Give me a break. The call in the BYU game had nothing to do with rules just subjective, unreasonable officiating. It did make a difference in the game.

Who's to say that BYU wouldn't have blocked the PAT regardless of where the ball was placed?

That said, though...

If you want to be a stickler for the rules regardless of the situation with NO common sense or awareness of the situation coming into the equation, then yes it was the right call.

How is the act of throwing a ball into the air after scoring a touchdown unsportsmanlike?

Doesn't/Shouldn't the unsportsmanlike part take into account where the player who throws the ball is in relation to an opposing player? Was the QB directly facing an opposing player *face-to-face* when he threw the ball? Did he *say* something to the opposing player as that opposing player was running away from him that the referee who threw the flag heard?

Things like that, that a lot of us don't know because NONE of us (and that includes Howard) were the ones on the field are what can tempt one to think that this was a shade-of-gray call.

This was the biggest travesty I have ever seen in a college football game. What a pissy, ridiculous call. There is no way that this zebra should have called that. And that nonsense about a 35 yd pat is within range of any Division 1 kicker? I don't trust any Division 1 kicker with anything. Bottom line..terrible terrible call. Enjoy your nightmares and guilty conscience.

We had a basketball game last year where our player was called for a technical for hanging on the rim after a dunk that broke a tie with three minutes left. He's 5-11, stole the ball at midcourt and the momentum of the dunk forced him to hang onto the rim a fraction of a second longer than allowed by law.

By the strictest interpretation of the rule, yes, he hung on the rim. But there was certainly no intent to taunt or showboat.

(FYI, the other team tied the game with the technical free throws and went on to win the game.)

Same goes for the Washington quarterback. By the strictest interpretation, flicking the ball as he did is a penalty. But there's no question that it was a display of spontaneous exuberance, not an intent to taunt or draw attention to himself.

I won't blame our team's loss or Washington's loss on those calls. By the same token, the games belong to the kids, not the referees. I agree with the NCAA's intent to dissuade taunting and other unsportsmanlike behavior.

But how about using some common sense before throwing a flag or blowing a whistle. If it's clear there's no unsportsmanlike intent, keep the flag and the whistle in the pocket.

I have been to over 300 collegiate and professional sporting events and honestly have never witnessed such a ridiculous call. Now you are trying to "somewhat" justify the call. Please... I'll bet there are tens of thousands of people that literally jumped through their TV sets and wanted to fill that official up with an earful. Way to take the fun out of the game for all of us, players and fans alike.

The refs did determine the outcome of the game. They kept if from going to overtime. Spare me this crap about they still had a chance to make a 35-yard PAT. How many college kickers would you trust to make a 35 yard kick under pressure. This isn't the NFL. Plus, you cannot discount the sledgehammer to the gut the UW players were dealing with over the span of 2 minutes after going from [essentially] tying the game on a last second dive into the endzone to have a ridiculous call made against you.

This may be the lawyer in me, but there's a lot gray area in "throwing the ball high into the air." How high? Is it ok if it's straight up, or launched sideways into the crowd? Do you have to wind up and launch it, or can it fly out of your hands when you jump up into the air? Ignoring the letter of the law for a minute, I don't think anyone believes Locker's behavior merited a penalty. However, even looking at the text of the rule, I don't think it's such a case of black and white, as some have made it out to be.

If the whistle was in my mouth, would I have thrown the flag? Probably not.

But my point is I can understand why the official threw the flag in that situation. The referees are told to look for that sort of stuff, and according to the rule, the official was correct. While Locker's intent probably wasn't to show up his opponents, the referee made a split second decision. Based on that, I find it hard to blame the official for the entire outcome of the game, especially when they still had a reasonable chance to tie the game.

I do agree with you kchoya about the gray area, which is why I have a problem with the consistency of the rule. All coaches, student-athletes, and fans need to understand exactly what is a penalty and what isn't.

Uhh, Howard, by saying "If the whistle was in my mouth, would I have thrown the flag? Probably not," are you sure that -- as a public representative of the NCAA writing on an NCAA-sanctioned blog -- you're not officially second-guessing a referee?

Thanks for the comment, Juan-John. Let me make sure I am clear with what I am saying.

As I have said, Locker's conduct clearly broke the rule as it is written. No matter how you or I feel about it, the rule is the rule. In my opinion, the official made the correct call and he should not be blamed for Washington's loss.

As you said in your first comment, none of us were out there in the shoes of the official, so it is difficult for anyone to speculate. But this debate is really more about an official???s right to interpret rules as he or she sees fit and that???s what we should be talking about here.

The RULE itself is the problem. In my opinion, any SPONTANEOUS action that does not put anyone in danger, degrades the other team, or involves the fans(e.g. jumping or throwing ball in stands), should be OK. You can argue that this leaves too much room for interpretation, BUT THAT WOULD BE BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE NOW! The way it is now, players can hardly show any emotion. I am a very conservative person and HATE showboating, taunting and even trashtalking. HOWEVER, I HATE THE CURRENT CELEBRATION RULE EVEN MORE! Write/email the NCAA and tell them to CHANGE the rule!

Bert, just to let you know, the member institutions, not the NCAA, make the rules. Every sport has a committee with representatives from schools that suggest rules that are then sponsored by member conferences in each division. Different committees (again, with representatives from member schools) research and discuss the proposals, and the membership votes on each rule at the Convention. As of 2004, there were 126 Association-wide and division committees.

In Divisions II and III, each school votes on each proposal. Division I has a representational structure, with the presidents on the NCAA Board of Directors having final authority. The NCAA simply serves as an organizing body for these committees.

Here is an interesting article about the committees and the NCAA's
role:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=23634

If you disagree with a rule, you should respectfully contact your member institution.

Overall I think the comments come straight from the thought process as a fan. As a fan of college football am I outraged with what happened to Washington, yes. But as a rational human being (which I can say as "fans" of sport we miss the whole rational thing pretty often), I must say the official followed the rule. No if ands or buts. We all do things in our job we may not like or disagree with, but he threw the flag because he, by the definition of his job, is required to do so.

Also excellent point Howard, the NCAA does not make rules, it is member institutions and the coaches associations that lobby for these rules. The NCAA can do nothing about changing the rules. Maybe it is time for the coaches to read the rule book and educate their players before we as fans talk about an official losing a game for a team.

Armchair quarterbacking at its finest! Was the call correct? Absolutely. I applaud the official, not for effecting the outcome of the game, but for making the call.

I, however, must comment that having been a football official for 25 years (16 on the small college level)that until you have been on that field, whistle in hand, flag tucked away, observing your keys and responsibilities, as the play unfolds in front of you in full speed time (no instant replay, no frame by frame analysis with digital enhancements), you make the call based on instinct, observation, positioning and knowledge of the rules. It is way too easy to sit back, watch replay after replay and then say the official shouldn't have thrown the flag. He should have understood the "context" or the "intent" of the situation and ruled not on the written rule, but on a totally subjective level of what one set of fans or observers would say is too strict an interpretation of the rules, while another set of fans or observers would say is to lenient in enforcement.

To those who berate the officiating at any level of sports, I say to you: check out your local sports officiating organization, put on the stripes, go out and work some games and then, maybe then, you will understand that officials do not go out to favor one team over another, they do not go out to see who can make the biggest call to get noticed the most. On the contrary, we go out to fairly enforce the rules of game, to hopefully go unnoticed, but to also make the call that need to be made, regardless of when in the game the call is made, regardless of which team is the offending team, and to maintain the integrety of the game.

Just some food for thought.

I root for neither BYU or Wash. I think those critical of Howard's comments have taken them out of context. He said the ref was following the rule and that Wash didn't lose the game due to the ref. He's right. They lost the game because BYU scored more points. No excuses.

I watched the game and knew right away that he would get a flag for throwing the ball like that. The QB is not a small child of four...he's a big boy...he knows the rules.

The only reason most people disagree with the call is because of the idiots on TV (who really did not watch him throw the ball up in the air). Seriously...One announcer kept saying he spiked it over his shoulder...

Howard's right in saying that the membership is the NCAA, but there is a difference in the way playing rules and other rules (financial aid, recruiting, eligibility, etc.) are adopted.

Playing rules are developed through sports-specific committees -- in this case, the Football Rules Committee. Any prospective rules change must be confirmed by the Playing Rules Oversight Committee. That group respects the expertise of the originating rules committee and approves almost all changes.

Unless something highly unusual is involved, there is never a broad membership vote on playing rules.

By the way, great post by Rick.

That was probably the most ridiculous call ever. The rule states that you can't through the ball HIGH into the air. Locker merely flipped it over his shoulder to get rid of it, he didn't pull a Randy Moss and throw it 20 rows up in the seats, he just tossed it. That call had everything to do with the outcome of the game, all of the momentum was lost and kicking a 35 yarder compared to a 20 yarder is a helluva lot harder when the game's on the line, it's not a video game where you pull hte right trigger, its a college kid who is probably on suicide watch if eh misses the kick. Take the refs whistle out of their mouths when the game's on the line and let the boys play