Fitz: Pull the Phil Jackson

[shakes3858]

Dear Coach Fitzgerald:

I'm sick and f-ing tired of Northwestern football games being decided by the officials. Here's just a few unforgivable actions by the officials:

2011 vs Michigan. A Michigan S Jordan Kovacs ripped off Persa's helmet. Persa began running without a helmet and was called down. The Kovacs had Persa's helmet in hand by the facemask while in pursuit. The play was called down as a ball carrier had no helmet on. No face mask was ever called. I know you didn't agree with the call as you received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

2012 Nebraska. Nebraska had 0 holding calls that day. That week Adam Rittenburg posted a picture in his blog of the line play in which the Nebraska LT was clearly holding.

2013 Michigan. Among other problems with the officiating, Michigan never got the right side of their Oline set for the field goal at the end of regulation

These are merely 3 highlights from the past. This year, we had the worst non-call I've ever seen when Dean Lowery was being held against Nebraska, as were 2 other NU players less egregiously. The play occurred with 5:36 left in the 4th quarter and led to Nebraska's final TD to make that a 2 point game. I realize that the officials are human and can't see everything; however, the official was standing right there and was staring right at Lowry. Additionally, we saw the worst call I've ever seen which was Dean Lowry's roughing the passer call in the 1st Qtr of the Penn State game. Fortunately, NU was able to overcome both Nebraska and Penn State despite the officials playing for the other team.

I'm a firm believer in one of your quotes: We can only focus on what's in our control. It's a good message to send to the team that they need to focus on the game and the officiating is outside of the team's control. I have seen coaches influence the officiating with public comments. Phil Jackson perfected this. After several games where the officials went against the Lakers, Jackson's press conference would be filled with negative commentary about the officiating. Jackson would get fined, but the officiating would change in the Lakers or Bulls favor. Examples:

Series: 2009 Western Conference finals
Context: Series tied 2-2 after Nuggets' 120-101 Game 4 victory that saw Denver enjoy a 49-35 advantage in free throw attempts.
Comment: During an extended postgame rant, Jackson carped about unequal refereeing, four fouls called against Lakers forward Luke Walton and a possible trip of Kobe Bryant by Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones, which Jackson dubbed "unsportsmanlike basketball."
Result: Lakers won next game 103-94 as the Nuggets were called for 11 fourth-quarter fouls, seven more than Los Angeles. Asked if he was planting seeds in officials' minds about calls, Jackson replied, "I'm a gardener, constantly

Series: 2009 NBA Finals
Context: In the Lakers' 99-91 overtime Game 4 victory, Los Angeles' Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were each whistled for two first-quarter fouls.
Comment: During in-game sideline interview, Jackson complained about "bogus" calls.
Result: The league fined Jackson $25,000, but Gasol and Odom combined for 31 points and just six fouls over 74 cumulative minutes in Los Angeles' series-clinching 99-86 Game 5 victory.

Series: 2008 NBA Finals
Context: Following a Game 2 loss in which the Celtics shot 38 free throws to the Lakers' 10.
Comment: "Leon Powe [got] more foul shots than our whole team does in 14 minutes of play. That's ridiculous. I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached in the Finals. Unbelievable."
Result: The Lakers shot 12 more free throws than the Celtics in Game 3.

Series: 1998 Eastern Conference finals
Context: A laundry list of cosmic Game 4 injustices -- a moving screen called on Dennis Rodman in the final 30 seconds; a jumper by Travis Best that was ruled a 3-pointer even though his toe was on the line, no call on Reggie Miller for pushing off Jordan to get open for the winning shot; not one but two offensive fouls on Jordan.
Comment: "This was Munich in '72 revisited ... I don't know if I'll be able to watch the last 10 minutes of this game without calling Rod Thorn ... I call it eight men on defense. The refs were killing us."
Result: Only a $10,000 fine, and Indiana was called for seven offensive fouls while setting screens in Game 5 -- one of the specific things Jackson complained about.

I'm aware that any negative comments you make about the officials is likely to cost you some money. I'm not a person who is going to tell another person how to spend their money especially someone with 3 young kids. But if there is a time to eat the fine, I think the time is now. The officiating on Saturday against Penn State was absolutely ridiculous. I strongly recommend using the press conference to drop a pipe bomb and let it be known that the terrible officiating with has had a strong anti-Northwestern bias in the past will not be over looked.

Go Cats,

Shakes3858

 

[hdhntr1]

Dear Coach Fitzgerald:

I'm sick and f-ing tired of Northwestern football games being decided by the officials. Here's just a few unforgivable actions by the officials:

2011 vs Michigan. A Michigan S Jordan Kovacs ripped off Persa's helmet. Persa began running without a helmet and was called down. The Kovacs had Persa's helmet in hand by the facemask while in pursuit. The play was called down as a ball carrier had no helmet on. No face mask was ever called. I know you didn't agree with the call as you received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

2012 Nebraska. Nebraska had 0 holding calls that day. That week Adam Rittenburg posted a picture in his blog of the line play in which the Nebraska LT was clearly holding.

2013 Michigan. Among other problems with the officiating, Michigan never got the right side of their Oline set for the field goal at the end of regulation

These are merely 3 highlights from the past. This year, we had the worst non-call I've ever seen when Dean Lowery was being held against Nebraska, as were 2 other NU players less egregiously. The play occurred with 5:36 left in the 4th quarter and led to Nebraska's final TD to make that a 2 point game. I realize that the officials are human and can't see everything; however, the official was standing right there and was staring right at Lowry. Additionally, we saw the worst call I've ever seen which was Dean Lowry's roughing the passer call in the 1st Qtr of the Penn State game. Fortunately, NU was able to overcome both Nebraska and Penn State despite the officials playing for the other team.

I'm a firm believer in one of your quotes: We can only focus on what's in our control. It's a good message to send to the team that they need to focus on the game and the officiating is outside of the team's control. I have seen coaches influence the officiating with public comments. Phil Jackson perfected this. After several games where the officials went against the Lakers, Jackson's press conference would be filled with negative commentary about the officiating. Jackson would get fined, but the officiating would change in the Lakers or Bulls favor. Examples:

Series: 2009 Western Conference finals
Context: Series tied 2-2 after Nuggets' 120-101 Game 4 victory that saw Denver enjoy a 49-35 advantage in free throw attempts.
Comment: During an extended postgame rant, Jackson carped about unequal refereeing, four fouls called against Lakers forward Luke Walton and a possible trip of Kobe Bryant by Nuggets guard Dahntay Jones, which Jackson dubbed "unsportsmanlike basketball."
Result: Lakers won next game 103-94 as the Nuggets were called for 11 fourth-quarter fouls, seven more than Los Angeles. Asked if he was planting seeds in officials' minds about calls, Jackson replied, "I'm a gardener, constantly

Series: 2009 NBA Finals
Context: In the Lakers' 99-91 overtime Game 4 victory, Los Angeles' Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were each whistled for two first-quarter fouls.
Comment: During in-game sideline interview, Jackson complained about "bogus" calls.
Result: The league fined Jackson $25,000, but Gasol and Odom combined for 31 points and just six fouls over 74 cumulative minutes in Los Angeles' series-clinching 99-86 Game 5 victory.

Series: 2008 NBA Finals
Context: Following a Game 2 loss in which the Celtics shot 38 free throws to the Lakers' 10.
Comment: "Leon Powe [got] more foul shots than our whole team does in 14 minutes of play. That's ridiculous. I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached in the Finals. Unbelievable."
Result: The Lakers shot 12 more free throws than the Celtics in Game 3.

Series: 1998 Eastern Conference finals
Context: A laundry list of cosmic Game 4 injustices -- a moving screen called on Dennis Rodman in the final 30 seconds; a jumper by Travis Best that was ruled a 3-pointer even though his toe was on the line, no call on Reggie Miller for pushing off Jordan to get open for the winning shot; not one but two offensive fouls on Jordan.
Comment: "This was Munich in '72 revisited ... I don't know if I'll be able to watch the last 10 minutes of this game without calling Rod Thorn ... I call it eight men on defense. The refs were killing us."
Result: Only a $10,000 fine, and Indiana was called for seven offensive fouls while setting screens in Game 5 -- one of the specific things Jackson complained about.

I'm aware that any negative comments you make about the officials is likely to cost you some money. I'm not a person who is going to tell another person how to spend their money especially someone with 3 young kids. But if there is a time to eat the fine, I think the time is now. The officiating on Saturday against Penn State was absolutely ridiculous. I strongly recommend using the press conference to drop a pipe bomb and let it be known that the terrible officiating with has had a strong anti-Northwestern bias in the past will not be over looked.

Go Cats,

Shakes3858

The errors I saw in officiating in that game. PSU punt returner signaled fair catch and then ran the ball for a 6 yd return enabled as we relaxed a bit when he signaled the FC. No call. Should hve at bare minimum gone back to the spot but also should have had a penalty called. Announcers sort of joked about it. The PF on Lowery which again, the announcers commented on. . No whistle and Hack was still in the process of trying to get rid of the ball to avoid sack. Helmet to helmet hit on Thorson on the 3rd down and 10 run. Blow to the head on the play that Thorson went out on. Right after ZO came in he tried a pass down the East sideline and the receiver was clearly interfered with. The defender had a hold of his shirt and was clearly pulling him back. That call would have put them deep in FG range. The punt block call where WM did not really hit him but went underneath. Even if you call something it was at most running into the kicker and not roughing. And while there might have been some justification for the PF on the Hack slide, it was still marginal. There were probably more but from this. sure appeared to be pretty one sided. There may have been some bad calls the other way but I did not really see much.
This led to my chant "Go back to the ACC". They were that bad.

 

[Fitz51]

Every team has to deal with officiating hurting them. Part of the game.

 

[Wildcatfootball12]

Were you at the game? I was watching on TV, Fitz almost murdered someone when the PSU player did that annoying ass half fair catch thing

Deonte Gibson had to legitimately hold Fitz back

It was awesome on so many levels, except the stupid call

 

[Hungry Jack]

I doubt officiating has gotten any worse, but now fans are just much more aware of it due to video, replay, and social media amplifier effects. It's impossible to flag all the holding that occurs during the course of the game. If I were an official, I would try to set a tone early for holding calls, but lay off during the second half of games assuming the players got the message. To me, it's a bit like the umpire establishing his strike zone early and then being consistent the rest of the way. Players respect that.

Games in general are over-officiated, IMO. I would rather see a bad non-call than a bad call to decide the game. It is impossible to legislate perfect human judgment, and all the technology and extra officiating tends to make things worse. We need to have a mentality that like players, officials make mistakes, and it is part of the game.

 

[hdhntr1]

Every team has to deal with officiating hurting them. Part of the game.

Just saying that these were pretty one sided and there a significant impact on the game. These were out in the open where they should not have been missed

 

[Fitz51]

Just saying that these were pretty one sided and there a significant impact on the game. These were out in the open where they should not have been missed

I agree, and it happens in umpteen other games, too. Just part of football and, really, sports in general. Nothing special about NU's particular games.

 

[shakes3858]

There's a lot special about the officiating in NU games. Clearly, Jim Delaney has a bias against Northwestern and in favor of the big money schools like OSU, Michigan, Nebraska, and Penn State. How do you explain Kain Colter fumbling the snap, dropping to a knee, standing up, picking up the ball and running for a 1st down only to get called down? Check the video 139:00 in. That is the most egregious no call I've ever seen.

http://www.btn2go.com/video/nebraska-vs-northwestern-2015-10-24-bin

 

[its_the_sauce]

And Musso's knee was down in the Rose Bowl...

C'mon, rehashing calls from 4 years ago..

Let it go, they even out.

 

[Deeringfish]

Were you at the game? I was watching on TV, Fitz almost murdered someone when the PSU player did that annoying ass half fair catch thing

Deonte Gibson had to legitimately hold Fitz back

It was awesome on so many levels, except the stupid call

I saw that too and thought, " How cool is that when a team leader has the presence of mind and great relationship with his coach to actually take charge of the coach and lead him in that way."

 

[shakes3858]

And Musso's knee was down in the Rose Bowl...

C'mon, rehashing calls from 4 years ago..

Let it go, they even out.

Name 3 terrible calls that went our way. They don't even out when the commissioner has a financial motivation to keep NU down and Nebraska, Penn State, OSU, and Michigan up.

 

[GlideCat]

Name 3 terrible calls that went our way. They don't even out when the commissioner has a financial motivation to keep NU down and Nebraska, Penn State, OSU, and Michigan up.

I can name one...

The first NU/Vandy game at Vandy a few years ago. NU ahead by 7 but our defense had shown signs of tiring. About two minutes to go. Persa running with one Vandy player between him and a first down that would clinch the game. Persa and the Vandy player both lowered their heads and plowed into each other right at the first down marker. It was right in front of where I was sitting. To me, that effort on both sides was what college football is all about. The refs threw a flag and called the Vandy player for whatever they called targeting then. We got the first down by penalty. That flag should not have been thrown.

 

[its_the_sauce]

Wootton could have easily been called for a shot to Stanzi's head on the sack/fumble/Cats TD in the end zone in 2009.

"Commissioner has financial motivation to keep NU down"....??? Are you kidding?? We consistently bring some of the highest rated games. There's a reason ESPN grabs our games. We've been on BTN only twice this year I believe.

 

[lunker35]

Shakes thanks for starting this. Something has to change. The calls have been grossly one sided this year. If I'm as bad at my job as the refs were in the PSU game I'm without a job. These guys need to be held accountable.

 

[GlideCat]

Shakes thanks for starting this. Something has to change. The calls have been grossly one sided this year. If I'm as bad at my job as the refs were in the PSU game I'm without a job. These guys need to be held accountable.

I am generally on the side of "it all balances out" but I even saw a PSU fan that said the calls were one-sided for that game.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Didn't we get some favorable calls vs. Duke?

But yes, I am generally a pretty quiet guy. But the roughing call against Lowery made me jump out of my seat and yell. I surprised myself with that.

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

What about the lateral Hackenberg threw that wasn't called . . . or even reviewed. I saw it live (sitting on the 20 yard line when it happened) and watched the reply. Maybe I fell prey to an optical illusion, but it sure looked like a lateral.

The one-sided calls against us really makes the conspiracy theory side of me wonder if they harbor grudges against academic schools or a thing against Fitz, or . . . any number of things. It is a truly anti-competitive series of events that undermines the integrity of the game.

We also had a horrible reply overturn on Vault's catch earlier this season and Harris' touchdown from last season against Penn State (if I recall correctly).

Someone should keep a running tally.

 

[shakes3858]

We also had a horrible reply overturn on Vault's catch earlier this season.

I normally find a good way to tell what the call should be is to ask my dad. He's "rooting" for Northwestern, but really he doesn't care and is just being nice. As such, he's generally in partial. He was watching on TV and says not a chance that was a catch.

I can name one...

The first NU/Vandy game at Vandy a few years ago. NU ahead by 7 but our defense had shown signs of tiring. About two minutes to go. Persa running with one Vandy player between him and a first down that would clinch the game. Persa and the Vandy player both lowered their heads and plowed into each other right at the first down marker. It was right in front of where I was sitting. To me, that effort on both sides was what college football is all about. The refs threw a flag and called the Vandy player for whatever they called targeting then. We got the first down by penalty. That flag should not have been thrown.

Doesn't count... not a Big Ten game. Don't know if they were Big Ten officials, SEC or neutral party, but of course, Jim Delaney would want a Big Ten team to beat an SEC team if they were big ten refs.

Wootton could have easily been called for a shot to Stanzi's head on the sack/fumble/Cats TD in the end zone in 2009.
.

Here's the play. I don't see it as easily being a penalty. Additionally, the targeting rule didn't even exist in 2009.

 

[GlideCat]

Don't know if they were Big Ten officials, SEC or neutral party, but of course, Jim Delaney would want a Big Ten team to beat an SEC team if they were big ten refs.

They were Big 10 refs. Trust me. I know. Living in Nashville, I heard nothing else for weeks.

 

[shakes3858]

They were Big 10 refs. Trust me. I know. Living in Nashville, I heard nothing else for weeks.

K... that's fine, but it doesn't counter act my belief that Jim Delaney promotes the big money schools in the Big Ten over Northwestern.

 

[Gladeskat]

I can name one...

The first NU/Vandy game at Vandy a few years ago. NU ahead by 7 but our defense had shown signs of tiring. About two minutes to go. Persa running with one Vandy player between him and a first down that would clinch the game. Persa and the Vandy player both lowered their heads and plowed into each other right at the first down marker. It was right in front of where I was sitting. To me, that effort on both sides was what college football is all about. The refs threw a flag and called the Vandy player for whatever they called targeting then. We got the first down by penalty. That flag should not have been thrown.

Agreed. Big Ten refs called the game. The Vandy guy led with the shoulder but there was also head to head contact (it was inevitable). Should not have been called.

 

[IGNORE2]

It would be cool if someone started making game highlight videos of the ref mis-calls and promoting them on YouTube, Facebook, etc.

Fitz can't call them out but the fans can embarrass them. I would even keyword the ref names so they get caught in searches.

I'm no techie or I would volunteer.

 

[lunker35]

Agreed. I couldn't find one clip on the Internet of the Lowry roughing call. I would love to see a compilation of the questionable calls.

 

[jemblue]

Dear Coach Fitzgerald:

I'm sick and f-ing tired of Northwestern football games being decided by the officials. Here's just a few unforgivable actions by the officials:

2011 vs Michigan. A Michigan S Jordan Kovacs ripped off Persa's helmet. Persa began running without a helmet and was called down. The Kovacs had Persa's helmet in hand by the facemask while in pursuit. The play was called down as a ball carrier had no helmet on. No face mask was ever called. I know you didn't agree with the call as you received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Can you really argue that an 18-point game (Michigan 42, Northwestern 24) was decided by the officials?

 

[Gladeskat]

Can you really argue that an 18-point game (Michigan 42, Northwestern 24) was decided by the officials?

Yes, if it results in a change of momentum.

 

[mybrotha]

The most egregious of the three blown calls was the Persa helmet non call against Michigan. Impossible to miss that, yet they did! The worst outcome though was obviously the Michigan win with no time on the clock. How on earth could a play like that stand when there was blatant movement by not one but the entire right side of the offensive line! However if you ask msu about the end of the nebby game they'll tell you to look at the video to see the nebby receiver clearly run out of bounds and then make the catch.

 

[GlideCat]

However if you ask msu about the end of the nebby game they'll tell you to look at the video to see the nebby receiver clearly run out of bounds and then make the catch.

The B1G refs later said it was the right call as defensive backs are trained to push receivers out of bounds without touching them. (mild sarcasm intended)

 

[phatcat]

Can you really argue that an 18-point game (Michigan 42, Northwestern 24) was decided by the officials?

btw I think Kovcrotch was the same a-hole that intentionally twisted Kain Colter's ankle when he was down a year later

Nice punt against Sparty