Officials need public accountability
Clemson's Spiller has the ball yanked free against N.C. State
Nov 19, 2009
On Wednesday, N.C. State was informed by the ACC their replay official screwed up the challenge on C.J. Spiller's fumble in the third quarter. And that's about it. No announced suspension similar to the SEC officials who blew an obvious interception in the LSU/Alabama game. No public reprimand. Just a simple "our bad" and some form of internal punishment.
Ultimately this is what bothers me about instant replay and calls that are not handled properly. Especially replay decisions that do not mesh with what everyone else sees, whether it's on a 1080p HDTV or a pixelated YouTube video on the iPhone. I'd like to know what the referee saw. Have the official answer questions just like a coach or player would after the game to explain the sequence of events. Following an error, there should be a public reprimand, similar to how a coach or player gets fined for stepping out of line. Basically something tangible that says, "yes, we screwed up and here is how it will be fixed."
The quaint notion that officials should be anymous has been blown out of the water with the proliferation of sports talk radio, message boards, YouTube, and various other media. Refs are just as much part of the game as the coaches and players. Let's start treating them as such.
