According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

" doesn't currently plan on publicly acknowledging the mistake or the punishment."

This report is so opaque it reeks of corruption. Is our resident clown Knowlton going to have anything to say about this?

Ha Ha
He'll be promoted later when we've stopped caring...cause that's the way things roll.

Here's Marshall's retweet on this from the insider board and I'll repeat what I said there.

Good for Marshall.

Ref suffered a "lapse of concentration" according to the conference officials.

Which is BS.

A "lapse of concentration" would mean you missed something that actually happened. It does not mean you invent things happening that did not. If you aren't concentrating that doesn't mean you start hallucinating.

This was corruption and fraud. And we'll never be made whole from it but a public statement would have been nice. We did push very hard for that.

Shouldn’t ref another game this year

— Marshall Cherrington (@MWCherrington) September 24, 2022

May I cite Occam's Razor.

The ref - why has he not been named (or maybe missed) - had a financial interest in Notre Dame covering.

Not clear at all why AD would accept no public acknowledgment but with Knowlton everything is about incompetence.

The Notre Dame game was illegitimate.

And this certainly isn't enough.

Does our Athletic Department accept this as final??

Why do we think so highly of our program when clearly the people who work there don't.

The reality is that penalties should be reviewable. The idea that certain things can't be reviewed isn't logical. The goal should be to get calls correct, full stop. Fix the root of the issue. Suspending refs doesn't do much

chunkybear said:

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The reality is that penalties should be reviewable. The idea that certain things can't be reviewed isn't logical. The goal should be to get calls correct, full stop. Fix the root of the issue. Suspending refs doesn't do much

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College lags a bit but probably expecting a challenge flag option like in the NFL for these sorts of things soon.

I don't get this. You make mistakes MISSING calls, not making calls. This was an overt act to change the game. The Side Judge should be banned permanently. Gonna need a video of him before and during the flag drop. This stinks.

MilleniaBear said:

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I don't get this. You make mistakes MISSING calls, not making calls. This was an overt act to change the game. The Side Judge should be banned permanently. Gonna need a video of him before and during the flag drop. This stinks.

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Indeed. Lapse of concentration my eye. It was fraud.

Every commercial break watching this game was, your friends in New York, Chicago, and most of the rest of the country can gamble on sporting events. But in California you can't. Vote yes on prop27.

While this officiating was happening.

That is probably not what happened here. The game was going slow. Defensive slug fest. Kinda boring to a third party. Game started with like 8 3 and outs. They were probably just trying to increase scoring opportunities and unstick the game to make it more interesting. Execs aren't interested in paying 1 billion a year for games only interesting to alumni of the teams playing. They want scoring and excitement.

And I fear what happens when a spot in the playoffs means what, a hundred million dollars for the conference that is in charge of paying their refs? Cal about to upset Stanford and knock them out of the playoffs? But wait! Offsides negates the winning play and oh no cal loses!

But it was a giant warning sign of what could come with regards to sports gambling. There are a lot of collegiate games happening every week, and a lot of refs officiating them. The NBA already had a huge scandal in sports betting by officials, and it would be far harder to manage at the collegiate level with so many more parties involved.

Doing a proper public investigation into how and why this call was made could have gone a long way towards transparency for the fans, and a warning to future officials not to do so.

Or maybe it's better to just sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen (like the NBA did), and maintain that option going forward.


I mean....this is probably all just tin foil hat talk. Right? Money never corrupts anything...

The call made zero sense but it's not the only reason we lost the game. If it was the turning point in the game, I blame Wilcox for letting that happen. You can't let your team unravel because a few calls goes against you. ND isn't a world beater and we absolutely should have played well enough to win that game but we didn't.

It's time to move on as there is nothing we can do to change the outcome of the ND game. We have 9 regular season games ahead of us which Wilcox and the team can do something about.

Unless this guy is a closet Notre Dame fan, this goes WAY deeper than one official making a bad call.

calbearsfan said:

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According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

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Well, at least they admitted they made a mistake…

VolunteerReverie said:

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calbearsfan said:

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According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

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Well, at least they admitted they made a mistake…

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You don't suspend an official for making a mistake. Mistakes happen all the time.

Gross incompetence is something you are fired for....not suspended for.

Just saying.

I think Hanlon's Razor is more appropriae.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

MilleniaBear said:

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I don't get this. You make mistakes MISSING calls, not making calls. This was an overt act to change the game. The Side Judge should be banned permanently. Gonna need a video of him before and during the flag drop. This stinks.

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Someone needs to check this officials BANK ACCOUNT from here on out.

Im serious.

Maybe, with all this new-found time on his hands, the ref will have a lapse in concentration and go pick up his gambling winnings.

Someone needs to inform ESPN so it at least is mentioned in their quick news section

calbearsfan said:

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According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

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He should be investigated, personally, by the Pac12 and Cal. "BuT iTs ThE aCc!" Organizations can investigate and collect evidence outside of official jurisdiction.

No one makes that call that didn't get bribed, and that's criminal. Money doesn't hide well for people like that.

bluehenbear said:

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I think Hanlon's Razor is more appropriae.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

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Not on a call like this. Maybe on a no-call

I would check his bank account, I bet you find a check from NBC.....

Notre Dame Broadcasting Company. It's all about the money. Oh, and greedy.

ND beat NC scoring 45 points, with Payne throwing 290 yards

VolunteerReverie said:

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calbearsfan said:

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According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

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Well, at least they admitted they made a mistake…

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They haven't though. No official word from the ACC about the suspension.

Unit2Sucks said:

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The call made zero sense but it's not the only reason we lost the game. If it was the turning point in the game, I blame Wilcox for letting that happen. You can't let your team unravel because a few calls goes against you. ND isn't a world beater and we absolutely should have played well enough to win that game but we didn't.

It's time to move on as there is nothing we can do to change the outcome of the ND game. We have 9 regular season games ahead of us which Wilcox and the team can do something about.

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It was in the second quarter so still most of the game left. Yes the teams would've played a lot differently without that TD. But it turned out to be a seven point gift in a game won by seven. This isn't arguing about a nonce in a 40 point blowout loss.

Trumpanzee said:

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I would check his bank account, I bet you find a check from NBC.....

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These things are done with cash in paper bags and coffee cups

SmellinRoses said:

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May I cite Occam's Razor.

The ref - why has he not been named (or maybe missed) - had a financial interest in Notre Dame covering.

Not clear at all why AD would accept no public acknowledgment but with Knowlton everything is about incompetence.

The Notre Dame game was illegitimate.

And this certainly isn't enough.

Does our Athletic Department accept this as final??

Why do we think so highly of our program when clearly the people who work there don't.

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The "offside" call wasn't made by just the Line Judge. Sure, he threw the flag & took the fall, but there was a full crew of officials who DIDN'T

• See that there was no movement;
• Notice that the flag was late;
• Ask for a conference to say, "Are you SURE??"
• Question the awarding of a 1st down, or even ask for a measurement.

The Referee just validated the "offside" call, without question, and gave ND the 1st down without a measurement.

It's either the Line Judge's hallucination, or it's foul play.

Assuming it's foul play, it's not just the Line Judge; it's the entire crew, especially the Referee. The Head Linesman, on the other side of the field, at the LOS, also had a clear view straight down the line, and could see that no one was lined up offside, and no one jumped offside. When his counterpart on the other side of the field threw the late flag, the Head Linesman sat on his hands, and said nothing.

It's great that the ACC Line Judge was held accountable, but the referee and the other officials who let this ludicrous and game-changing call happen need to have it follow them for the rest of the year.

Clearly the ACC would love to fire one guy and have it be over, without public apology or explanation.

I think it's up to Cal's AD and the Pac-12 to demand a higher level of accountability.

We can either accept BS like this as the "New Normal" in semi-pro College Football, or we can expect & demand much better.

I don't think this was motivated by the Line Judge's personal gain. I'm inclined to look more at the NBC, ND, and the ACC. Last week's game was a must-win game, both for post-season play, and for 2024 re-alignment. None of those 3 could accept an 0-3 start after their #5 ranking.

I think this one goes higher up.

SmellinRoses said:

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May I cite Occam's Razor.

The ref - why has he not been named (or maybe missed) - had a financial interest in Notre Dame covering.

Not clear at all why AD would accept no public acknowledgment but with Knowlton everything is about incompetence.

The Notre Dame game was illegitimate.

And this certainly isn't enough.

Does our Athletic Department accept this as final??

Why do we think so highly of our program when clearly the people who work there don't.

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His name is in the box score.

I couldn't tell which side of the field the call was made, so it's either the Linesman Matthew Fitzgerald or the Line Judge Hugh Campbell.

TheFiatLux said:

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SmellinRoses said:

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May I cite Occam's Razor.

The ref - why has he not been named (or maybe missed) - had a financial interest in Notre Dame covering.

Not clear at all why AD would accept no public acknowledgment but with Knowlton everything is about incompetence.

The Notre Dame game was illegitimate.

And this certainly isn't enough.

Does our Athletic Department accept this as final??

Why do we think so highly of our program when clearly the people who work there don't.

---

His name is in the box score.

I couldn't tell which side of the field the call was made, so it's either the Linesman Matthew Fitzgerald or the Line Judge Hugh Campbell.

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Fitzgerald or Campbell???? Ha! The plot thickens!!!

SmellinRoses said:

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" doesn't currently plan on publicly acknowledging the mistake or the punishment."

This report is so opaque it reeks of corruption. Is our resident clown Knowlton going to have anything to say about this?

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The penalty is not reviewable and cannot be undone after the fact. Curious what it is Knowlton is supposed to do in this situation?

BadNewsBear1 said:

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TheFiatLux said:

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SmellinRoses said:

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May I cite Occam's Razor.

The ref - why has he not been named (or maybe missed) - had a financial interest in Notre Dame covering.

Not clear at all why AD would accept no public acknowledgment but with Knowlton everything is about incompetence.

The Notre Dame game was illegitimate.

And this certainly isn't enough.

Does our Athletic Department accept this as final??

Why do we think so highly of our program when clearly the people who work there don't.

---

His name is in the box score.

I couldn't tell which side of the field the call was made, so it's either the Linesman Matthew Fitzgerald or the Line Judge Hugh Campbell.

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Fitzgerald or Campbell???? Ha! The plot thickens!!!

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Here's our answer.

Linesman Matthew Fitzgerald was the official that was suspended. The same crew worked Georgia Tech at Central Florida today minus Fitzgerald. https://t.co/ElJWMmL47D

— Roxy Bernstein (@roxybernstein) September 25, 2022

Fitzgerald... what is that, a Greek name?

Must be nice just having Roxy on call, ready to answer any of your questions

Officiating is difficult and Cal Strong would never urge violence. But just so we can all send flowers and cards to express our condolences on his suspension, it would be great for someone to publish Fitzgerald's address.

calbearsfan said:

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According to sources, ACC has suspended side judge from last Saturday Cal at Notre Dame who called Cal for being offside on this play. ACC apologized to Cal for error and admitted was bad call. As of now, they don't plan on making public acknowledgment of error and punishment.

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Representatives for the official advised at a press conference that he has filed a lawsuit in federal court for the violation of his First Amendment rights, specifically under the Free Exercise Clause which protects citizens' right to practice their religion as they please.