Expert: Vic Winnek - 10/11/2004

Question
I attended the Colorado/Oklahoma State football game this weekend and saw a lont of missed calls by the referees.  I was very dissapointed because the missed benefitted one team more than the other and it slowed the game considerably.  As a result, I would like to voice my dissapointment.

Answer
Mr. Canales,

I hope my respones was of assistance. I just wanted to follow-up with you this week to make sure you are alright with everything.  I take these questions ver serious.   More importantly, I hope the game you saw this week "left a beter taste in your mouth" for the officiating.  Again, we do make mistakes, but hopefully the mistakes do not affect the game.  We officials work very hard to work perfect games.  

Victor Winnek

Dear Mr. Canales,

I'm sorry to hear your disappointment with the officiating crew.  I did not see the game nor have I heard about any particular problems arising from the game.  While I'm not a Big XII official, I asure you that they are a fine group of officials with extremely high standards and an excellent instructional program.  They are highly scrutinized by the supervisor of officials and the performance of each members of the crew is reviewed.  I'm sure by this afternoon the film will have been reviewed and each one of their calls (missed calls, no calls, correct calls and incorrect calls) will be evaluated and brought to the attention of the Supervisor of Officials and the crew itself.  They are graded each week.

At the game there was an observor who saw what you did.  A game report is generated every game by the observor and another one by the Referee.  The Coaches also are required to review the films and send in an evaluation and report of the officials.   

We as officials are the last bastion of integrity the game has and take our duty very seriously - striving for perfection.  We are impartial arbiters of the rules.

I do not know if calls were missed.  Many times we see certain conduct on the field but "No Call" them because they are not at the point of attack, or there was not advantage gained and disadvantage created, or it did not have a bearing on the play with in the Approved Rulings of the rule book.

There is no official web-site that I know of to voice your dismay. However, you could e-mail the Big XII conference office or Tim Millis - Supervisor of Officials for the Big XII and voice your dismay or write an opinion editorial/letter to the editor of your local paper.

I hope this is of some assistance.  Please remember, we as officials see the game with our eyes and mind, not our heart.  But that's not to say there weren't missed calls.

Thank you for your question,
Victor C. Winnek


FOLLOW-UP

Mr. Millis is a former NFL offical.  He is pretty tough on his officials and there are some NFL philosophies that have transcended the NCAA ranks.  Specifically, philosophies that require or prefer "No Calls" or passing on calls rather than calling everything.

What calls do you think were missed?  Which offical missed them?