Now this strikes me as an excellent idea.
The Canadian Football League has taken a step to use technology in order to limit the number of officiating mistakes in its games, and they won’t be the last. The CFL announced last week it has added a video official to each of its crews to address “obvious mistakes” missed by the officials on the field and not covered by replay challenges.
The change makes the CFL the first North American sports league to do so. The video official will be located in the CFL’s central command center in Toronto, much like how the NBA handles its replay system.
A real-time example, as cited by CBC Sports:
The CFL will add a video official to address obvious errors not covered by replay challenges, such as when both the offense and defense enter the neutral zone before the snap. In that case, the replay official could examine the play and tell the referee which team jumped first.
“Expanding what can be reviewed will not result in a slower game because coaches are not being provided with additional reviews per game,” CFL senior vice president of football Glen Johnson, the CFL’s senior vice president of football said in a statement. “In fact, we’re looking to reduce the number of delays and the number of penalties, while improving the quality of the game and protecting the health of our players.”
Unfortunately, I don’t see the SEC taking up the CFL’s banner here, because it would cost money. Or because its officials don’t ever make obvious mistakes. Take your pick.
Get The Picture 
They all know officials make mistakes, but by now it is considered SEC tradition–kind of like that 15yrd penalty for Georgia being Georgia. Classic call. Who wants to mess with tradition?
Which makes me wonder if Wagers would call the game the same way he did when Richt was at the helm. You would have to be a cold blooded revenge minded dude to do that. Wait, I just answered my own question…
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Yes you did. Plus a whole bunch.
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Considering how many CFL players sprint toward the LOS before, during, and after the snap, it’s easy to see why they need an extra Canuck just to enforce things.
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As if I would trust a SEC official to get a call correct even if he was looking at a slow motion replay. They would just use this as a way to keep the score close to keep viewers hooked on the screen or protect the bowl seatings.
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The linchpin of this would be the communications. I think it would be easier and cheaper to just make the Video Review Official the crew chief. He is looking at every play anyway. The referee has a headset and buzzer as does every member of the crew. If the Video official sees anything wrong he just buzzes the referee and tells him to throw a flag. The Referee then tells the coaches and crowd what the penalty is and that it was called by the Video Official. No long review at all. If an on field official throws a flag for ANY penalty and the Video official knows that the call was awful, let’s say a flag for a phantom offsides on an onside kick, he buzzes and tells the referee to pick up the flag and wave off the penalty. They don’t discuss it, review it or have a circle jerk, they wave it off. There are too many camera’s and too many fans that can see these mistakes and also see the on field officials not talking to each other even with the headsets. Officials are like politicians they will cover up a mistake given any opportunity and the system gives them plenty of opportunity.
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The SEC would never use this because the replay official may actually call a penalty on the Alabama offensive line more than once per season. Nick Saban doesn’t have time for that s—.
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This is a game. It aint life. Mistakes happen. Perfection is great in the products we buy for consumption, but a game? Come on!
This PC shit is getting to me.
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Officials in the Vandy/UGA game last year called a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Leonard Floyd because they got the freaking Vandy/UGA jerseys mixed up. Human error is human error; SEC officiating is something else entirely.
What does “PC” have to do with anything other than a generic catch-all for stuff you don’t like?
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Yes, I want officials to get the calls right. How in the world is expecting people to do their jobs properly “PC”?
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while improving the quality of the game and protecting the health of our players.” PC
I was at that game and agree with you about the call. It sucked, but replay did not reverse it. Lets have MORE!
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Protecting the health of players is PC? You lost me there.
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Would the rule overturn this:
http://thebiglead.com/2013/11/16/mark-richt-lost-control-of-himself-was-called-for-a-personal-foul-penalty/
I mean replay would surely get the call correct? Wouldn’t it?
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