Let's say for the sake of argument the following:
1) Refs make calls equally to both sides (e.g. a hold on one team will be called if the other team does the same thing)
2) The refs know how to correctly interpret/enforce all rules in the game (for example, invalid fair catch signal, controlling the ball on a touchdown catch, etc.)
There are a number of judgment calls in every games in which a ref has to decide whether to call something, swallow the whistle, etc. Out of bounds, catch/no catch, penalty/no penalty, etc. Let's say these are all 50/50 - half should favor one team, half should favor the other team.
Even if you have a theoretical "perfect" ref who makes the correct call in all of the cases above, if there is any sense that one team is getting more of those judgment calls, it looks patently unfair even if every single call is correct. Wisconsin fans are rightfully livid today, even if most of us now agree that the calls that went against them were made correctly. It's because so many of those judgment calls were made in NU's favor. Doesn't mean any of those calls were wrong, and of course NU fans can rightfully point at instances (like the illegal motion on the spike snap) where the calls went against the Cats.
So for a ref to not be villified in a case like this, not only does he have to be perfect, but he has to have an enormous amount of luck that the 50/50 calls he made correctly happen to favor the two teams equally. That's about impossible.
It was a dominating defensive performance by the Cats, and I'm proud of the whole team for earning that victory. That anyone even has to talk about the refs (and I know I was guilty of that in the immediate aftermath of the game) is a shame.
1) Refs make calls equally to both sides (e.g. a hold on one team will be called if the other team does the same thing)
2) The refs know how to correctly interpret/enforce all rules in the game (for example, invalid fair catch signal, controlling the ball on a touchdown catch, etc.)
There are a number of judgment calls in every games in which a ref has to decide whether to call something, swallow the whistle, etc. Out of bounds, catch/no catch, penalty/no penalty, etc. Let's say these are all 50/50 - half should favor one team, half should favor the other team.
Even if you have a theoretical "perfect" ref who makes the correct call in all of the cases above, if there is any sense that one team is getting more of those judgment calls, it looks patently unfair even if every single call is correct. Wisconsin fans are rightfully livid today, even if most of us now agree that the calls that went against them were made correctly. It's because so many of those judgment calls were made in NU's favor. Doesn't mean any of those calls were wrong, and of course NU fans can rightfully point at instances (like the illegal motion on the spike snap) where the calls went against the Cats.
So for a ref to not be villified in a case like this, not only does he have to be perfect, but he has to have an enormous amount of luck that the 50/50 calls he made correctly happen to favor the two teams equally. That's about impossible.
It was a dominating defensive performance by the Cats, and I'm proud of the whole team for earning that victory. That anyone even has to talk about the refs (and I know I was guilty of that in the immediate aftermath of the game) is a shame.
