I guess, but MY INTERPRETATION of the rule is throwing the ball = throwing it into the stands, somewhat in a taunting fashion. Locker merely tossed it over his shoulder/ let it go as he was about to celebrate with his teammates. The ref says it wasn't a judgment call. I have a feeling no one would have been crying if they held on to their flags on that play after Washington scored. People would have understood. I stand by my original claim- horrible call, regardless of whether the officials are punished or not.
He tossed the ball over his shoulder after scoring a TD big deal, swallow your whistle in that situation. As a ref you must look at it from a football players perspective. Do you really think a player is thinking "Hey if I toss this ball over my head I will get called for taunting" NO!
That isn't what the rule was designed to prevent, and anybody who has watched football for more than 15 minutes and has more than 5 brain cells knows that. What a BS call...and a way for something to happen that nobody wants...the ref impacting the outcome of the game.
they are humans after all. it's not unhealthy to hold back their emotions. rules are too strict. most of us here would scream when we see a good play on a freaking TV. this is the real thing, let the kid express his feelings. it feels good.
i'd like to see the play.. o.p. said he spiked it, which is certainly against the rules.. either way, not a judgment call right? why still be upset at the ref?
i will say this: by the book the flag should have been thrown BUT the rule says the ball cannot be thrown high in the air....if that isnt a judgement call I dont know what is. Is high up to the stands, is high 2 feet in the air? 3 feet? I've have seen more taunting-like celebrations and longer celebrations by special teams and linesmen for making a sack or a blocked kick. This was a potential game tying touching with 2 seconds left in the game. The ref totally made a bad call. If he didnt throw a flag as someone mentioned above no one would be talking about how "excessive" the celebration way. ALSO: it was a longer PAT but all this controversy could have been avoided if it wasnt blocked but I guess there is more of a chance to have it block since it needs to be kicked at a lower angle from further out. it would have been nice to see that.
he did an underhand throw into the air and then immediately chest-bumped a teammate like any normal celebration. it obviously wasn't to taunt anybody and wasn't premeditated. if that's what the new emphasis on celebration is trying to get rid of, then the people who make rules are even stupider than i already thought they were. for one, who gives a flying **** about things like this? excessive celebrations, clearly intended to taunt the other team or premeditated things are pretty obvious and for about a century no one has had much problem when those were called. and second, any rule intended to give the refs more power to screw up a game is stupid. yes, completely subjective 15 yard penalties handed out on a whim to decide games when no one gives a crap about what was called are a great thing to emphasive.
I think it could have went either way but with the game in question, sometimes you have to let stuff like that go.
And they were Pac 10 officials... go figure. I didn't see it as excessive, but I guess there is always an "example" to be made every year. Poor choice.
He didn't even spike the ball....he tossed it up in the air...this was one of the worst calls I have ever seen. DD
I think saying that he "spiked" the ball is taking it a bit too far. my 100% unbiased view: terrible call
I'm a Husky, and my 100% biased view is also that this was a horrible call. Those of you saying "rules are rules" aren't understanding. The RULE ITSELF is worded so as to be a judgment call on the part of the official. The rule is worded as such that if the ball is thrown "high" in the air after the play, it is a penalty. How high is high? The ref makes that call, and the ref was apparently itching to throw the flag. Look, I hate to blame a game on officiating - and honestly, any of you who might have watched this entire game knows that BYU was torching Washington and clearly played like the better team. But letting it end on this kind of final play was absolutely ridiculous. We are SO going to get our asses handed to us by Oklahoma next week.
Well SportsCenter just showed the NCAA rule on this type of action and it appears the officials were 100% correct in calling the penalty. The rule even states 'throwing the ball high in the air' so yeah.
