Glen Johnson upset fans, media are so hard on refs

[Mike]

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/getting+killed+media+fans+over+perception+poor/11912890/story.html

Quote

“It would be awesome if we read: ‘The officiating was really good today,’ ” Johnson said. “As opposed to, ‘All you want to do is focus on something controversial.’ Watch a few NFL games. When there’s a really bad call, they point to it for a second, and then move on to tell the story of the game. They give more positive comments to the officiating than our (CFL) broadcasts. I believe we are better than people think we are. I’d put our guys up against anybody for what they do.”

Maybe if it was, Glen.

Quote

“We all have similar issues,” Johnson said. “How do you eliminate the big mistakes? Our guys work incredibly hard to do that. And we don’t get credit for that. We just need our fans to understand.”

Understand what? The referees are not doing a good job. At all. The fact that they demoted like half a dozen (which is almost 15% of the overall staff) after the season should tell you that much.

This article and his quotes make Johnson look so ridiculous, in my opinion. I don't doubt it's a tough job, but as far as accountability to the public, whether it be media or fans, referees are the most bulletproof individuals in the CFL. Sure, they get bad things written about them. So what? They're not like players, coaches or general managers in the sense that they have to step up and answer for their mistakes in front of a reporter or a microphone. But year in, year out they continue to blow ball games. Now he wants to say "poor us"?

Get real.

[WBBFanWest]

I'll never fault a referee who makes a split second mistake.  Did he catch or trap the ball?  Was his foot inbounds or was it touching the line?  Those calls, made in real time, were being made in good faith and so much would depend on the position of the ref and player that no thinking fan would expect every call to be made correctly.  That's just not possible.  But calls like the one that went against us last year against Calgary, when that official called illegal formation, those are the type that really hurt their credibility because there's no way that a professional ref should ever get a call that wrong.

Especially given that after the fact, the best we'll get is a "we made a whoopsie, sorry about that".  In my opinion, they really need to hold themselves more accountable.  That ref should have been named, and the consequences made public.  Not to humiliate him, but to say "There are consequences for incompetence".  Then there should be an explanation made as to how mistakes like that might be prevented in the future.  It's called being accountable and professional.  You want more respect?  Start by showing that you're serious about being the best you can be, not whining about how unfair it is to have to do you job right.

[17to85]

I agree that it would be awesome if we could say the reffing was really good. Trouble is that half of the refs in this league don't know their ass from a hole in the ground and reviewing everything all the time makes them call the game like pansies relying on replay to catch everything. Take away replay and make them actually have to pay attention I bet the quality improves. 

[Jpan85]

I have heard that presentation and he says that line in a joking way. How it's written the article is totally out of context of how its in the presentation.

[HardCoreBlue]

Refereeing has so many components to it that it's difficult to clearly categorize as simply good or bad. I see it as there's a great degree of room for improvement in many aspects of refereeing (technology, interpretation of rules, rule appropriateness, player/coach/referee mutual respect, quality of applicants wanting to be refs, training, compensation, consistency, appropriate reprimands for poor performance etc etc)  

I actually have no problem with this perspective, it's just a perspective, a voice wanting to be heard among many others.

[Mike]

52 minutes ago, WBBFanWest said:

I'll never fault a referee who makes a split second mistake.  Did he catch or trap the ball?  Was his foot inbounds or was it touching the line?  Those calls, made in real time, were being made in good faith and so much would depend on the position of the ref and player that no thinking fan would expect every call to be made correctly.  That's just not possible.  But calls like the one that went against us last year against Calgary, when that official called illegal formation, those are the type that really hurt their credibility because there's no way that a professional ref should ever get a call that wrong.

Especially given that after the fact, the best we'll get is a "we made a whoopsie, sorry about that".  In my opinion, they really need to hold themselves more accountable.  That ref should have been named, and the consequences made public.  Not to humiliate him, but to say "There are consequences for incompetence".  Then there should be an explanation made as to how mistakes like that might be prevented in the future.  It's called being accountable and professional.  You want more respect?  Start by showing that you're serious about being the best you can be, not whining about how unfair it is to have to do you job right.

You 100% nailed it.

[Mr Dee]

2 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

I have heard that presentation and he says that line in a joking way. How it's written the article is totally out of context of how its in the presentation.

This is the very point.

It's very easy to point out bad reffing..and ***** about it. Even this thread is a platform for the negativity. We all know it can be a problem, in any sport, in any league. Do I think it's better or worse in the CFL? Only in areas such as the example that is given in this thread. That illegal formation call - that virtually cost us a ball game, should have been overruled, and that's possibly why there will be the rule changes continually until they get it right. At the very least, they are trying.

The idea of these rule changes and amendments are the result of continual meetings of the rules committee and the officials. They are striving for the prefect game..just like offences and defences. And like them, they will fail. But all we can ask is that they try to improve every year...and do their best, because the fans are holding them to a high standard, higher and harder than being just a fan.

[DR. CFL]

What is the saying? Until you walk a mile from n someone else's shoes. It might be safe to  say that football is perhaps the most difficult of all sports to officiate.

[wbbfan]

Thats the life of a ref. Any sport, any league or level. I will say that in the past 16 years the reffing has improved 10000x. The cfls refs last year did a better job then the NBA refs have done this post season, and are generally better then the umps strike zone in baseball.

[WBBFanWest]

1 hour ago, DR. CFL said:

What is the saying? Until you walk a mile from n someone else's shoes. It might be safe to  say that football is perhaps the most difficult of all sports to officiate.

There's also this saying:  "Get out there and do your freaking job right."  

Last time I checked there isn't a press gang out there, grabbing people and forcing them to be CFL officials.  That means that these people want to do the job, the pinnacle of football refereeing in Canada.  No one's asking them to be perfect, but seriously, with some of the mistakes that were made last year, it's not unreasonable for the league and the fans to expect them to get better.   After all, they've left lots of room for improvement. 

[Mr Dee]

But thank goodness there people out there who willing to put up with the mockery and the second-guessing (a lot of the time from fans who don't know the rules). Let's get this clear. Mistakes will be made. As long as they try to learn and correct, then that's all we can demand. We can ask for perfectson , but we won't get it..in any sport. But yes, we can demand improvement and I think, slowly, we are getting it.

[Jpan85]

They got 94% of calls right last year

[WBBFanWest]

87.3 % of statistics are made up

[Mike]

I'm not worried about the judgment calls. I don't expect their judgment to be perfect.

What I do expect is that if there's a situation where the application of the rule is black and white i.e. it's either an illegal formation or it's not, you better believe I expect perfection. Those are the type of calls that cost people money, or worse yet, jobs. There are supposed to be checks and balances in place to prevent those mistakes from being made. I don't want any more statements of "oopsie daisy we goofed and cost your team a game" the following Monday. I want the rules applied properly.

[bigg jay]

46 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thats the life of a ref. Any sport, any league or level.

This.

Being an official in any sport is almost always a thankless job but you know that when you sign up.  If you do your job properly you are invisible but when you make a mistake you're in the spotlight.  If that's not for you, then find another job.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I'm not worried about the judgment calls. I don't expect their judgment to be perfect.

What I do expect is that if there's a situation where the application of the rule is black and white i.e. it's either an illegal formation or it's not, you better believe I expect perfection. Those are the type of calls that cost people money, or worse yet, jobs. There are supposed to be checks and balances in place to prevent those mistakes from being made. I don't want any more statements of "oopsie daisy we goofed and cost your team a game" the following Monday. I want the rules applied properly.

 I think thats why they keep expanding review. Rather slow the game down, especially late and get the call right then have calls cost games. Personally, I think we need more refs. There is soo much to watch especially with the big field, but that said some stuff especially on the line needs to be let go.

  The cfl has shown great willingness to try different things to get games right and make them more entertaining. As long as they continue on that path I think the cfl reffing will be in a great spot a few years down the road. 

[IC Khari]

"Turd down ... Mon-re-all!"

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, IC Khari said:

"Turd down ... Mon-re-all!"

my favorite is still procedure mon re al entire line...

[LeBird]

5 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

But thank goodness there people out there who willing to put up with the mockery and the second-guessing (a lot of the time from fans who don't know the rules). Let's get this clear. Mistakes will be made. As long as they try to learn and correct, then that's all we can demand. We can ask for perfectson , but we won't get it..in any sport. But yes, we can demand improvement and I think, slowly, we are getting it.

Perfection is something you can only dream of but competency should be expected. We are all expected to be competent and don't expect anyone to make excuses when we fail. People even if competent will make mistakes but then should have the courage to acknowledge it and rectify it. The CFL should have had a process to force a review of calls that have affected the outcome of the game. What people object to and have a hard time accepting is an instance where a ref takes the place of the players and decides the outcome of a game. 

 

[rebusrankin]

I'm upset that Glen and his boys have messed up many a call that screwed Winnipeg that they later apologized for.

[HardCoreBlue]

18 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

87.3 % of statistics are made up

I know you're joking but I find it fascinating when statistics don't support one's claims, then it's all bogus, but when they do, it's awesome. 

 

[HardCoreBlue]

18 hours ago, Mike said:

I'm not worried about the judgment calls. I don't expect their judgment to be perfect.

What I do expect is that if there's a situation where the application of the rule is black and white i.e. it's either an illegal formation or it's not, you better believe I expect perfection. Those are the type of calls that cost people money, or worse yet, jobs. There are supposed to be checks and balances in place to prevent those mistakes from being made. I don't want any more statements of "oopsie daisy we goofed and cost your team a game" the following Monday. I want the rules applied properly.

Me too but good luck with that. Name me a professional sport that applies every 'black and white' rule 100% properly while the game is being played.  

I'm not defending the silly calls, incompetent calls that ought to be straightforward. I'm incensed like the rest of us when it costs our team. 

However, what I'm settled down and thinking logically, I'm suggesting, and I think a few other posters here are as well, is a continuous improvement process versus perfect or nothing.  No one who thinks this through is suggesting being flexible with accountability, it's more of always working toward that gold standard of performance. The one's that can't are usually, not always, but usually left behind.

One of things that tells me the CFL wants to improve officiating is a few CFL referees from last year were relegated/let go as well as their partnership with NFL referees.

[JuranBoldenRules]

The decline has been steeper under Johnson's watch.  He's done the opposite of what he said he would.  He's made the job of the officials more difficult and complicated.

Adding replay to subjective calls hasn't helped at all.

[Goalie]

I was gonna go easier on the refs this season but after reading this.... I can't help but think he's doing more harm than good once again. Fans gonna be all over the refs this year. Bottom line... do your job right and people will praise you. Do it wrong and they won't.  Stupid refs seem to want to be stars like the players. 

[Fatty Liver]

On 5/13/2016 at 3:36 PM, Goalie said:

I was gonna go easier on the refs this season but after reading this.... I can't help but think he's doing more harm than good once again. Fans gonna be all over the refs this year. Bottom line... do your job right and people will praise you. Do it wrong and they won't.  Stupid refs seem to want to be stars like the players. 

I will be waiting with bated breath for the first poster to come forward and praise a ref.  on this forum.