Big 12 Officiating - Where Has it Gone?

For the Regular Viewers/Readers here at Anything at Anytime, I apologize because today I am Posting a Rant about the Officiating of a game I Love, and find to be a foundation of growth for our kids in the future.

You all already know that I am a Sports Fan (specifically College Sports (College Football above all others).

On Saturday, October 30th, I was doing my usual thing (being Lazy with College Football on the Boob Tube) kicking back and Nothing but Football all day.  I watched some good games and some bad games and then got to catch the Baylor Bears -VS- Texas Longhorns.

The Officiating in this game was SO BAD that I actually went to the Big 12 Conference website and sent a Message to the Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe and informed him (or his representative that reads that message) that I was going to Post about the Poor/Lack luster Officiating of the Big 12 Conference.

So it is out there and forefront, I am a full blooded, whole hearted Nebraska Cornhuskers Fan.  I am then a Fan of the Big 12.  If my Team is not doing well I have always pulled for the Best Big 12 Team of the time.  It didn't matter if it was the Dreaded Sooners (my Dad's Favorite) or the Texas Longhorns (my youngest Daughter's Favorite), I always pulled for the Big 12 Team to show/perform well if not WIN!

Sports as a whole (meaning any sport at any single moment) swings on momentum and Big Plays.  If an underdog can catch a "favorite" at just the right moment the underdog turns into a "PIT BULL" - Latches on and doesn't let go.  Momentum and Big Plays change the Landscape in a heartbeat in sports.

As most Fans of any sport will tell you, there are moments where the people (and yes they are people, human just like us) officiating games make mistakes.  Take for example the BLOWN Perfect Game call during the MLB season where the Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers lost a Perfect Game because the 1st Base Umpire Blew an easy call (View my Post on that here).

Right now I am focusing on Football, but these things happen in all Sports: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, the list goes on and on.  Mistakes by officials happen.  They are a part of the game.

As a Big 12 Fan, even with my Huskers leaving the Conference, I am disappointed in the officiating that is taking place this year in Conference games.  It is part of the game with a few minor missed calls.  It is part of the game that one team may catch the benefit of more calls than the other team.
It is Truly Horrendous when Blown calls and Favoritism are so visible that even fans of the Benefiting team comment and can't believe that those calls have been made.

The Baylor -Vs- Texas game has set a disparaging precedent for Piss Poor Quality in Officiating.  Texas, the Darling Team of Commissioner Dan Beebe, has been the benefactor of multiple officiating Gaffes in conference play several times this year (bad part about that is that Texas isn't good enough to take advantage of the beneficial calls they are receiving).

For those of you that don't know Football (American Football) I apologize again that you are having to read this or even have to try and figure out exactly what I am writing about.

What started this?

In the Second Quarter of the Baylor -Vs- Texas game, Baylor punted the ball to Texas.  Simple enough, guy kicks the ball and the other team is to receive it and run with it as far as they can and their team starts at that point with the ball.  Now, here is where it gets difficult to follow or could be confusing for those that don't know Football, when a receiving player catches the ball in the end zone they can kneel down and not "return" the ball and it is called a touch back and that team gets the ball on their 20 yard line.  If that player catches the ball in the regular field of play and fumbles the ball in the field of play they can not regain possession and run into the end zone trying to create space to make a play and then get downed or tackled in the end zone - that is known as a Safety and awards the opposing team 2 points and gets the ball back via what is known as a free kick.  That is what took place in this situation.
Baylor punted to Texas, the Texas player caught the ball at about the 5 yard line, turned to make a "football move" and then fumbled the ball.  He then recovered his fumble ran into the end zone to create "space" and ended up down in the end zone.  Safety - Right?  Wrong!  According to the Officiating crew and the Review crew the Texas player did not have Possession and in that scenario was downing the ball in the end zone as a Touch back.
If you go back and look at the play, which I did on the DVR several times to see what where and how they could have made that call, there is NO way that the player did not have possession on the initial catch of the punt.



Then you factor in missed face mask calls against Texas, various holding calls, a few missed false starts, a call or two with not enough men on the line of scrimmage and Texas is still in the game.  This is just one game from this week.

Look at last week.  Missed calls last week in the Oklahoma -Vs- Missouri helped Missouri pull out a win against Oklahoma.  There were late hits, helmet to helmets, a couple of face-masks (not sure if one or two words so I hyphenated).  Again, as I said earlier, missed calls are part of the game, the ones I just mentioned are Injury causing calls that could result in serious Injury to either player - more so the player receiving the hit or face-mask.

Football in general is a Bruising Sport.
Big hits, missed calls are a part of the game that all of us that have played it sometime in our lives take as a given.  All Levels of the sport understand that but have been taking measures to try and improve the safety of all players, meaning if it is questionable and could cause MAJOR harm a "Foul"/penalty is to be called.  The Big 12 officials and their Overseer Commissioner Dan Beebe apparently have missed that boat especially when it benefits the Darling child of the Conference.

If, just if, you question that I am being to difficult on the Officiating of the Big 12 Conference go to ESPN.go.com and view the NCAA football pages.  Go to the game discussions for the Big 12 Conference and see what the Fans are saying about the Officiating in the Conference.  Then go compare the comments about Officiating in any of the other conferences.  The Big 12 Officiating takes the cake and from what I have seen all season the only Conference Officiating that is near the poor quality is the WAC and they are heavily lopsided towards Boise State.

Of all the major and mid-major conferences - I would have to rate the Big 12 Officiating at the BOTTOM of the Pile.  I am not a professional analyst for Sports Officiating.  I have Officiated in my past for various Basketball and Baseball games (Jr High, High School, and Independent Leagues), I have played just about all the major sports at one point or another in my life and yes, I have benefited from missed or questionable calls, Again a Part of the Game.

The Problem here is that when you have Poor Officiating Week in and Week out in relatively BLATANT view for all to see, it creates very Dangerous repercussions that could result in Major Injuries, Poor Sportsmanship, and Deliberate "Fouls".  Eventually what happens is the Officiating Looses its control.  The team (or should I say Players) suffering the calls will tend to say "If I am going to get penalized, I might as well make it worth it!"  That is not the right attitude but it does and can happen.

Is that what we want our kids, our future generations to think and act upon?  The Big 12 Conference is a very Visible Conference that is seen almost Day in and Day out on various networks covering multiple sports setting examples for our children.  Poor Officiating breeds serious lack of Control!  If your Officiating is so bad the players (not intending to but by human nature) start taking chances that could result in Disastrous repercussions, you should take steps to correct this for future games and seasons.  The Fault is not the players or the Teams (yes, they do have a responsibility to adhere to the rules) alone.  The Officiating must be Fair and UNBIASED (Poor Officiating creates Safety and Rule adherence issues).  Please, Set a Precedent of Safety and fair judgement.


Commissioner Dan Beebe of the Big 12 Conference,


Put an End to Piss Poor Favoritism Officiating!  Fine them, Suspend them, or Even FIRE them or Relinquish your Position as Commissioner if you Don't want to Police your Officiating like you should.  You Sir are the final say for your Conference.  Make things fair and Consistent it will insure that the Conference is respected and safe for the Players (of any Sport) that essentially provide the money for your Salary.

I LOVE good games.  Games where both teams put it on the field of competition and lay it all on the line are in their own way a form of art.  The Heart shown by teams/games that you KNOW you just saw something special is what Sports is supposed to be about.  

Allowing Officiating to interfere in Fair play is a Disservice to the Sport, the game, the teams involved, and the Fans (not just of the teams but of the Game).  

Rules are in place that if a Player goes beyond the rules/breaks the rules in such a manner as to be termed egregious, that Player could miss out the remainder of that game as well as be suspended from other games. Why can that same Rule not be applied to the Officials (on the field or in the review booth) in similar fashion?

Review your Officials Harshly because they are the Upfront face of your/our Conference. 

In the Message I sent you at the Big12sports.com site (the main Big 12 Conference Website) I told you that I would not want your officials officiating my daughter's Volleyball games and those are Jr. High games.  I would not feel that my daughters would be safe with your Officiating Crews.  


Officials provide our kids, the ones in your Conference and the ones that will eventually go to your conference, an example of Rules, Sportsmanship, and Fairness.  If, If You can not insure that your Officiating Crews provide Fair and Unbiased rulings on the field of play you should step down and allow someone that will make that a priority to take your place and do the Right Thing, for the Conference and Our Children.


Danny N. Winfield Jr.


I will be completely fair, If Commissioner Dan Beebe or his Representative desire to make a rebuttal post I would readily Post it exactly as written so that the Big 12 and Commissioner Beebe can defend its/their  definition of fair play, the Officiating crews of the Big 12 and How the Big 12 Officiating crews are instructed to interpret the rules of the game.