Referee Hackett tackles Gamecock QB Garcia.
Monday, October 20th, 2008My brother-in-law forwarded this video to me. I could not believe what I was seeing and at first was trying to find evidence of this being one of those viral videos. No, apparently, this really happened during the college football game between University of South Carolina and Louisiana State University on October 18th, 2008. How crazy does this look?
Admittedly, I think some angles make it look worse than it is. For example, the camera angle actually on the field in slow-motion does undoubtedly make it look like the referee pushed himself toward Garcia. The normal TV camera doesn’t make it look as bad. In the end, I think it’s all about the referee’s position as an umpire. According to wikipedia:
The umpire (U) stands behind the defensive line and linebackers, observing the blocks by the offensive line and defenders trying to ward off those blocks — looking for holding or illegal blocks. Prior to the snap, he counts all offensive players. … As the umpire is situated where much of the play’s initial action occurs, he is considered by many to hold the most dangerous officiating position.
So according to that definition of an umpire, it looks like Hackett is out of position but on the other hand it could have been because he thought the play was developing to his left and stepped to the right and didn’t realize that Garcia would counter the run to his side. On that same token though, this is not the first time I’ve seen a run that was originally supposed to develop to one side and instead the running back or quarterback tries to make an adhoc play of its own. Anyway, I’m a huge football fan and it’s the first time I’ve seen this type of thing happening except for in this Buffalo Wild Wing commercial.
