TIME TO HOLD THE REF’S ACCOUNTABLE
Meet Wilbur Hackett, Jr. (Referee pictured in video). Not only is this person a referee in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) but he obviously has what it takes to still play ball. Notice how he comes to the breakdown position, shuffles his feet and then delivers an old school Dick “Night Train” Lane forearm to the QB. Not bad technique Mr. Hackett but allow me to vent if you will…
How the hell does this guy in his position get away with this and yet we still see players (NFL and NCAA) get fined for throwing balls into stands, wearing the wrong color shoes, or even penalized for “excessive” celebration after scoring meaningful touchdowns.
A perfect scenario (video above) to the “excessive” celebration happened back on September 6, 2008 (Washington vs BYU) with two seconds left Washington quarterback Jake Locker made a nice run, scoring the potential game-tying touchdown and capping off an exciting drive. After he crossed the goal line, he threw the ball over his shoulder and went to celebrate with his teammates. The back judge called an unsportsmanlike penalty, turning a simple game-tying extra point into the equivalent of a 45-yard field goal try, a try that was eventually blocked, and caused Washington to lose the contest.
This was just the case of a young kid getting excited about scoring the tying touchdown. These unnecessary penalties cost teams on a much bigger scale than simply the win/loss column for one game. There’s a huge ripple effect - Unnecessary or incorrect penalties cause players to become frustrated and their play on the field suffers. As a result, multiple games are lost, lost games result in lost coaching jobs, and the vacancies move right up the ladder until they reach the top, all because of a bad call.
I like to believe that the games are won in the trenches and decided between the players and coaches but when we continue to see unnecessary and horrendous calls from these overpaid punks in the zebra suits, it makes it tough when you have to compete against these ridiculous calls.
It’s time to hold the officials accountable for blown calls and unnecessary penalties, they need to be suspended, fined, or even fired if deemed necessary, otherwise, what the hell is the point of having them out there.
Oh…and some advice to our forearm shivering official, Mr. Hackett, next time rap up!
