Oklahoma HS Wants Final Minute of Playoff Game Replayed

One of the first rules I learned in journalism school was to never, ever use the word, "gonna." I used it in a quote on one of my first stories, and thought I would never hear the end of it.

Now it's a pet peeve. It looks like amateurish, middle school writing.

 

I'm not saying that I disagree, but if a person you're interviewing says "I was gonna finish the job," do you change it to "I was going to finish the job."? That's not what the person said.

 

It's Oklahoma. Every couple of years a playoff in one sport or another gets delayed because a school goes to court and gets an injunction.

 

Our state handbook specifically states, not in these words, you can't protest if the officials screw up or mis-apply the rules. Schools can't play games under protest, and the state officiating supervisor can issue an interpretation after the fact, but it won't change the outcome.

 

1) They're right on the facts of the play: unless the violators on the sideline actually physically encroach on and interfere with action on the field, the penalty is supposed to be assessed on the ensuing kickoff.

2) No high school athletic association is ever going to replay anything based on on-field calls during a game -- unless, I suppose, it were conclusively proven the refs were actually fixing the game. This is an awful fuckup, but can't be proven to be anything worse.

3) While it can't be PROVEN to be anything worse, in my experience, while teams technically violate the sideline rules at a pretty much even rate (a very high rate, incidentally) regardless of ethic makeup, the times I have actually seen it called, probably 75% of the time is is by white refs on predominantly black teams. Something about being mouthy and uppity would be my guess.

4) OTOH of THAT, the vast vast majority of the time sideline violations are called, the violators are guilty. It's one of those rules almost everybody technically violates all the time. It's also one of the dumber rules on the books, because to enforce it, officials need to take their eyes off of what players are actually doing on the field and look at what other people are doing OFF the field.

 

I agree with what everyone has said. It's an awful screwup, but it's not that much different from a player screwing up on the field. If a QB throws a 50-yard TD pass to a wide receiver, and the receiver then drops the ball, you sure as hell don't replay the down.

By all means, discipline the officials for screwing up how they applied the penalty, but you don't get to go back and replay the down on another day.

 

We had a situation in Mississippi during the playoffs a few years ago where a team was improperly awarded an untimed down at the end of the game and they hit a Hail Mary for the winning touchdown. The losing school appealed, arguing that if the call had been made properly, the untimed play would never have happened and they would have been the winner.

Little bit different scenario from this, as it was an either-or situation. I believe the offense in that case was penalized for holding or maybe offensive pass interference, but instead of ruling the game over, the refs gave the offending team another play. The association ruled that the error was reversible and voided the final play, giving the win to the team that appealed.

 

How the hell did the ref screw that up in the first place? That's basic.

 

HOLY FUCK.

 

They want to replay it? Sure. The line forms to the left. They can get behind the team from Massachusetts that lost in 2011 after a touchdown was called back because the kid started celebrating before he reached the end zone.

 

And Colorado can give back its half of a "national championship" it won in 1990 after getting an extra down against Mizzou.

 

The only times I've ever seen a team penalized is if an official collides with a player or coach in the "off limits" area.