What Everyone BUT The AFL Knows and Admits
17 Jun 07
We interrupt the normal post game review write up to bring you this....
For the longest time AFL fans around the league have cried out in anger and frustration about the apparent short comings of AFL officiating. While largely dismissed as sour grapes enough complaints were voiced to spur this comment by Arenafootball.com hack Nathan Boudreaux
I think I've heard too much whining from fans (on numerous message boards) about the officiating in the AFL. First of all, the men in stripes are some of the best in the business. A quick look at their resume includes officials from nearly every big college conference along with guys from NFL Europe. The officials in the AFL are hired and trained by the NFL. The AFL game is quicker and faster than the outdoor game, and in my opinion much more difficult to officiate.
Difficult perhaps but impossible to do with a meausre of consistent competence? Apparently so.
For the game between the Soul and Destroyers at the Wachovia center last night PoS had a photographer take snapshots of the line play throughout the game. Now before you look at the photos know that there were no holding calls on linemen from either team. However all/part of the offsetting penalties called near the end of the first quarter may have been line holding. We readily admit holding occurs often on the line and only the most blatant holds are called. That is unless you are a linesman or line judge in the AFL.
A quick review of the definition of pass blocking. This outlines the method and should provide the parameters for holding calls.
Pass Blocking is the obstruction of an opponent by using any part of the body above the knees. During a legal Block, hands (open or closed) must be inside the blocker's elbows and can be thrust forward to contact an opponent if the contact is inside the frame of an opponent's body. A blocker's hands may not be thrust forward above the opponent's frame resulting in contact an opponent's neck, face, or head. The blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent in a way that restricts the opponent's movement as the play develops.
So, now that the how is established let's take a look at some game photos.
Here is a picture of Line Judge David Meslow. Please... don't do the "no wonder the calls never came his name is Me-Slow" type jokes.
In this photo the offical can clearly be seen directing his attention to the line play as his title would indicate. His duties are in fact the line play but there is no territorial segmentation of penalty calls. Any offical can call a penalty occuring anywhere on the field.
Now forgetting for a moment that there is clear evidence in the photo of illegal blocking, it is mainly to show who looks where during play.
So far so good. At least from a gaze relative direction standpoint.
Sadly the lack of recognition was not limited to the play shown in the image above.
The blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent
The blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent
The blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent
A blocker's hands may not be thrust forward above the opponent's frame resulting in contact an opponent's neck, face, or head.
It all seems a bit suspect doesn't it? How can any offical looking at the line play disregard so many blatant and recurring infractions?
The answer is actually a lot simpler than one might think. In the photo below see if you can determine the largest contributing factor to the non-calls. You can click the image for a larger view if needed.
Any ideas?
What the hell is Meslow looking at down field that could be more important than his assignment?
So there you have it, proof positive that line fouls are simply being ignored in the AFL. And before there is any uproar about making it look like Columbus was doing all the holding because this is a Soul site... save it. In the hundreds of photos reviewed there were few that showed Soul linemen performing manuevers as blatant as those shown above. And none clear enough to show both the act and the player. Not that it's any specific team or officiating crew. The point being the state of the officiating.
Here they are...
As an aside there is another rule in the AFL that prohibits an action that could result in a season, or even career, ending injury.
Tripping - Either (a) the use of the leg or foot in obstructing any opponent, including the ball carrier, below the knee...Penalty: Personal foul, 10-yards from the basic spot and automatic first down if the foul is on the defense.
So why do you suppose this wasn't called in either of the instances shown below?
So if Boudreaux is to be believed and these are the best people available for the job this league is screwed. Mike Piera, Director of NFL Officiating is also in charge of this group and it doesn't seem like he cares. So as long as Shrek the Commish is doing his best Paul Tagliabue impression and focusing solely on making the owners richer, the on-field product will continue to suffer.
