[NU Sports] Penalties

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

I know there's a temptation to play the loss on the refs, but the fact is  
that we did not deserve to win. As I feared, the Cats came out flat and  
uninspired, while the Blue Devils were prepared, motivated, and ready to break  their 
streak.  The Cats undoubtedly were the better team, but last night  the 
difference was coaching (similar to the UNH debacle last year).  There  should be 
some real soul-searching by Fitz and his staff on why they did not  have had 
the team better prepared for a game that was certainly winnable  (in contrast to 
what we face the next two weeks).  Our bowl hopes are now  in ruins.  Maybe 
our talent is not at the OSU level. but we're definitely  better than Duke.  
The coaches -- not the refs -- were our downfall.
 
As a former high school football official, I have to defend the  zebras.  
Especially at the college level, these guys are experienced,  constantly 
evaluated, and trying hard to do the best they can in a fast-paced  blur you cannot 
imagine.  They will miss some (and they really missed that  pass interference in 
the end zone at the end), but any deliberate bias toward  one team is 
impossible.  
 
 
In a message dated 9/16/2007 12:14:25 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
johnl at mac.com writes:

Naturally I booed the refs a lot last night for all the penalties  
called against us.  But from the stands, it's hard to really judge  the 
calls.  For those watching from home, did we really deserve 125  yards 
in penalties or were there a lot of bad calls?  Given that we  were the 
least penalized team in the Big Ten last year, and in the first  two 
games of this season we were averaging 4 penalties for 40 yards, I  
thought 125 yards of penalties was a lot.  I was especially annoyed  by 
a couple of the refs last night who would throw in a flag after the  
play was over and call holding or a block in the back.  I mean, what  
took so long to decide to throw the flag?  (I thought there were also  a 
couple of bad penalty calls that went in our favor, but many more calls  
and no calls went against  us.)

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