Playoff Assignments

[Deleted]

5 officials in each cc crew has worked at least 1 super bowl

[zcr57]

Here's a breakdown of how each referee has fared during the last 3 postseasons. This doesn't include assignments as alternated

The "chart" reads like this: 2010--->2011--->2012

Anderson: Divisional--->Super Bowl--->No Assignment
Blakeman: N/A--->No Assignment (rookie)--->Wild Card
Boger: Divisional--->No Assignment--->No Assignment
Carey: No Assignment--->Wild Card--->No Assignment
Cheffers: Divisional--->No Assignment--->Wild Card
Coleman: No Assignment--->Wild Card--->Pro Bowl
Corrente: Conference Championship--->Pro Bowl--->Wild Card
Green: Wild Card & Super Bowl--->No Assignment--->No Assignment
Hochuli: Wild Card--->Conference Championship--->Conference Championship
Leavy: Wild Card--->Divisional--->Divisional
McAulay: No Assignment--->Conference Championship--->No Assignment
Morelli: Conference Championship--->Wild Card--->Divisional
Parry: No Assignment--->Divisional--->Divisional & Super Bowl
Riveron: No Assignment--->Divisional--->Conference Championship
Steratore: Wild Card--->Wild Card--->Divisional
Triplette: Pro Bowl--->Divisional--->No Assignment
Winter: Divisional--->No Assignment--->Wild Card


The 6 officials highlighted have received a postseason assignment in each of the last 3 seasons, and I believe that Leavy and Steratore have received playoff assignments in each of the last 4 seasons. Hochuli has an impressive streak of 5 consecutive seasons with a playoff assignment.

We may not realize it, but Pete Morelli has made the playoffs 7 of the last 8 seasons. That's an impressive run, IMO.

[BTFS Admin]

I'm happy for Hochuli. For a period during the mid-2000s, he was being shut out of the playoffs and I feared his better years (incl. 2 SB's) were behind him. Glad to see this comeback.

[FredFan7]

Jan 17, 2012 21:55:44 GMT -5 BTFS Admin said:

I'm happy for Hochuli. For a period during the mid-2000s, he was being shut out of the playoffs and I feared his better years (incl. 2 SB's) were behind him. Glad to see this comeback.

Agreed.

[cj]

Jan 17, 2012 21:18:24 GMT -5 zcr57 said:

Here's a breakdown of how each referee has fared during the last 3 postseasons. This doesn't include assignments as alternated

The "chart" reads like this: 2010--->2011--->2012

Anderson: Divisional--->Super Bowl--->No Assignment
Blakeman: N/A--->No Assignment (rookie)--->Wild Card
Boger: Divisional--->No Assignment--->No Assignment
Carey: No Assignment--->Wild Card--->No Assignment
Cheffers: Divisional--->No Assignment--->Wild Card
Coleman: No Assignment--->Wild Card--->Pro Bowl
Corrente: Conference Championship--->Pro Bowl--->Wild Card
Green: Wild Card & Super Bowl--->No Assignment--->No Assignment
Hochuli: Wild Card--->Conference Championship--->Conference Championship
Leavy: Wild Card--->Divisional--->Divisional
McAulay: No Assignment--->Conference Championship--->No Assignment
Morelli: Conference Championship--->Wild Card--->Divisional
Parry: No Assignment--->Divisional--->Divisional & Super Bowl
Riveron: No Assignment--->Divisional--->Conference Championship
Steratore: Wild Card--->Wild Card--->Divisional
Triplette: Pro Bowl--->Divisional--->No Assignment
Winter: Divisional--->No Assignment--->Wild Card


The 6 officials highlighted have received a postseason assignment in each of the last 3 seasons, and I believe that Leavy and Steratore have received playoff assignments in each of the last 4 seasons. Hochuli has an impressive streak of 5 consecutive seasons with a playoff assignment.

We may not realize it, but Pete Morelli has made the playoffs 7 of the last 8 seasons. That's an impressive run, IMO.

Remember, I was using the tag cj long before the current head of officiating took office and I'm not abouty to give it up

But having said that, and looking at the list, and remembering that I am somewhat more cynical than many of the others here perhaps because of my age, perhaps because of my upbringing in administration as a school administrator (not in athletics but the same principles hold) there are some trends that are interesting to say the least at work here.

First of all, I too really only care about the referees and we don't sit back and judge who missed what holding penalty in the fourth game of the season midway through the first quarter and was dinged. A lot of that is awfully subjective anyway. If a guy really messes up at a big moment, we see and hear about it but not the every day hustle and bustle of working an NFL game. Also I too don't consider the pro bowl or being an alternae any prestigeous honor. They use these positions to fill out the list of guy who can be said to have post season assignments. I also from personal experience might consider it a bit of a come down say if I'm a Walt Anderson and am told I'm an alternate to Al RIveron if indeed all these assignment are supposedly made on merit and ratings and the like. You can say that is nonsense but that's the way I would feel in the work I did in education. If some colleague from another nearby school got some sort of "competitive honor" whicdh I thought I deserved who had only 1/2 or less the experience I had, I would be po'd. That's simply human nature. So in any event, looking at these lists and listening to what so many here have had to say, I have come to one of two conclusions.

1. There has been a rotation system instituted but they don't want to say so. They want to keep the myth there are ratings involved.

or

2. There is some friction between what might be considered MP people and CJ (not me) people insofar as cj is trying to get away from just doing what MP did for years. Certainly McCauley was a favorite of MP and protected by him...now no assignment.

Also, although a bit further afield, I am beginning to wonder if MP's departure from the league office was totally voluntary or whether certain forces within the league administration thought he was becoming too much of a personality on television with his segment on NFLN and the interviews he did and whether or not they wanted somebody much more low key. Certainly, under MP we would have heard and been shown something about the supposed poor calls by Bill Leavy and many of the controversial calls that have occurred this season. Instead we get nothing; it's like a new era of Art McNally/Jerry Seeman has fallen on the NFL.

I just wonder if this is what is going on and yes again I know I'm more cynical than most here and take my lumps but I think I'm older than most here too and have seen these things for a somewhat longer time than others.

So if you want to take shots at me, go right ahead. They will roll right off my back. Until somebody proves to me otherwise, I believe that on the whole the playoff assignments for this year do reflect something is gong on.

JMHO

[I've been warned]

Jan 17, 2012 22:36:14 GMT -5 FredFan7 said:

Jan 17, 2012 21:55:44 GMT -5 BTFS Admin said:

I'm happy for Hochuli. For a period during the mid-2000s, he was being shut out of the playoffs and I feared his better years (incl. 2 SB's) were behind him. Glad to see this comeback.

Agreed.

One of the traits that makes an official like Hochuli so good is that he will use a few down years as motivation to make himself better. I think he certainly did so, and two consecutive CC assignments support this.

CJ - Keep posting. I believe you're on to something. The Riveron assignment and defense of Leavy by the league are criminal.

[mike]

It is possible that Riveron and Anderson were so close in terms of rankings (same number of downgrades, similar test scores, etc.) that the league asked Anderson to serve as Riveron's alternate rather than being the referee himself so that Alberto could have the experience as Anderson has been a playoff regular including multiple CC games and 1 Super Bowl as a R not to mention being a highly rated LJ before that

[FredFan7]

If the front office does have a philosophy to not assign SB officials to next years playoffs, there already is a quasi-rotation system in place already. I wonder if that is allowing playoff fringe officials to start getting more playoff games.

If the NFL front office wanted to clip the wings of the officiating department, they certainly have succeeded. We're slowly going back to the Kremlin-watching days of McNally and Seeman (those old enough to remember the cold war will get that reference!

[Deleted]

Again if someone wins by 1 point in sports, they dont award the victory to the loser.

[Deleted]

I agree with you as well cj, and I also believe that Anderson is Riveron's alternate for a reason, while Trips was set as Hochuli's alt cuz it's obvious Hochuli won't need it. Anderson is able to give Riveron any sort of help he needs I would think as far as calming nerves, pointers and the like. Not that Riveron is some rookie kid on his first day, but this game is a lot bigger than anything he's ever done.

I also think that him being the SB alt is strange too, because if something did happen to Parry, Riveron would've just worked either Pats/Ravens two week prior. Odd.

[becky10]

Jan 18, 2012 6:59:37 GMT -5 I've been warned said:

Jan 17, 2012 22:36:14 GMT -5 FredFan7 said:

Agreed.

One of the traits that makes an official like Hochuli so good is that he will use a few down years as motivation to make himself better. I think he certainly did so, and two consecutive CC assignments support this.

>>>>> back in the beginning of 2010 Ed Hochuli got a Trainer. From what I heard this trainer got him in better shape & eating better too. No more Cheetos & Chocolate ;D I think by doing this made him better... he trimmed down & with better eating.... probably helped a great deal!

[Deleted]

Jan 18, 2012 12:39:03 GMT -5 becky10 said:

Jan 18, 2012 6:59:37 GMT -5 I've been warned said:

Jan 17, 2012 22:36:14 GMT -5 FredFan7 said:

Agreed.

One of the traits that makes an official like Hochuli so good is that he will use a few down years as motivation to make himself better. I think he certainly did so, and two consecutive CC assignments support this.

>>>>> back in the beginning of 2010 Ed Hochuli got a Trainer. From what I heard this trainer got him in better shape & eating better too. No more Cheetos & Chocolate ;D I think by doing this made him better... he trimmed down & with better eating.... probably helped a great deal!

I noticed he got trimmer. First I thought it was him getting older and just losing mass, but that was not the case!

Congrats to Ed on two great years, earning b2b CCs. Very great acomplishment

[mike]

Jan 18, 2012 12:39:03 GMT -5 becky10 said:

Jan 18, 2012 6:59:37 GMT -5 I've been warned said:

Jan 17, 2012 22:36:14 GMT -5 FredFan7 said:

Agreed.

One of the traits that makes an official like Hochuli so good is that he will use a few down years as motivation to make himself better. I think he certainly did so, and two consecutive CC assignments support this.

>>>>> back in the beginning of 2010 Ed Hochuli got a Trainer. From what I heard this trainer got him in better shape & eating better too. No more Cheetos & Chocolate ;D I think by doing this made him better... he trimmed down & with better eating.... probably helped a great deal!

Too bad Steve Wilson did not avail himself of that when he was officiating. That being said, I am not sure there was anything that could have saved him the last few years of his career

[zebrablog]

Jan 18, 2012 2:11:31 GMT -5 cj said:

1. There has been a rotation system instituted but they don't want to say so. They want to keep the myth there are ratings involved.

or

2. There is some friction between what might be considered MP people and CJ (not me) people insofar as cj is trying to get away from just doing what MP did for years. Certainly McCauley was a favorite of MP and protected by him...now no assignment.

Also, although a bit further afield, I am beginning to wonder if MP's departure from the league office was totally voluntary or whether certain forces within the league administration thought he was becoming too much of a personality on television with his segment on NFLN and the interviews he did and whether or not they wanted somebody much more low key. Certainly, under MP we would have heard and been shown something about the supposed poor calls by Bill Leavy and many of the controversial calls that have occurred this season. Instead we get nothing; it's like a new era of Art McNally/Jerry Seeman has fallen on the NFL.

First, I heard your argument about a rotational system. But playoff games are money. Yes, "honor to be selected" and "it's a labor of love," I got that. But still, there's money. If you watch the game from the sidelines instead of working in the game, that's money. If you get selected to a conference championship or a Super Bowl, that's money. I know many officials are "well off" enough to not sweat about the money, but none are indifferent to it.

I would think a lawsuit would blow the lid off of the system if an official felt he was being denied assignments that he "earned" if the merit system was a public charade. Add to that the discrimination charges that could be trumped up in a rotational system, particularly if the current system is, as you alledge, rotational, because it is not rotating in an balanced manner.

The merit system helps insulate the league from such potential accusations. We know it isn't a pure merit system; they have admitted that there are intangible and small concessions built in. Where it deviates from a true merit system is known to the participants, so it deflates most allegations against it.

None of us work at 345 Park, so we cannot say with any certainty that the system performs as advertised. But, remember, they look at every play for about 25 different elements, times 150 or so plays, time 256 games. That is about 1 million quality checks that they make. We cover about 2 dozen calls a week here in this forum, 17 weeks plus playoffs: hardly 500. The officiating department is going to see something we did not.

As for Pereira's departure, his parents are elderly, and he did not want to live clear across the country. Now his schedule is freed up, he's a 1-hour plane ride from Culver City, and he could possibly be making more money than he did before. But, I'd bet the NFL was looking at keeping him, not sending him away.

[cj]

Jan 18, 2012 14:14:36 GMT -5 zebrablog said:

Jan 18, 2012 2:11:31 GMT -5 cj said:

1. There has been a rotation system instituted but they don't want to say so. They want to keep the myth there are ratings involved.

or

2. There is some friction between what might be considered MP people and CJ (not me) people insofar as cj is trying to get away from just doing what MP did for years. Certainly McCauley was a favorite of MP and protected by him...now no assignment.

Also, although a bit further afield, I am beginning to wonder if MP's departure from the league office was totally voluntary or whether certain forces within the league administration thought he was becoming too much of a personality on television with his segment on NFLN and the interviews he did and whether or not they wanted somebody much more low key. Certainly, under MP we would have heard and been shown something about the supposed poor calls by Bill Leavy and many of the controversial calls that have occurred this season. Instead we get nothing; it's like a new era of Art McNally/Jerry Seeman has fallen on the NFL.

First, I heard your argument about a rotational system. But playoff games are money. Yes, "honor to be selected" and "it's a labor of love," I got that. But still, there's money. If you watch the game from the sidelines instead of working in the game, that's money. If you get selected to a conference championship or a Super Bowl, that's money. I know many officials are "well off" enough to not sweat about the money, but none are indifferent to it.

I would think a lawsuit would blow the lid off of the system if an official felt he was being denied assignments that he "earned" if the merit system was a public charade. Add to that the discrimination charges that could be trumped up in a rotational system, particularly if the current system is, as you alledge, rotational, because it is not rotating in an balanced manner.

The merit system helps insulate the league from such potential accusations. We know it isn't a pure merit system; they have admitted that there are intangible and small concessions built in. Where it deviates from a true merit system is known to the participants, so it deflates most allegations against it.

None of us work at 345 Park, so we cannot say with any certainty that the system performs as advertised. But, remember, they look at every play for about 25 different elements, times 150 or so plays, time 256 games. That is about 1 million quality checks that they make. We cover about 2 dozen calls a week here in this forum, 17 weeks plus playoffs: hardly 500. The officiating department is going to see something we did not.

As for Pereira's departure, his parents are elderly, and he did not want to live clear across the country. Now his schedule is freed up, he's a 1-hour plane ride from Culver City, and he could possibly be making more money than he did before. But, I'd bet the NFL was looking at keeping him, not sending him away.

Great stuff with an interesting take. Look, I spent 25 years as an educational administrator of a high school department and although on a much smaller scale and nowhere near the same financial considerations, I had to make many of the same kinds of decisions we are talking about here. Who was assigned to what class, what kind of rotational system to set up for the plumb assignments, whether there should be merit pay. Not all that different from hat goes on at 345 Park of course but nowhere of the same magnitude and viewing audience so to speak so I understand both sides of the issue. For staff morale purposes, merit pay doesn't work because there will always be charges of favoritism (call getting a playoff assignment merit pay). Many school systems in the country are going through chaos trying to quantify teacher (referee) performance with "ratings" whereas I didn't think I needed "ratings" to decide who my best teachers were and who were my merely competent teachers. But I was bound by a policy built into the teachers contrct of rotating classes. And yes, I was also involved in termination decisions really when yu get down to it not that much different than what the people do at 345 Park Avenue subject to the same pressures from both ends of the stick, the3 teachers themselves (lateral), the students and parents (players and coaches) and the higher ups (commissioners, owners). So in a way, I am able to see both sides of this whether you wish to accept my analogies or not.

My feels as a football fan (who did some baseball umpiring when I was much much younger) have never changed. I watched football all through the 70's and 80's into the 90's and it seemed that for every bigt game, it would either be Markbreit or Haggerty or Tunney. Not to say they weren't good referees. But were they truly better than Nemmers or McCarter or Wyant who had long careers and never got the big games. I understand that in his book, Fred Wyant has lots of unpleasant things to say about the way he was treated when it came to the big assignments. Of course there would have to be built up resentment that a rotational system would avoid which of course has to be coupled with making sure incompetents are disposed of before they join the rotation (which the NFL really does pretty well although Tom White, who many here considered incompetent) lasted a long time to name one. They even one year, I think it was in 1999 when they hung Phil Luckett out to dry in the con toss game which he handled correctly followed by the sitution in New York where it was the line judge who blew a call but all anybody spoke about was Luckett stinks. At the end of the season, they admitted to Luckett his ratings were high enough to warrant a playoff game but it wouldn't look right and the Commissioner didn't want him to do a playoff game but they paid him a playoff share anyway to silence him or whatever. Remember that. We spend all year on this board speculating so and so is having a great year and will get a cc, so and so is having a bad year especially if he has a couple of tough games which probably the good lord couldn't do better and when the assignments come out we sit here and ventilate (I do too) which is fine and makes it fun. But I'm still not convinced that there's any degree of validity to the ratings.

As far as Periera leaving, you're probably right. Although one thing you have to admit, there is no longer the free and open admissions coming from the NFL office of right or wrong on some very controversial calls. Now we here since the first GB-NYG have had an on-going discussion of the Greg Jennings touchdown. Living in NY and not being a Giants fan, all I have heard since that game is how the poor Giants have been constantly victimized by the officials including through last Sunday (maybe they were last Sunday) and the Jennings play is brought up. Yet I thought that while it was a close call, I thought the back judge made a great call insofar as Jennings established a degree of control of the ball for a brief instant while he was in the end zone. I would have loved one way or the other for Carl Johnson to get up and explain why it was a correct call or if it wasn't a correct call, why not. You would have to admit that a new era of darkness and hiding thngs has befallen the NFL under Carl Johnson that wasn't present under Mike Periera.

I'm sorry to be so wordy. Maybe I should just shut up but I do think I have a lot to offer here in terms of administration of a department whether it be an academic department in a high school or of the NFL officials. If you disagree, please forgive me.