Some people claimed Lipari was pinned well before the official actually made the call, that he was flat for 2 or 3 seconds before the call. I've seen some people say he could have been called pinned as much as five seconds before the call was made. I'd say these claims are clearly not the case:
- Five seconds before the call, they were still upright. Three seconds before the call they had just hit the mat and the official was just getting into position. Two seconds before the call Lipari is not flat, and Cefolo's right arm is underneath him preventing a pin.
- It would appear that Lipari's shoulders were on the mat for about 1 to 1.5 seconds before the official blew his whistle and began the call.
- The call seems to be made in exactly the timeframe that calls are always made in high school for a fall.
BC fans argue that the call came after the whistle. I am not aware of any camera or video shots that show both the wrestlers and the clock, so nothing can be concluded regarding this claim. However, I did note that Coach Spataro was running to the mat just prior to the call (see his shoes in the last frame!) The only thing we can conclude from this is that it must have been very, very close to the buzzer.
One would hope that the timekeeper and assistant referee were paying close enough attention to know whether or not the call came before the buzzer.
Final conclusion? Pin was called correctly; not too soon, not too late. No way to know if it came before or after the buzzer. Very close call, and had to be heartbreaking to a kid who just seconds before appeared to have scored a match-winning reversal.
Video Link:
Does the below illustration change your opinion as to how long he was "flat" for?
ReplyDeletehttp://matref0.tripod.com/Articles/NFHS_Rules_Photos.pdf
See page 11, #46
It doesn't change my opinion. At 3 seconds before the call Lipari's left shoulder and scapula are off the mat, at 2 seconds before the call Cefolo's arm is underneath Lipari's left shoulder and scapula. It was just after than when Lipari's pinning area was on the mat.
ReplyDeleteIt was too close to call and therefore a bad call... The ref's life and everyone else's would have been a lot easier if the ref just ended the match with Lipari in control. That much was very apparent.
ReplyDeleteYou're the best, so I'm not doubting what you've said at all. I just thought the illustration added some additional information to the discussion.
ReplyDeleteApologies - I believe I misunderstood what you were saying.
DeleteVery bad call. Neither ref was looking at the clock and the time ran out before the pin was called.
ReplyDeleteThe primary official is not supposed to look at the clock, that's the job of the assistant. In the video the assistant referee is well out of the picture, so I'm not sure how you can say he wasn't looking at the clock. It was an extremely close call, and so by definition it couldn't have been a "bad call".
DeleteBy rule the head ref is supposed to be focused on the match. In the interpretation the assistant is supposed to count him down. Honestly, this could be avoided by having the state pay for a tapper to come out at 10 seconds and tap the assistant. So both can be focused on the match.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who was in AC saw that most of the assistants RARELY if ever were looking at the clock at the end of a period if the action was in the opposite direction. It was hard to believe and led to a number of blown calls at the buzzer. Is it really too difficult to expect a ref to do at least that????
ReplyDeleteI have yet to see an official call a defensive pin for the last 3 seasons. Now that it happened to BC at the end of a match, people cry. Bad calls happen. Just don't put yourself in that position near the end.
ReplyDelete