Any serious football fan knows the drill.
It’s your job — seemingly by birthright — to root rabidly for your team. Objectivity only counts until kickoff.
The officials’ calls, for whatever reason — incompetence, intimidation, bias, bribery — too often go against YOUR team. They just do. Too often, referees have had more to do with the outcome than the players have. It’s not right, of course; it’s just the way it is – and it’s YOUR team that typically gets shafted.
Now add another subplot. The replay officials. They oversee – literally – the game being called on the field. But they occasionally have to bring the game to a screeching replay halt in the process.
As ESPN analyst and former coach Lee Corso has been heard musing during a game: “Who are those people up there, anyway? Do they understand this game? Are they up there drinking coffee and watching the game or what?”
Well, let’s ask one.
He’s Nick Trainer, 65, now in his second year in the booth – or since the NCAA- mandated instant replay. For the record, yes, he understands the game; he’s played the game; and when in the booth, he’s intensely watching every play, working with digital replay boards, manipulating freeze-frame shots and communicating with producers who feed him multiple camera angles.
He’s smart enough to be the CEO of Sartomer Co. Inc., a specialty chemicals manufacturer near Philadelphia. And unflappable enough to handle serious heat.
He’s also competent enough at his seasonal job to have been an on-field official at a national championship game and a Rose Bowl, among others. He’s been an official for more than 35 years, including more than 20 at the Division I level. Trainer’s been with the Big East Conference since its football inception in 1991.
He knows his stuff, and that’s why he’s now in the booth. The concept is relatively new to the college game, but the replay officials are veteran refs. Trainer – along with his booth “communicator” — and on-field colleagues from the Big East Conference did last week’s Outback Bowl.
There were seven stoppages for replays – resulting in three reversals of on-field calls. The average for the Big East is about two replay stoppages per game – with approximately two-thirds upheld. Stoppages average slightly less than two minutes.
What accounted for the higher number in the Outback Bowl? “It was an extremely competitive game,” said Trainer. “And you had some tremendous, athletic plays made by these kids. And there’s also the luck of the draw. Sometimes you just get more plays that you need to take a closer look at.
“No one wants to stop a game seven times,” emphasized Trainer. “Especially the replay official. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself. But sometimes it happens.”
One other factor: the Outback Bowl featured 17 cameras. Lesser, regular season games may have four or five. They had more wherewithal to get it right.
“Look, it’s not a perfect system,” acknowledged Trainer. “It’s designed to eliminate gross mistakes at critical times that influence outcomes.”
But, no, not every play is “reviewable.” Pass interference or holding penalties, for example, are not. But scoring and change-of-possession plays are.
The key criteria, said Trainer, in considering stoppage for a replay is a three-part rule of thumb: “Is it ‘reviewable?’ Can I confirm the call on the field? Is there a significant impact on the game?”
The bottom line, underscored Trainer, is that ever-improving technology, more uniform hardware and the increasing experience of replay officials continues to reduce the margin of error.
“And with 17 cameras you see almost everything,” added Trainer. “You can see if a player spits.”
So, would Trainer prefer to preside at a game that is an early rout with minimal crucial plays that impact the outcome and, as a result, don’t require many, if any, instant replay stoppages? In effect, an easy game?
No.
“The pressure, the scrutiny, the time constraints, the adrenaline rush – you have to be able to handle it,” explained Trainer. “It comes with the territory. That’s why I do it.”
What Trainer does, he stressed, is in the context of a team, one that he is as much a part of as the referee or the field judge.
“It’s not my job to nit-pick,” he said, “or make anyone look bad. We don’t want to officiate the game. It’s amazing how accurate they are on the field.”
And one other point. Trainer and his cohorts liked the Outback game between Penn State and Tennessee. It was incident free, trash-talk free and relatively foul free.
“We got away without any controversy,” noted Trainer. “We like it that way too.”