & at what point do the governing bodies step up & remedy the problem before somebody is seriously if not fatality injured.

While I agree that the replay has grown about 6 heads and is out of control, (they reviewed Tates long TD catch......why? For what?) you then are asking penalty reviews? Are you nuts? "After further review, the USC player flexed his biceps for 3 extra seconds after the ref said stop it, the penalty stands" - blaaaaaaat.

Fumbles cant be caused by the ground. I think at least half the fumble calls are wrong one way or the other, this is the best use of replay in my opinion. A fumble is a momentum changing play, you have to get those right.

Helmets these days are still held on with a button snap chin strap. This is actually a good design and done on purpose so they are "breakaway" after contact is absorbed. Otherwise those plays you see the helmets fly off......if the helmet doesnt fly off the head absorbs the primary and secondary inertia from the hit.

 

[devolg]

While I agree that the replay has grown about 6 heads and is out of control, (they reviewed Tates long TD catch......why? For what?) you then are asking penalty reviews? Are you nuts? "After further review, the USC player flexed his biceps for 3 extra seconds after the ref said stop it, the penalty stands" - blaaaaaaat.

It's not that I'm asking for it, I'm simply asking if you can review one why not the other? It doesn't make sense. Solution: Stop reviewing all the unnecessary garbage & let the refs call the game.

& thank you for the enlightenment on the Helmet issue. Makes sense.

 

[jason_h537]

hmmm is this like a weekly segmant?

 

[irishtrain]

grinding gears here too

grinding gears here too

The people who started this now have what they ask for, a made for TV game with absurd calls, and even more stupid video game overtones. Sure some plays should be looked at but its not entertaining to do this all the time. Then they dont get it correct but about 1/2 the time. You tell me Floyd did not catch that ball against MSU or AA was out on the screen against mich and I'll tell you you dont know your @#$ from a hole in the ground. Just ask Arkansas if they get it right-they got jobbed in Fla just this past weekend. This whole thing is started by people who did not play the game. How many historic plays would have been disallowed with this nonsense. The catch in the '78 Cotton Bowl would have been ruled out of bounds by the booth. Its ridiculous and its not even correct half the time.

 

[irishtrain]

Pretty soon they'll have to change the rules to modify the game because of instant reviews. Catches,fumbles,crossing the goal line etc will all be tweeked because the video replay needs to be fed.

 

[WaveDomer]

I think it was John Madden who basically said one time that if you lose the ball it should be a fumble, ground or no ground. I kind of agree with him.

 

[johnnykillz]

...if the helmet doesnt fly off the head absorbs the primary and secondary inertia from the hit.

90% of the time, the kids don't even have chin straps buckled these days, at least not well. They enjoy getting the helmet off on the field from time to time, so the world can see the cheese.

I do appreciate a physics perspective, however. Do you work for Under Armour, Riddell, Schutt, or Adams?

 

[wakeuptheechoes]

The catch in the '78 Cotton Bowl would have been ruled out of bounds by the booth. Its ridiculous and its not even correct half the time.

I must disagree, the 1978 Cotton Bowl catch was called a TD on the field, The view from endzone from the replay was blocked. After further review there was neither evidence he caught it or dropped it. To be honest, I thought Montana threw it Out of Bounds on the original play from scrimmage, I was like aaahh !@#$!!!! Then I saw the ref throw up his arms and signal TD. I was jumping up and down like a fool. McAfee made a sensational catch. However, all that being said I know what you mean.

 

[mccabe570]

Instant Replay And They Still Can't Get It Right

Instant Replay And They Still Can't Get It Right

I watch several college football games every week and I am always amazed that the officials still can't get a call right even after a review. Notre Dame has had two critical TD's called no good that were apparently good in two seperate games. Michael Floyd's endzone catch was without a doubt in most minds a sure TD until the ref's went to the replay as well as Kyle Rudolph's catch in this past Saturday's USC game. In both cases, the catches were critical calls in the Irish's two defeats. I have to ask, "What are these guys looking at"? In the USC game even Trojan alum Pat Hayden thought they blew the call. If he thought it was a Touchdown it must have been a Touchdown. I could rant on this topic but will not. If the NCAA has no faith in the calls on the field then they should get rid of the 60 + year old guys on the field and hire full time officials. At this point it is almost comical when they go to the replay.

 

[devolg]

hmmm is this like a weekly segmant?

LOL wasn't planning on it. These are things that have been bothering me over the past several weeks but I'm sure I could find at least one item a week to rant about

 

[weisbank4]

90% of the time, the kids don't even have chin straps buckled these days, at least not well. They enjoy getting the helmet off on the field from time to time, so the world can see the cheese.

I do appreciate a physics perspective, however. Do you work for Under Armour, Riddell, Schutt, or Adams?

No, I read a lot about concussions in football, I think its a very serious problem that is treated like a bruised knee. I read a piece a few months ago that talked with designers of the helmets and that was one of the issues. The designer compared the helmets physics with the old mounted basketball hoops versus the breakaway rims of the past 30 years. The old hoops the energy had no where to go so you got a shattered backboard, applied to a helmet you get the same energy absorption and scary proposition - only its a head/neck.

 

[johnnykillz]

Right on man. Good stuff. I like the way your mind was working. I hate to see young kids lose it all, sometimes life, with injuries. It is a part of the game, but if we can mitigate the hazards, lets do it. Kids should be disciplined for wearing the helmet improperly.