Watching the final few minutes of the Rider-RedBlacks game I am very puzzled by what is defined as pass interference.  On the Riders drive for a field goal, it appears the Ottawa defender did not interfere with the Saskatchewan player in any way (appeared to be some hand jostling) and the Rider player flopped to the ground after the uncatchable ball was thrown past him.  Flag thrown.  Ottawa challenges and the ruling stands.

When Ottawa gets the ball back, on second down the QB throws the ball and both in regular time and slow motion you can clearly see the Ottawa receiver being pushed by the Saskatchewan defender while he is attempting to adjust to the flight off the ball.  The Saskatchewan defender does not even attempt to look back at the ball in the air and clearly makes contact with the receiver well before the ball has arrived.  What makes this especially egregious is that it happens right in front of the official.  Not sure why the play was not challenged but is was clearly interference.

Saskatchewan can thank the officials for two terrible calls that directly determined the outcome of the game in their favour.  What the hell is pass interference anyways?

Might as well ask around on the street......because the officials certainly have no idea.....

Honestly. I don't think any of us know. I think its impossible for us to know when it's pretty obvious the refs don't even know 

Add offsides, roughing the passer, holding and, in this game, unsportsmanlike conduct and you have the same question cfl fans have been asking for years!

I find I can't give you a reasonable explanation, or even an unreasonable explanation. Clearly, it's become unclear as to what the hell is going on...

Is it becoming unreasonable to get, what used to be, an easy call to make?

 

CFL keeps changing the rules. It used to be an easy no brainer call 95% of the time. Now, it's different everytime.

That wasn't PI on the last-minute deep pass by Ottawa.  The Ottawa receiver didn't even complain.  It was just a badly thrown ball.  As for what PI is, it depends on what referees are on the field.  PI changes from game to game, with no consistency.

I just don't see how either of those balls were 'catchable'...  or if they were, then both should have been PI

30 minutes ago, gcdrought said:

That wasn't PI on the last-minute deep pass by Ottawa.  The Ottawa receiver didn't even complain.  It was just a badly thrown ball.  As for what PI is, it depends on what referees are on the field.  PI changes from game to game, with no consistency.

The receiver was pushed well before the ball arrived.  He could have changed his path to catch the ball as he was doing but was ultimately prevented from doing so because of the push from the Rider defender.

 

How was that pi on Ottawa - a flop by the way - legit when the ball could not be caught either?

Edited July 23, 20169 yr by blueandgoldguy

Yup, I noticed the same thing on those two calls. At worst the first one was not even close to being pass interference...at best the first one should not have been called and the second should have. It seems the refs really wanted to have the Riders win this one (I have no other logical explanation).

The issue unfortunately isn't the rules or how they're written. They aren't complicated and it's not rocket science. It's just poor officials who are not capable of CONSISTENTLY enforcing the rules as they are written. 

24 minutes ago, gcdrought said:

That wasn't PI on the last-minute deep pass by Ottawa.  The Ottawa receiver didn't even complain.  It was just a badly thrown ball.  As for what PI is, it depends on what referees are on the field.  PI changes from game to game, with no consistency.

On this play?

You've got to be kidding..

https://twitter.com/failedprotostar/status/756704892299931648

 

16 minutes ago, blueandgoldguy said:

The receiver was pushed well before the ball arrived.  He could have changed his path to catch the ball as he was doing but was ultimately prevented from doing do because of the push from the Rider defender.

 

How was that pi on Ottawa - a flop by the way - legit when the ball could not be caught either?

The receiver didn't complain and Rick Campbell didn't complain.  I get you hated Saskatchewan winning, but your bias is showing through on the Ottawa pass.  It wasn't PI.   I agree the call on the Saskatchewan pass was questionable.  It didn't look like the ball was catchable.  But we never were shown a closeup of the play, so it's tough to be certain.  But on that one, I agree it looked like a real ticky-tack call.

If the one got called pi the one where the rider player actually prevented the Redblacks receiver from going for the ball should have been. They either both are or aren't. Campbell couldn't complain.... he was out of challenges 

Edited July 23, 20169 yr by Goalie

4 minutes ago, gcdrought said:

The receiver didn't complain and Rick Campbell didn't complain.  I get you hated Saskatchewan winning, but your bias is showing through on the Ottawa pass.  It wasn't PI.   I agree the call on the Saskatchewan pass was questionable.  It didn't look like the ball was catchable.  But we never were shown a closeup of the play, so it's tough to be certain.  But on that one, I agree it looked like a real ticky-tack call.

Ah, so with your comments and your troll-like name of gcdrought I think it is rather obvious you are a Rider fan.  If anyone's bias is showing it is your's with comments that the ball wasn't catchable for the Ottawa receiver, but the pi on Ottawa was questionable.  There was nothing questionable about it - that pass by Gale was not pi and the Rider receiver flopped like a fish.

Props to craps for making a long field goal though.

When a pass receiver feels he has been interfered with he pleads his case, especially in the last minute of a game.  The HC also would go ballistic, whether he had a challenge left or not.  There was a push, but the ball wasn't catchable and Williams and Campbell knew it.  You can't have it both ways, feeling it was not PI on Ottawa because the SK pass wasn't catchable, and then ignoring that the Ottawa pass was not catchable either.   We'll agree to disagree on this one.

Edited July 23, 20169 yr by gcdrought

40 minutes ago, Mr. Perfect said:

The issue unfortunately isn't the rules or how they're written. They aren't complicated and it's not rocket science. It's just poor officials who are not capable of CONSISTENTLY enforcing the rules as they are written. 

The perfect post.  100% agree. 

good coverage is PI these days. Lookin at the wr? thats a PI. thinkin bout hittin the wr? thats a pi. get pushed off by the wr? oh you bet thats a PI.

The whole catchable ball thing does not exist. It's not in the rule book and never is used by an official.

Well, the watchable game rule is not in the rule books either, but the officials are heavily involved with that..?

That was one horrid PI call that put the riders in a position to kick the winning field goal...If that was pass interference, then any reception made by any receiver with a db close at hand, should be under 'review' and viewed as such..That was not pass interference....On the other hand, the helmet to helmet on the Redblack qb. was correct, BUT the same type of helmet to helmet on Gale was reviewed and found to be alright?????...The phantom PI call, that pretty much decided the game was a bloody joke, and makes this league look bush.  WOW that 'eye in the sky bull$hit sure is working

Edited July 23, 20169 yr by Stickem

The game could have gone either way, but that call sure made me wonder if  someone was spoken to to give the Rider fans a thrill.

Quote

The whole catchable ball thing does not exist. It's not in the rule book and never is used by an official.

I was curious on the uncatchable aspect in pass interference and found that in the NFL, they state - "Pass interference can only be called if the player could reasonable have made a play on the ball."

I'm not about to read the CFL rule book because my mind will bend even more, but I thought it was the same in Canada. Then, I found this:

"If the pass is deemed to be "uncatchable", pass interference rules do not apply in American college football or the NFL, and starting with the 2010 season they do not apply in Canada." Wikipedia.

This is how I now thought it to be. 

Soooo, i thought I would ask a minor league official -

*****  just a quick question on your understanding of "uncatchable ball" in regards to pass interference. Is there consideration given to that aspect from a referee's viewpoint or no such thing? Have you ever been informed of such?

response - Yeah, we talk about that. Ultimately it's a judgement call, which is why I much prefer refs who have played. Players likes to say "don't tell me what I could or could not have caught" after being interfered with, so close calls tend toward being catchable more often than not, but ultimately, judgement call, thus highly debatable. 

 

On 7/22/2016 at 11:26 PM, blueandgoldguy said:

Watching the final few minutes of the Rider-RedBlacks game I am very puzzled by what is defined as pass interference.  On the Riders drive for a field goal, it appears the Ottawa defender did not interfere with the Saskatchewan player in any way (appeared to be some hand jostling) and the Rider player flopped to the ground after the uncatchable ball was thrown past him.  Flag thrown.  Ottawa challenges and the ruling stands.

When Ottawa gets the ball back, on second down the QB throws the ball and both in regular time and slow motion you can clearly see the Ottawa receiver being pushed by the Saskatchewan defender while he is attempting to adjust to the flight off the ball.  The Saskatchewan defender does not even attempt to look back at the ball in the air and clearly makes contact with the receiver well before the ball has arrived.  What makes this especially egregious is that it happens right in front of the official.  Not sure why the play was not challenged but is was clearly interference.

Saskatchewan can thank the officials for two terrible calls that directly determined the outcome of the game in their favour.  What the hell is pass interference anyways?

With all the whining going on at Riderfans, I felt it pertinent to dig up this thread.  Led by the lead Admin, Rider_Stronson, there have been talks  over there of conspiracies, scams, incompetence, the worst reffed game in history all against the Riders because of a ticky-tack PI call on Cox late in the game.  It's funny that the Rider fans conveniently forget that the primary reason for their sole victory this season was due to a ticky-tack call on the Ottawa defender late in the game several weeks ago PLUS a questionable non-call on the Saskatchewan defender as I described above.  See evidence of the play below... 

On 7/23/2016 at 0:05 AM, Mr Dee said:

 

https://twitter.com/failedprotostar/status/756704892299931648

 

But continue on with the never-ending conspiracies of how the league is out to get the Riders and how they never benefit from questionable calls. This train of thought is contradicted by the above video evidence.  In the end, bad or questionable calls tend to balance out over the course of a season for each team, including the Riders.

 

If I don't see any responses from Rider fans I will assume you will agree with me.

Edited September 5, 20169 yr by blueandgoldguy