The worst referee in the history of college football and someone with an apparent personal vendetta against the Florida Gators may be prominently involved in tomorrow's BCS Championship Game.
It's likely that ACC veteran Jack Childress will head the crew. Childress is no-nonsense, but sometimes he likes to throw the flag a little too much. If he is the head referee, with any luck, he will let some emotions flow and simply separate players.
Jack Childress was the official for the 'Swindle In The Swamp' (or 'The ACC Refs Game') when Childress and his band of goons made SIX crucial calls against the Gators against Florida State in 2003. The errors were serious enough for the ACC commissioner to conduct a review. Not only that, the game was used as the reason why college football went to the "Review Everything" system and not the "Coach's Challenge." If there was a challenge, only a third of Childress' craptacular calls would have been overturned.
I'll be honest, if Jack Childress shows up tomorrow, I will be furious. Florida will not only have to deal with Sam Bradford, but an official who thinks he is the most important part of the game. I am aware that there are other officials on the field with Childress, but his incompetence spread to his crew. Florida lost that game 38-34. Maybe 1 or 2 calls wouldn't make a difference, but there were SIX. In a game expected to be a shootout, Jack Childress may get a chance to show the nation how terrible of an official he is. And the Gators may pay for it.
0 recs | 8 comments
Don't worry about the officials bro
Game Time countdown
skigator93 - January 7, 2009
Inside of 24 hrs now
Instant replay sometimes sucks just as bad as a certian ref remember the OU/Oregon game? Good god what an abortion that was. I feel your pain.
boomer1 - January 7, 2009
I remember watching that game before a UF-Tennessee game. That was horrific.
mlmintampa - January 7, 2009
Um
Calls against the Gators doesn’t mean incorrect calls…
Conducting a review doesn’t mean improprieties were found
Childress routinely grades out as one of College football’s best officials.
If there is beef to be had it is that he explains every call and is too demonstrative.
You guys are wrong here, however, as Childress isn’t doing the game— Ron Cherry is! Cherry’s crew throws 2 more flags per game than any other ACC crew.
Bud Elliott - January 8, 2009
I’ve hard the same about Cherry, but haven’t seen it beyond a message board. The Pensacola paper isn’t the New York Times, but it’s a real newspaper. And yes, Gator fans still boil over that game. I also like that someone thinks FSU is now cursed, since they have not defeated Florida since that game; http://curseoftheswamp.com/
mlmintampa - January 8, 2009
hmm... somebody knew it was Ron Cherry and not Childress...
Bud Elliott - January 9, 2009
Childress is HORRIBLE
Please tell me Cherry is throwing the flags tonight. I don’t care if he throws more than Childress…at least his calls can’t be nearly as bad or as partial as Childress’. I nearly ran onto the playing surface following the 2003 “Swindle in the Swamp.” At least there is no ACC team involved or you may as well watch something else. They ought to give Childress a polygraph test and ask if he refereed the 2003 UF-FSU game fairly. I bet he’d fail it.
ER49 - January 8, 2009
I believe someone wrote a report detailing ALL the missed calls in the game
not just the ones vs Florida
FSUSOM - January 8, 2009
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