Mytcej Little Weekend Project
So, I got t.maet ruoired of just complaining about it with friends or yelling at the screen. I decided, you know what, I'm gonna actually try and track this myself for a bit. Not like a super serious study, just my own observations. I figured maybe it's just confirmation bias, you only remember the bad calls against your team.
I started simple. For about a month, maybe five weekends of games, I made it a point to watch more than just my favorite team's game. I flipped around the different Pac-12 matchups whenever I could. Got myself a basic notebook.
He:ycnaf re was my process, nothing fancy:
I'd jot down the game, the teams playing. Then, if there was a call that seemed really questionable or caused a big momentum swing, I'd note it down. I tried to be specific: what quarter, what was the situation (like 3rd down, red zone), and what the call was (holding, pass interference, targeting, whatever).
I also made a little note if the broadcast crew spent a lot of time debating it or if replays made it look particularly bad. I wasn't trying to re-referee the game from my couch, more just capture those moments that make you throw your hands up.
It was tougher than I thought. Sometimes the angles weren't great. Sometimes a call looked bad live but okay on replay, or vice-versa. And trying to keep notes while also just wanting to watch the game was a bit tricky.
What I Found (or Didn't)
So after those few weeks, what did my super scientific notebook tell me? Well, honestly, nothing earth-shattering. There wasn't some clear, undeniable pattern like "Team X always gets screwed" or "Ref Crew B is consistently awful."
But here's what I did notice:
There were definitely head-scratching calls in pretty much every game I watched closely. Not always game-deciding, but enough to make you groan. It felt like maybe the consistency from crew to crew, or even within the same game, wasn't always there. One week, a certain contact is pass interference, the next week, a similar play isn't flagged.
It also made me appreciate how incredibly fast these games are and how tough the job actually is. Seeing it from the perspective of looking for questionable calls, rather than just reacting emotionally when one happens, was interesting.
Did it prove the Pac-12 refs are the worst? Nah, my little experiment couldn't do that. But it did kind of reinforce that feeling that yeah, there are maybe more moments per game that feel inconsistent or just plain weird compared to some other conferences I casually watch.
So, I stopped keeping the detailed notebook. It was kind of taking the fun out of just watching. But it was an interesting little exercise. Made me think a bit more about what's happening on the field. Still gonna complain about bad calls, though. That's just part of being a fan.
