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Interesting Discussion about refs.

Ultimately, you may need a Trade (union) organization model where merit (competence) is the key employment criteria.
Union model is not a good idea. Promotion based on seniority, within certification groups, rules the day, and merit-based promotions are generally out the window.
 

AI is coming whether we want it or not.

This was an interesting read:


There's certainly plenty of room to add existing technology to assist in their work, without it being true full "AI", and that would reduce the workload of human refs. Namely out of bounds, offsides, number of players on the field, intentional grounding (monitor QB location in pocket), forward progress (first downs and TDs etc), backward passes, false starts, etc... all the things that are measurable in a completely objective sense could be turned over to tech, freeing up the humans to watch for the subjective/safety stuff.

It's really not necessary to keep the job harder than it has to be. Can you think of any other job where you wouldn't immediately jump to use existing tech to increase accuracy and efficiency?
 
The officials do not have the luxury of seeing the screen while they are officiating. At game speed not every call is going to be made correctly. It’s just a part of the game that will never be perfect. I’ve broken that mirror many times. :)
Of course. Human error happens, but it’s your job to call it accurately, as best as you can. That’s not always the case.
 
Union model is not a good idea. Promotion based on seniority, within certification groups, rules the day, and merit-based promotions are generally out the window.
Not all unions are seniority based. Trade unions (carpenters, electricians) the employer hired who he wants out of the pool. They can be skilled and ratings based (MLB).

Benefits programs are provided by the Union- paid by employer along with wages. A Union could serve as a economical. Traditionally, the only way to do defined benefits retirement were either an employer plan or a union plan.

You are looking at a unique elite skill set, not unlike ship pilots. You need a degree of organization and agreement that can legally only be done via a CBA.

BTW, I am no fan of unions, but they have their uses from a legal, organizational standpoint.
 



Why wouldn’t tiers work?
Best refs work B1G and SEC … if you make too many mis5akes you work other P4 contests?

My issue is the politics … how can you NOT want the best?
I think there is an assumption that "mistakes" will be properly identified and appropriate action taken. I believe that is naive.

I tend to believe that mistakes by "liked" officials will be a bit more overlooked while it provides an easier way to out "unliked" officials.

I want a well called game by the officials but believe that tiering has strong potential to make things worse, not better.
 





This is all sports not just those who specifically officiate football.

The pipeline to officiating has reduced by 30% over the past 5 years. New officials start ups are at a all time low. The average age of an official in current youth sports is 57yo. New officials are leaving after an average of 3 years of officiating due to reasons that include; Pay, Treatment by coaches and parents and other priorities, not necessarily in this order.

Most new officials are choosing sports that are less controversial.
 
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One of the post-game shows talked about the need to have the NCAA hire permanent referees. I think that would partially fix the problem. To many times I see refs trying to get a specific team into a good spot on the rankings so they can ref better bowl games. See our last year in the Big XII. They were definitely trying hard to get TX in the Natty. So that prompted a discussion with my son.

So here is what we came up with.

1. As discussed above. Have one pool of refs for the entire NCAA. Do not leave it up to the individual leagues. Too much potential for a conflict of interest.
2. My son told me about European Soccer. If a ref is int the premiere league and he makes too many bad calls. They move him down to the next lower league. They will continue to go down if they keep messing up.
A. The best refs should be assigned to FBS, that is tier 1
B. the next tier are FCS, then Div II, Div III and so on. Each tier has a different pay scale.
C. If a call is reviewed for one reason but it is obvious an egregious error was made, they should be able to overturn it. This past week. On the review. They made the right call. The only thing that was reviewable was whether or not our guy was past the line when he caught it. Whether or not the flag should have been thrown beyond that is not reviewable. So I am not saying make it challengeable. but... if they see a bad call was made while reviewing something else, They should be able to overturn it.

Your thoughts?
Some of the refs I've seen are to old and fat to be running up and down the field and being behind the play they are trying to call.
 
Over turn "egregious calls".

You want five hour football games, cause that's how you get five hour football games.......:)
Coach gets 2 penalty challenges (1 per half!) Coach can challenge any penalty and if penalty is not reversed team loses a time out. That would add little extra time to a game! There would be NO COACH CHALLENGE for a no penalty call... period. At least a coach would have an opportunity to reverse an INCORRECT game changing penalty like the BOGUS offside penalty against MN on the recovered onside kick against MI. Under review it was CLEAR there was no offside and MN should have been awarded the ball.
 
AI is coming whether we want it or not.

This was an interesting read:


There's certainly plenty of room to add existing technology to assist in their work, without it being true full "AI", and that would reduce the workload of human refs. Namely out of bounds, offsides, number of players on the field, intentional grounding (monitor QB location in pocket), forward progress (first downs and TDs etc), backward passes, false starts, etc... all the things that are measurable in a completely objective sense could be turned over to tech, freeing up the humans to watch for the subjective/safety stuff.

It's really not necessary to keep the job harder than it has to be. Can you think of any other job where you wouldn't immediately jump to use existing tech to increase accuracy and efficiency?

AI... a fancy acronym for saying 'we ship stuff to overseas resources for them to identify a select number of items within a very short time frame'

 



If they are planning on funding at the lower levels there might be a way to get there, But, just paying current officials more money is not going to change the results. The hiring is a huge issue also. They are not hiring by ability. Check out the NFL hiring guidelines and see what they are now doing.☹️
link?
 
I do believe coaches should be able to challenge bad calls, like that offensive pass interference on Fidone. It would help but the conference would never allow that to happen.
In all honesty, I think we’d have trouble hiring and retaining officials if they were under that kind of constant scrutiny. I think challenging on a very limited basis is likely acceptable, but being able to second guess with the advantage of half a dozen cameras, that puts officials in a position of losing any credibility.

There are officials that have a bad day, some may have calls that are an ‘emphasis’ for them, but the majority are doing a solid job. For those that aren’t, they need to be demoted to lower levels to either work on their craft, or know their limitations when it comes to being able to keep up with elite athletes.
 

AI is coming whether we want it or not.

This was an interesting read:


There's certainly plenty of room to add existing technology to assist in their work, without it being true full "AI", and that would reduce the workload of human refs……..

It's really not necessary to keep the job harder than it has to be. Can you think of any other job where you wouldn't immediately jump to use existing tech to increase accuracy and efficiency?
Longshoremen.
 

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