Would this solve the challenge issues?

[TBURGESS]

The way the 'Eye in the sky' official works now is next to useless, but if they were in charge of all things challenge-able, they could make a huge difference. Of course, the HC's wouldn't want to give up control or another way to change the outcome of games.

[Goalie]

11 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I don't follow, they got that one right.  Upon challenge they over-turned the officials error. 

I guess. Why did O'shea have to challenge it in the first place 

[Ripper]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

I guess. Why did O'shea have to challenge it in the first place 

I agree with you. Super basic calls you expect to be made in high school football shouldn't have to be challenged IMO. Posey never bobbled the ball at all and clearly had a foot on the ground 3 yards in play. Ref was in great position to make the call. I ask again, WTF are they looking at out there that they can't see that??

[17to85]

14 minutes ago, Ripper said:

I agree with you. Super basic calls you expect to be made in high school football shouldn't have to be challenged IMO. Posey never bobbled the ball at all and clearly had a foot on the ground 3 yards in play. Ref was in great position to make the call. I ask again, WTF are they looking at out there that they can't see that??

It's the mentality that they don't need to get the call right on the field, if it was missed replay will see it. Refs have become so lazy and afraid to make a call they use replay as a huge crutch and it negatively impacts the entertainment value of the games.

[Ripper]

1 minute ago, 17to85 said:

It's the mentality that they don't need to get the call right on the field, if it was missed replay will see it. Refs have become so lazy and afraid to make a call they use replay as a huge crutch and it negatively impacts the entertainment value of the games.

100% bang on. Combine that with **** head coaches like Wally and Austin out on the field bitching them out. They are scared to do anything. Refs got to get some balls and make a f'n call, right or wrong, stand by it. And start flagging the coaches when they are out there bitching. Major League umpires don't put up with for long.  This is the worst I can ever remember that the officiating has been.

[Eternal optimist]

1 hour ago, Ripper said:

100% bang on. Combine that with **** head coaches like Wally and Austin out on the field bitching them out. They are scared to do anything. Refs got to get some balls and make a f'n call, right or wrong, stand by it. And start flagging the coaches when they are out there bitching. Major League umpires don't put up with for long.  This is the worst I can ever remember that the officiating has been.

Agreed, it always bugged me how they let the coaches/players creep onto the field. Flagging the coaches for it once in a game would likely cause the coaches to back off. Obviously with things being called the way they are, coaches feel that complaining to the refs is helping their team, otherwise they wouldn't do it in the first place.

[Fatty Liver]

Here is Glen Johnson's take on the video review.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/07/19/cfl-coaches-challenges-help-but-need-to-get-made-quicker

CFL Blitz: Coaches' challenges help, but need to get made quicker

Yes, there are more coaches' challenges this season. More than twice as many, as a matter of fact.

No, they are not taking longer to review. Decisions are actually being made much more quickly.

Yes, they are taking too long to get to the point of reviewing coaches' challenges, and that's where the CFL admits it needs to speed it up a notch or two.

“If we're not able to get them (during the play) but a challenge gets them and this is the right outcome, then I'm satisfied with that,” CFL senior vice-president of football Glen Johnson told the Blitz this week. “But we gotta make sure that we are mindful of how long we're taking getting into them and that we move through them expeditiously. That's a big focus for us with the refs right now.”

Coaches were able to challenge defensive pass interference penalties and non-calls in 2014 and 2015, but this year they can do the same with seven other infractions: offensive pass interference, illegal contact, illegal interference on pass plays, no yards, illegal blocks on kick plays, contacting/roughing the kicker or passer, and illegal interference at the point of reception on kickoff attempts.

That's why there have been 39 coach's challenges through 16 games, compared to only 18 through four weeks last season. Considering each coach is allowed two challenges per game, they have used 61% of their challenges so far (excluding the third one a coach receives if he gets the first two correct).

Johnson said the reason for the extended time it's taking to actually get to a challenge is simply growing pains. Coaches have to be extremely specific about what they're challenging, and both them and the officials are learning to speak a new kind of language.

“It's this perception challenge that we've got that we need to address,” Johnson said. “If fans still feel that it's taking a long time and if there's more of them and there's more interruptions, then we still gotta find a way to deal with that.”

Be patient, people. It will only get better.

DOING ITS JOB

There is some good news for the fans in all of this: Coaches and officials should figure out how to communicate better, and the review official is already moving at a faster clip.

Last year the average review lasted two minutes and one second. So far this year it's been one minute and 25 seconds, according to Johnson.

The other bonus is coaches' challenges are getting plays correct. Last season only 34% of challenged plays were overturned, but this year coaches are winning a whopping 51% of them. Even though that means his officials are missing calls, Johnson is pleased as punch with those numbers.

“This is a good thing. The ones that we added were pretty critical ones,” Johnson said, singling out roughing the passer as a key addition to the challenge list.

“We're now able to have a coach challenge that and get it right, which is the right thing to do. It's working the way we hoped it would.”

SO FAR, SO GOOD

The last video review update: The “eye in the sky” is working well, according to Johnson.

The “eye in the sky” is a third video review official in the Toronto command centre who ensures the right call is made when flags are thrown for penalties that coaches cannot challenge. He is also able to help with administrative calls, like how much time should be on the clock or where a ball went out of bounds.

Johnson said the numbers so far show the “eye in the sky” is fixing seven or eight situations per game without causing a delay.

“That just makes the officiating look better and be better,” Johnson said. “We're fixing some spots and application points for fouls. We fixed the clock a couple times. We've picked up a couple of bad flags on line play, on procedures and things like that.”

[17to85]

Glen Johnson = blind leading the blind. 

well the refs are so bad they are getting less than half of the calls correct on the field, but it's great news that replay is catching their mistakes for all to see!

The replay system has been getting worse and worse for actually being entertained by games yet they keep expanding it and making it worse and they say "be patient, it's worth it" **** off and make the refs do their jobs on the field instead of taking the easy way out and relying on time wasting replays to do it. 

[TBURGESS]

A lot of the replay's that have been overturned this year were the really close ones that could go either way. Quite frankly, most shouldn't have been overturned as challenges should be for the obviously bad calls IMO. Rewarding the HC's on the really close calls makes them even more willing to throw the hankie out in the first place.

[Captain Blue]

I would eliminate the ability to challenge penalties (called and uncalled).  You watch a big play happen and then its gone because of some ticky tack PI that has now been challenged and ruled a penalty. Its one thing for a penalty to be thrown during a play that takes away a big gain (as with most of the holding calls) and its another to have the play be over and then changed.

I really worry what direction the CFL is heading with its product. The flow of games was bad last year and is even worse this year.

[Goalie]

Where was this eye in the sky on the Calgary offside on 3rd and 1 

[Dragon37]

The best solution is going back to the days when they had no video replay. It delays games, rarely decides outcomes, and isn't improving the officiating.

If they are going to insist on keeping it around. Teams get ONE challenge per game. That's it. Period.

The officials review the play watch it at full speed and the angle closest to where the on field official was. Period. No multiple angles, zoom ins, slow motion, frame by frame breakdowns.

[TBURGESS]

11 hours ago, Goalie said:

Where was this eye in the sky on the Calgary offside on 3rd and 1 

Apparently, they can't call penalties, just comment on them. No use in having them, if they can't even fix obvious mistakes. 

[Goalie]

6 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Apparently, they can't call penalties, just comment on them. No use in having them, if they can't even fix obvious mistakes. 

Pretty much. What's the point really.