After decades of working in high school and college athletics, I’ve met many referees, umpires and officials. The overwhelming majority work very hard and try to make calls correctly. They do so, incredibly, most of the time. We quickly forget the good calls but we certainly recall the glaring mistakes, especially when they cost ballgames.
It seems that when officials mess up, they really, really, really mess up. It happened in Saturday’s college football game between heavily-favored Brigham Young and underdog Washington. Washington scored with two seconds left in the game to Washington within a point of BYU, 28-27. Now all they needed was the tying extra point to send the game into overtime.
However, a Washington player, according to an official (whether or not he is a Mormon is unknown) crossed the line in celebrating the touchdown. The football slipped out of his hands, an action determined to be throwing the ball into the air. A 15-yard yard penalty was assessed on the extra point that was subsequently blocked. Game over.
Here was a case of an official not letting the players on the field decide the game. He literally gave the game to BYU. That’s wrong.
Here are the details for you to make the call.
UPDATE: Watch the final seconds, and then read a great column belittling the official's call.
