You Can Either Have Rules, Or Chaos

The crap Jameis Winston gets away with, continues with slack jawed amazement.

The latest occurred Saturday in the rain in a dogfight with 17-point underdog Boston College. Running a hurry up play in the 3rd quarter, Jameis treated the referee administering the proper substitution rules in college with about as much deference and respect as….

– a drunken co-ed in his dorm room
– other peoples windows with a BB gun
– Burger King’s “pay for your soda” policy
– the seafood counter at Publix
– his coach’s own 1-game suspension

So it’s one thing for the referee on this play to make a “business decision” to not throw a flag. The guy knows that throwing a flag, means an automatic ejection, which would be a near fatal blow for the ‘Noles. He doesn’t want to be part of that shitstorm, if he can help it.

FIne.

But that’s what the league office, and the director of officials are supposed to be there for the day after. Turns out, they were just as cowardly as their head coach, who has sold every last shred of his integrity down the river for this clown.

Coward #1:
Doug Rhoads, the ACC’s coordinator of officials, said in a statement Sunday: “The center judge’s positioning, which was due to the experimental year of having an eighth official, combined with the late substitution and by rule the need to allow the defense to matchup, led to contact between himself and the player. The official believed the contact was incidental and insignificant and did not rise to the level of unsportsmanlike conduct and automatic disqualification.”

Coward #2:
“I don’t think [Winston] realized it. He was caught up in the excitement of the moment,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Hey, you get emotional. He didn’t realize. He thought he could snap the ball. … He knew that was his job — get out there and set and snap the ball.”

Fisher said he didn’t talk to Winston about the contact, which he felt was innocuous and unintentional.

“He doesn’t even remember [when he came to the sideline],” Fisher said. “When I yell at players, five minutes later, I don’t remember who I yelled at. You move on to the next thing.”

Others who know the rules, and are not so corrupted invested in getting Florida State across the line to the 4-Team Playoff, were pretty clear in how they saw it.

Dave Cutaia, ESPN’s college officiating expert and the former Pac-10 coordinator of officiating, said FSU should have been penalized 15 yards and Winston should have been ejected for the contact.

Mike Perreira – Fox Sports

I’ve looked at this play several times, and in my opinion, Winston should have been penalized for shoving Webster not once, but twice. In fact, I feel he should have been ejected.

Contact with an official can clearly lead to an ejection. Webster was doing his job, which was to hold the snap until the referee cleared him in this situation. Winston clearly pushes him out of the way so he can get the snap off.

That’s a foul, folks.

Hell, earlier this year in the NFL, All-Pro LB Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers was tossed for something far less intentional and brazen.

What makes it even worse, is that Winston not only physically engaged a ref in a hostile manner, but he did so WITH AN INTENT ON GAINING AN ADVANTAGE OVER THE OPPONENT!

When a guy like Kuechly inadvertently arm-swats a ref he DOESN’T EVEN SEE, well after a play is over. No advantage is gained and it is very plausible he had no idea if a player was grabbing him instead.

Neither applies here to Winston.

The kid is a punk, and an idiot. He’s a convicted petty thief, and possibly a rapist.

And the adults in the room keep coddling him.

They say you “get what you tolerate” in life. I would expect more of the same from him, perhaps only worse.

And there’s a reason why in our sports culture, we draw a bright red line around ANY kind of physical contact with referees, unlike some leagues in other countries. See below….

Boxing
Hockey
Soccer
Baseball
Youth Football

…. and of course… you can spend all day finding your own favorites on YouTube!