More Bowl Misbehavior

[TXMike]

I will have the whole video later.  Incredible. 

[tx29]

It was a jerk move and handled appropriately by KS.

[TxJim]

Apparently there were additional ones to this. This guy's career in football should be over, if he ever had one.

[tx29]

I gagree. 

[TxJim]

There were two hits this coach committed on West Virginia players.  This is one of them. 

[TXMike]

I think the aTm machine is already out there working to dispel any notion that the guy ever was a "coach".   

[TxJim]

I think the aTm machine is already out there working to dispel any notion that the guy ever was a "coach".

Amazing spin control considering at 4:32 in the 2nd Qtr where he forcibly throws his shoulder into an out of bounds runner, that he's wearing the same tan pants and maroon jacket garb as the other Texas A&M coaches, is wearing a coach's headset, is in the coaching box, and wearing a coaching credential. He's a coach. A modern day Woody Hayes.

[Legacy Zebra]

He's a coach.

No he's not. He's a student assistant who played there but suffered a career ending injury.

[tx29]

Why is there always an assumption of conspiracy and cover-up?  People who do that are typically guilty of being shady and needing to cover up their mess. Sumlin did the right thing once presented the facts and very quickly I'd say.

[TxJim]

Why is there always an assumption of conspiracy and cover-up?  People who do that are typically guilty of being shady and needing to cover up their mess. Sumlin did the right thing once presented the facts and very quickly I'd say.

No way will this be covered up. Fact is, we haven't seen this vicious a hit since Woody Hayes.
It's not worthy of going away easily because it's so reprehensible and unsportsmanlike.  Although not to the same level, but we heard a lot of the same nonsense from Penn State fans a few years back. Sorry, but A&M deserves a huge black eye that lasts a while for this one.

[TXMike]

I would not want to paint all A & M with the brush wielded by this one dumarse.  That being said..there was a bunch of other stuff by players in 1st half (have not had a chance to review 2d half yet) that was FAR from what A & M used to be known for. 

The broadcast video of both incidents :  http://youtu.be/NJMbax31jXA

Fox story :  http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/story/texas-a-m-aggies-west-virginia-mountaineers-liberty-bowl-student-coach-sidelined-after-punching-wvu-player-122914

[JasonTX]

If you have a headset on and holding a clipboard, I'm calling that a coach.  Notice how he keeps his head toward the officials when he hits the player in the head.  Making sure nobody his watching before he strikes him.

[Rulesman]

Some not-very-good dead ball officiating. Who's watching the bench area when there are mixed jerseys in there?

[TXMike]

I thought maybe the F was occupied with some other action but he would have been looking up in this area anyway as the play ended so not sure what took his attention away.  The L was getting a new ball but even he would have had a glance at it in his far vision as he was looking that direction.

[JasonTX]

I thought maybe the F was occupied with some other action but he would have been looking up in this area anyway as the play ended so not sure what took his attention away.  The L was getting a new ball but even he would have had a glance at it in his far vision as he was looking that direction.

  Getting a new ball seems to be a big reason on why we miss these types of acts.  Finish officiating and then worry about the ball.

[Williams]

For what it's worth, read later on that it was a student assistant, and he was told to stay in the locker room for the 2nd half.

[Rulesman]

Getting a new ball seems to be a big reason on why we miss these types of acts.  Finish officiating and then worry about the ball.

Agree 100%! As an NCAA observer/evaluator, I see this often and blame it on the 40 second play clock and the dictate to get the ball on the ground and RFP within 10-12 seconds, or quicker. By focusing on that, we're not as good at dead ball officiating as we should be.

[AlUpstateNY]

Some not-very-good dead ball officiating. Who's watching the bench area when there are mixed jerseys in there?

It's not about "who's watching" as much as it is about " who needs to be watched".  There is simply WAY TOO MUCH nonsense (comments, jawing, pushing, shoving) going on in the team area and being tolerated and excused.  "Shut your mouth and play the game" may be an old idea, but it still works a lot better than players, coaches and other attendees apparently feeling obligated to mouth off and express their "feelings". 

Official's focus is what's happening in front of them, when those lurking behind want to be sneaky, act like jerks and take cheap shots (either verbally or physically) they are likely going to get away with most of it, unless the ADULTS supervising them (and before that their parents) have taught them how to behave in public.

Character is how you behave WHEN NOBODY IS WATCHING.

[dvasques]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000451932/article/texas-am-fires-student-assistant-who-hit-wvu-players

[Rulesman]

It's not about "who's watching" as much as it is about " who needs to be watched". 

If you've got 8 guys out there and nobody is watching, or watching with willful blindness, then you have 8 guys who don't need to be out there.

[blindref757]

If you've got 8 guys out there and nobody is watching, or watching with willful blindness, then you have 8 guys who don't need to be out there.

Sorry in advance for the rambling...its early and I'm having trouble linking my thoughts this mornin!

I don't think judging the officials in this situation is a fair fight when it goes into the sideline area.  You now have 60 guys to watch and only about 3-4 who can see anything in there.  Additionally, (re: the 2nd punch to the head play), there is an expectation of common decency that we (rightfully) assume comes with a contest.  We've all seen that defender slowly back into the team area without incident a million times.  If we are nearing the day where there isn't at least a small granule of respect for an opponent, we need to not be playing the contest at all. 

This coach is a sorry excuse for a human.  He needs help and his consequences for this event should be that he never be placed in position to influence or lead others until he gets that help and shows evidence of a changed heart.  His twitter profile shows him to be a believer (not my place to judge)...but God has a lot of work to do on his character (John 13:35). 

I don't think we need to make wholesale changes to what we do over this.  The NCAA needs to send a message that this will not be tolerated.  It essentially cost Woody Hayes his career...a man that Tom Landry said was the greatest PERSON he ever knew.  Sometimes emotions run high and weakness inside of people cause them to snap. 

With all that, this crew did seem to be in over their heads the whole day and maybe they didn't need to be out there.  And I'm sure their evaluation will reflect that...not to mention that their butts are probably still sore from the chewing (if they have any left).  But they have achieved far greater than I will ever...and for that they have my respect.  I would bet that several of them have forgotten more about football rules than I'll ever know!  It always is disappointing to see a crew of my brothers struggle on the field because I know how much it takes to be out there. 

[Etref]

 

[Rulesman]

I don't think judging the officials in this situation is a fair fight when it goes into the sideline area. 

So I'll then go back to my original question. If dead ball officiating in the bench area is not the responsibility of the 8 on the field, WHO is responsible for policing that area? Giving the crew a pass is not acceptable IMO.

[TXMike]

You would like to think coaches would take care of it but this proves they will not do that so itbis on is.  As so someone already commented....our spidey sense needs to be engaged especially when players are in each other team areas. 

[Etref]

We definitely do need to be aware and police it better. In this case you had the U, deep wing and possibly R looking there for sure