In den letzten Wochen konnte man sich des Eindrucks nicht erwehren, dass die Referees und das Officiating in der NFL auf einem sehr niedrigen Stand ist. Wer das Spiel Arizona @ San Fran gesehen hat, als man Minuten lang darüber diskutierte, welches Down jetzt als nächstes zu spielen ist, das abgepfiffene Play zwischen New England und Buffalo, als mitten im Pass die Pfeife aus unersichtlichen Grund ertönte oder die wöchentlichen Diskussionen über Catch/No-Catch verfolgt, der wird dem zustimmen.
Aber woran liegt das, dass es in den letzten Wochen so viele einfache Fehler gab? SI.com hat dem Ganzen einen lesenswerten Artikel gewidmet und dort einige der Gründe ausmachen können:
1. Viel Jugend - wenig Erfahrung.
In den letzten Jahren gab es einen großen Turnaround an Referees, die durch jüngere ersetzt wurden. Diesen fehlt aber die Erfahrung die hoch-komplexen und schnellen NFL-Games zu leiten. Erfahrung macht in diesem Job viel aus und das fehlt vielen der neuen Offiziellen.
It’s difficult to know the exact reasons so many officials have left the NFL over the past two seasons, but sources believed it's the combination of the NFL switching from a defined pension system to a 401(k) during the lockout (it starts in 2016, or when an official reaches 20 years of service), and also NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino’s desire to up the fitness level of officials after he took over at his current position in early 2013.
2. Dean Blandino
Der neue NFL VP of Officiating ersetzte 2012 Mike Pereira, aber ihm fehlt jegliche Erfahrung als NFL Referee.
All of Blandino’s predecessors (Art McNally, Jerry Seeman, Pereira and Johnson) had at least some on-field experience, and for most, it was extensive.Blandino is lauded for his work ethic, how much he cares about the on-field product and his proficiency with replay and associated technologies. But there seems to be a disconnect between Blandino and the game officials; they feel he knows the game via video, but he can’t relate to their job on the field because he’s never done it.
3. Command Center
Das NY Command Center leitet alle Reviews aller Spiele - damit soll eine einheitliche Regeleinhaltung erzielt werden. Jedoch:
Does anyone who has watched NFL games this season think there has been standardizing of the rules and their interpretations? When no one can agree on what is or isn’t a catch, I think you have your answer. And if anyone watched the Cardinals-49ers game and saw referee Pete Morelli spend three minutes and 47 seconds between first-quarter plays talking to those back in New York trying to figure out what down it was, no one would say the command center is functioning at a high rate towards the end of its second season.
Das Gegenteil scheint erreicht. Zudem
There is also a feeling in league circles that New York is so involved now in the games that the command center is in the officials’ heads, cluttering their minds and causing some of them to make calls knowing they have New York as a fail-safe. Otherwise, the officials would solely be focused on what was in front of them and dealing with issues as a crew
"New York wird's schon richten..."
Lösungsansätze?
Gibt es auch:
Hire more full-time officials
During his tenure, Pereira proposed to make all 17 head referees full-time employees, but it didn’t go anywhere. The NFL now has one full-time official (Johnson).I say, bring back Pereira’s proposal. Not only would it allow the head referee more time to hone his (or her) craft, but it would also give them time to personally bring others on their crews along. I’m sure an official like Steratore assists other members of his crew, but considering he also co-owns a supply company and is a Division I college basketball official, it's unlikely that the most popular sport in this country is getting all of the attention it should. Same goes for Pete Morelli, whose crew was just pulled from the Week 13 Sunday night game after several errors in Week 11's Monday night game. When he's not officiating NFL games, Morelli serves as the president of a high school. Perhaps the NFL should go to all full-time officials (if the league would even fund it) but the feeling is they would lose too many with experience to their higher-paying jobs.
In einer Liga, in der Spieler Hunderte von Millionen verdienen, sollte es selbstverständlich sein, dass die Referees ebenfalls vollzeit bezahlt werden und nicht noch irgendwelche Jobs unter der Woche leisten müssen. Während Spieler und Coaches sich eine Woche vorbereiten können, sind Referees meist hinter dem Ball, weil ihnen diese Zeit zur Einstellung und Vorbereitung fehlt. Sicher - auch Profis machen Fehler, wie man bei sämtlichen NFL-Spielern sehen kann, aber die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass eine Vollzeit-Crew die Qualität des Officiating anhebt, scheint mir eine logische Folgerung zu sein.
Everything needs to be looked at, from Blandino’s performance to the command center to performance reviews to how the NFL is identifying and training the next group of officials. If the NFL wants to get this right, it needs to get out of the group think in New York and convene the brightest ex-officials, people like Scott Green, Bill Carollo and Mike Pereira, and find out where improvement is needed and how best to do it.
Sicher - Menschen machen Fehler. Aber der NFL sollte daran gelegen sein, diese so weit wie möglich zu minimieren. Und aktuell hat man nicht das Gefühl - ganz im Gegenteil. Viel zu viele Spiele werden von falschen Entscheidungen beeinflusst.