News Flash!

[ou4me]

:rolleyes: http://www.newsok.com/article/2975982 :rolleyes:

Thu November 23, 2006
Gordon Riese's replay revelation
College football insider: Revisiting the OU-Oregon fiasco
OU-Oregon replay official says he knew Sooners recovered onside kick — but couldn't tell anybody


By George Schroeder
Staff Writer


Two months after the Oregon instant replay fiasco, he is answering the phone again.
Irate Sooner fans ring him up just two or three times a week now. The death threats have stopped. The healing has begun.

"It will never leave me," Gordon Riese says. "Until I die."

On a day we set aside to count our blessings, some fans will no doubt continue cursing Riese, who was in charge of the botched review that cost Oklahoma victory on that September afternoon at Autzen Stadium.

The Sooners have rebounded nicely from the stunning setback. But a 9-2 record should have been 10-1. Many fans see the current BCS picture and wonder, despite a loss to Texas, if OU wouldn't be at least on the fringe of the national title conversation.

Who knows? But fans know why the Sooners are not.

Riese does, too.

"Everybody knows," he says.

You remember how it went. OU ahead by six points, 72 seconds left, an onside kick, a collision. You saw Allen Patrick emerge with the football. You saw officials huddle. You watched countless replays.

Stunned, you saw Oregon given the ball. You saw the Ducks score, and win.

But there are some things, Riese says, you don't know.

Although the Pac-10 has forbidden him to speak on the topic, Riese hints there's plenty of blame to go around. He says he saw just one replay angle of the onside kick. But he won't explain why that was, whether it was a technical or human error.

The angle came from Oklahoma's end zone. From that vantage, Riese had no chance of determining whether, as he was asked, an Oregon player had touched the football before it traveled the required 10 yards.

Later, after returning home, Riese finally saw the angles you and I saw. He already knew — just had that feeling officials get when a call is blown. He had stopped the game five times for replay reviews. This one?

"This was the easiest call to make, if I'd have gotten the (correct) replay," Riese says. "It would have been the right call. It would have been the correct call. The Oregon kid touched the ball at the 44-yard line."

But wait. It gets worse.

From that end-zone shot, Riese couldn't answer the question he was asked. But he could tell Oregon didn't have the football.

"I saw the ball laying on the ground, the Oklahoma kid picks the ball up with his knee on the ground," Riese says. "I knew it was Oklahoma ball."

But here's the thing: By rule, Riese wasn't allowed to determine possession. Not after the officials had already given the ball to Oregon.

Surely, Riese could have hinted of their mistake?

Uh, no. During the review, Riese says, the referee asked him which team recovered the football.

"It's something I can't get into," Riese told him.

And it's something he won't let himself live down. Because all Riese wanted — and this was his philosophy during a 28-year, on-field career — was to get the call right.

Some OU fans won't believe that, not ever. Much more satisfying are the theories involving evil men wearing Nike swooshes. No one wants to hear about technical glitches and restrictive rules and a replay official tormented by an error he felt powerless to correct.

The second option is incompetence, which upon further review, doesn't seem to apply to Riese. Perhaps he should have short-circuited the process — going with the spirit of the rules, if not the letter — by telling the officials OU had recovered the ball.

But he was following the rules, which is what officials are taught to do.

Getting the call right? Following the rules? Those imperatives conflicted.

"I can't let it go," Riese says. "It's something we officials have just been schooled with — to get the call right — and I didn't do it that day."

Which is why the 64-year-old retired high school math teacher is almost finished with football after more than 30 years.

Most OU fans probably don't want to hear that Riese grew up in North Dakota and Iowa as an admirer of OU football, that Barry Switzer once sought him out after a game at USC to compliment the officiating crew's work that day — an OU loss.

All they know is OU lost when it should have won, and not even a pound of Riese's flesh will make up for it.

Just so you know, that pound has been taken.

Suspended for one game by the Pac-10, Riese has decided not to return to the replay booth. The $400 payday wasn't worth the headache. When the season ends, Riese's career will, too.

"You can tell your Oklahoma people to stop calling me, and I am not going back into the replay booth," Riese says.

But he also wants to tell you this: In the days and weeks following the debacle, he received 67 letters of encouragement, from all over. Wisconsin. Minnesota. Alabama. Florida.

And yes, from Oklahoma.

"I so appreciated the amount of letters I received from Oklahoma fans, positive statements," Riese says.

By the way, Riese has kept up with the Sooners' season. He knows.

"Oh, they're a good football team," he says. "My goodness sakes, they're a good football team."

But he's not as concerned with what might have been as he is tormented by his role in what was.

"I worry about the screwup we did in the Oklahoma game," Riese says. "It's inexcusable."

And, he knows, inescapable.

[OU4LIFE]

*yawn*

[TripleOption14]

Cry me a River!!!!! All he had to do is make a call that Ray Charles could have made and he wouldn't be having all these "problems." This was not a brain operation here it was a clear cut situation that EVERYONE saw and was an EASY call that should have taken 30 seconds to make.

[crimson&cream]

Cry me a River!!!!! All he had to do is make a call that Ray Charles could have made and he wouldn't be having all these "problems." This was not a brain operation here it was a clear cut situation that EVERYONE saw and was an EASY call that should have taken 30 seconds to make.
apparently he wasn't given the replays that he could determind the right call for whatever reason, and thats what I want to know why wasn't he.. If all he saw was replay from OU's end zone then WTF is he supposed to do guess? Was there a FU yes and like he said when he got home and saw the replays we did he knew they had blown the call. But to admit he knew OU had recovered the ball regardless of procedure he shoud of said something to the Head Offical anyway. Over and done and way past time to move on.

[achiro]

Although the Pac-10 has forbidden him to speak on the topic,
This I don't understand?

As far as seeing the OU player get the ball and not being able to say anything. Here's and easy fix, just say it's OU's ball, or just make something up that favors OU, thats pretty much what you did for uo!:mad:

[Sooner_Bob]

I thought the whole idea of IR was to help determine things such as possesion. Why could he say something to correct that?

If he really couldn't by some freakin' rule then why have IR at all?

[FlatheadSooner]

What about the investigation article (OU Insider?) that had the TV Network feed guy saying 100% of the feeds available to the TV Network were sent up to the replay officials?

[tru2ou]

Still no one has an explaination as to why the official signaled Oregon ball after the onsides kick. If he never found the ball, how could he rule possession?

That is the guy that should be investigated. He gave a team posession without ever witnessing it. That is about as crooked as it gets.

Reise just added insult to injury by not correcting the mistake.

- TRU

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

apparently he wasn't given the replays that he could determind the right call for whatever reason...

says who? him? why should he get the benefit of a doubt when hiding behind "i can't talk about it"?

[soonermaticsam]

If this screw job is going to be "revisited" it would be nice to have something worth while added to the subject, this article does nothing but make me angry again, if he feels that bad and he's really a Sooner admirer he should break his sacred vow of PAC-10 silence and lay it out for us, but since he isn't, I will continue to believe the blame rest on his shoulders, Riese, thanks for opening the wound.

[ByngSooner]

apparently he wasn't given the replays that he could determind the right call for whatever reason, and thats what I want to know why wasn't he.. If all he saw was replay from OU's end zone then WTF is he supposed to do guess?


If that is the case why did they say "there is indisputable eveidence that the RECEIVING team touched the ball".

Why did the ABC tech guy say they had been shown all the replay angles?

There are so many holes in everything these guys have said it makes me sick.

An attorney would have a field day with that crew if allowed to question them. There is no other explanation than blatant cheating. End of story.

[JohnnyMack]

*yawn*

That's my response to most of your posts.

[OUAndy1807]

apparently he wasn't given the replays that he could determind the right call for whatever reason, and thats what I want to know why wasn't he.. If all he saw was replay from OU's end zone then WTF is he supposed to do guess? Was there a FU yes and like he said when he got home and saw the replays we did he knew they had blown the call. But to admit he knew OU had recovered the ball regardless of procedure he shoud of said something to the Head Offical anyway. Over and done and way past time to move on.
he had reviewed 4 plays previously, did he do that using just the endzone angle? If the other views were available on previous calls, he should have demanded that no call be made until he saw all the angles he know were available to him, rather than making a call with insufficient information.

[Soonerus]

His explanation is total bull****...I believe he has crossed the line of insanity over this, or maybe he was already there...

[Widescreen]

This wouldn't be a huge deal if we'd lost another game or 2 - or even if we (spit) lose to pokie state. But if we win Sat and we're kept out of a BCS game... :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[SoonerDood]

Eff that POS

[crawfish]

The correct reponse would've been to refuse to make a call because of insufficient evidence with the given camera angles.

Agree that the refs on the field were more at fault than Reise was.

[sendbaht]

I went to the game, had to bus ride back with all the Duck fans, they seemed so happy. i was getting texted on my cell...Sooners were robbed... i did not understand. I thought the Sooner fought a good game and my USC friends back in LA were just trying to make me feel better. I showed the text to my wife, she just smiled. One long bus ride back to the parking lot that day... Then we started our drive back, checked into a motel...and saw the replay... i was mad, sad, and angry... but in life we forgive folks to be forgiving our selfs... so, i moved on and love my Sooner all the more!
Go A&M, this week only...

[Ruuuuuufus]

ample means many

[Ike]

Dear Gordon Riese:

Being thanksgiving, as today is, I forgive you. I forgive you for not having the nuts to demand to see every available replay angle. I forgive you for informing the on-field refs that there was "indisputable video evidence blah blah blah". I forgive you for deciding that now is a good time to re-open that wound for us.

So have a happy thanksgiving Gordo. I forgive you, but you're still an ***.

[Zing]

There was an article written after speaking with the video techs a few weeks ago, and they said that he had every angle in that booth. The guy's lying through his teeth.

[FlatheadSooner]

I think this one is for 60-Minutes. Stay tuned. :rolleyes:

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

says who? him? why should he get the benefit of a doubt when hiding behind "i can't talk about it"?

This is the heart of the matter. If there's something significant that he knows that isn't already public knowledge, and he can't (or won't) talk about it, he should STFU and stop already with the tease.

[ou4me]

If there's something significant that he knows that isn't already public knowledge, and he can't (or won't) talk about it, he should STFU and stop already with the tease.


But that wouldn't make for a good build-up to "The Gordon Reise Story: My Time as a PAC-10 Moron" coming soon to LifetimeTV

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Dear George Schroeder (I would send this to you directly if the Daily Oklamoran online provided the capability to its patrons):

You write, "Although the Pac-10 has forbidden him to speak on the topic, Riese hints there's plenty of blame to go around. He says he saw just one replay angle of the onside kick. But he won't explain why that was, whether it was a technical or human error."

What kind of journalist are you?

You accept this BS at face value?

You give air time (so to speak) to Riese's excuses and let him "hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge" without demanding to know what he's hinting around about?

We heard this same crap from him back in September. Why are you dredging it up again now when he's saying nothing new?

You also write, "When the season ends, Riese's career will, too."

So if he's giving up officiating anyway, what repercusssions does he have to fear from that scary ol' Pac 10 that's forbidden him to speak? Did that little test of common sense ever cross your mind? WHAT'S STOPPING HIM FROM SPILLING THE TRUTH NOW? HUH?? Are they going to FIRE him?

Geez man. Aspire to something bigger. Do your job.

/rant

[Piware]

I find his public statement re: "what really happened" as credible as his claims that Sooner fans threatened his life.

It took Gordo 60 days to figure out that the PAC-10 gleefully made him the goat and now he is trying to spin it. Sorry dude, this should have come to the front before the sun set on Autzen.

Maybe he thinks OU is going to sue him for the lost bowl revenue his wussy little act cost us. He has pulled similar stunts when officiating on the field but no one ever had the cajones to call him on it.

[Readyfor8]

Dear George Schroeder (I would send this to you directly if the Daily Oklamoran online provided the capability to its patrons):

You write, "Although the Pac-10 has forbidden him to speak on the topic, Riese hints there's plenty of blame to go around. He says he saw just one replay angle of the onside kick. But he won't explain why that was, whether it was a technical or human error."

What kind of journalist are you?

You accept this BS at face value?

You give air time (so to speak) to Riese's excuses and let him "hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge" without demanding to know what he's hinting around about?

We heard this same crap from him back in September. Why are you dredging it up again now when he's saying nothing new?

You also write, "When the season ends, Riese's career will, too."

So if he's giving up officiating anyway, what repercusssions does he have to fear from that scary ol' Pac 10 that's forbidden him to speak? Did that little test of common sense ever cross your mind? WHAT'S STOPPING HIM FROM SPILLING THE TRUTH NOW? HUH?? Are they going to FIRE him?

Geez man. Aspire to something bigger. Do your job.

/rant

I feel bad for it, but I am goind to take up for a Daily Oklahoman writer.

Schroeder should bring this up, and he should bring it up now when we are on the cusp of a BCS Bowl. It reminds people that we got jobbed but good in September, and it does us a service even if it doesn't shed any new light on the subject.

Second, Riese could be liabel for giving information if he signed any confidentiality paperwork which I'm sure he did after this fiasco. We aren't talking about something he could let slip and might get fired for, we are talking about a multi-million dollar law suit, another smudge on another BCS National Championship birth (1 loss to Texas puts us atleast in the mix,) and hostile relationships between college and conference in more than one state.

None of this is new to me, and none of it suprises me, but this article did get picked up on ESPN's College Football page, and if one AP, Coaches Poll, or Harris Poll voter reads it, it was worth the print in my opinion.

[KABOOKIE]

Tough **** ref.

[swardboy]

I feel bad for it, but I am goind to take up for a Daily Oklahoman writer.

Schroeder should bring this up, and he should bring it up now when we are on the cusp of a BCS Bowl. It reminds people that we got jobbed but good in September, and it does us a service even if it doesn't shed any new light on the subject.

Second, Riese could be liabel for giving information if he signed any confidentiality paperwork which I'm sure he did after this fiasco. We aren't talking about something he could let slip and might get fired for, we are talking about a multi-million dollar law suit, another smudge on another BCS National Championship birth (1 loss to Texas puts us atleast in the mix,) and hostile relationships between college and conference in more than one state.

None of this is new to me, and none of it suprises me, but this article did get picked up on ESPN's College Football page, and if one AP, Coaches Poll, or Harris Poll voter reads it, it was worth the print in my opinion.


The truth shall set you free!

[sooneron]

I think the entire officiating crew should be brought into a tv studio and they should answer questions as the video is taken frame by frame. I want to hear the jackhole's excuse for awarding uo the ball in the first place. I want to know what was going through his head as he signaled first down Oregon. I also want them to answer to the "phantom pass tip" that they failed to see three plays later. Oh yeah, that would take balls and honor to do that, something missing from the left coast.

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

I think the entire officiating crew should be brought into a tv studio and they should answer questions as the video is taken frame by frame. I want to hear the jackhole's excuse for awarding uo the ball in the first place. I want to know what was going through his head as he signaled first down Oregon. I also want them to answer to the "phantom pass tip" that they failed to see three plays later. Oh yeah, that would take balls and honor to do that, something missing from the left coast.

spekage.

[TUSooner]

Schroeder's story is useless unless he sends it to all the Harris Poll voters.
And, 'oh, by the way,' Riese becomes totally insignificant indeed if we don't win tomorrow.

[SoonerBorn]

I think what bothers me the most is the lack of recourse. Everyone from the officials to the Oregon players to the PAC-10 itself agrees with OU that a bad call was made and that it changed the outcome of the game. It should be fixable.

Of course, Oregon could just forfeit the game. But I guess alot of pride is tied up in being 7-4 rather than 6-5.

[GrapevineSooner]

To reiterate,

* I don't think Oregon should forfeit the game. It wasn't the fault of the players or coaches on the Oregon side that the wrong call was made. Show me a time in recent history where a team forfeited a win because they benefited from a bad call. (I know Marc will hate me for bringing this up ;) ) Did the KC Royals forefeit their 1985 World Championship because Don Dekinger blew a call in Game 6?

Point is, I don't want to set a slippery-slope precedent where teams can simply demand that the result of a game be overturned simply because of a bad call.

* We still had two chances to win the game. On defense and with the field goal attempt at the end. Sure, the right call gets made and we run the clock out. But bad calls are a part of sports and sometimes you have to overcome them.

* The onfield official who ruled that was Oregon ball should have been fired immediately after the game. And the Pac 10's response to the disciplinary action against the refs was incredibly weak at best.

If what Riese is saying about replay officials not having the ability to overturn fumble calls on the field is correct, then Joe Castiglione should call up the Pac 10 and tell them to fix that oversight in the rules. If it doesn't get fixed during the offseason, we cancel our game at Washington in 2008.

[Scott D]

I think we need at least another 6 threads about that story.

[Getem]

What about the replay technician? I thought I heard that he was an Oregon student. ABC can say they sent all the angles to the booth, but no one knows what Reise saw except the people in the booth. Would the replay tech have the ability to limit what Reise saw? Wasn't the tech suspended for the year as well? That could be your dirty guy right there. What's HIS phone number?

[Scott D]

I heard that the ABC guy's brother's sister's cousin's friend went to kindergarten with Phil Knight, and THAT is why ABC never made those other angles available.

[OUAndy1807]

I heard that the ABC guy's brother's sister's cousin's friend went to kindergarten with Phil Knight, and THAT is why ABC never made those other angles available.
interesting, but I'll have to do some research on my own before I'll believe it. Do you know the guys name?

[Scott D]

Joe Bellotti ;)

[OUAndy1807]

if that's the case, the link may be closer than you initially let on.

[Scott D]

well you know, that's because I thought it would probably be safer to let the fine people in this forum put the links together themselves, because clearly they'll be rational and use logic.

[PLaw]

All the more the reason the NCAA is so screwed up.

Man, I hope Congress rules against their non-profit status.

BOOMER SOONER
PLaw

[stoopified]

If this screw job is going to be "revisited" it would be nice to have something worth while added to the subject, this article does nothing but make me angry again, if he feels that bad and he's really a Sooner admirer he should break his sacred vow of PAC-10 silence and lay it out for us, but since he isn't, I will continue to believe the blame rest on his shoulders, Riese, thanks for opening the wound.Amen.