Officiating Super Bowl LXI

ADAM WRITES... Hey Jim,

After watching the SuperBowl last night, I learned a disturbing fact. The NFL Field Judge who officiated was #58, Jim Saracino.

When I "ask Jim," how do I know that I'm asking Jim Saraceno and not Jim Saracino?

And Jim, when you provide me an answer to this question, how will I know you're not lying?

And how will I know that you're not lying when you answer THAT question???

And Droz writes... Hey Jim,

I also noticed the official during the Super Bowl. Unfortunately I noticed him because he got a call wrong. Do you think this ruins any chance you had of becoming a referee in the NFL? Did you ever aspire to be referee in the NFL?

Thanks
-Droz

So first, let me say that I can’t get all the calls right all the time. This was my first game as a ref. I usually just watch the game on TV but I came up with this great idea to get a better view of the game. Just show up in a striped shirt and tell them I’m one of the refs. Who’d know the difference, right? So it worked fine until I had to make a call. Hell I wasn’t even watching that guy, I was checking out one of the cheerleaders when I realized I was supposed to say “In” or “out” or “safe” of something. I figured I had a 50/50 chance. Oh well, C’est la vie!


Anyway, here is the announcement of the officiating crew for Super Bowl LXI:


Corrente Named Referee For Super Bowl XLI
January 31, 2007
By SportsTicker

MIAMI (Ticker) - Tony Corrente has been bestowed with his first Super Bowl assignment as a referee.
The NFL announced Wednesday that Corrente, who is concluding his 12th season as a game official, will head the seven-man crew of game officials selected to work Super Bowl XLI between the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts.
Corrente served as the alternate referee for last year's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.
The rest of the Super Bowl XLI officiating crew will consist of umpire Carl Paganelli, linesman George Hayward, line judge Rod Marinucci, field judge Jim Saracino, side judge John Parry and back judge Perry Paganelli. The Paganelli's are the first set of brothers ever assigned to officiate a Super Bowl.
Under the NFL's officiating program's evaluation system, the highest-rated officials at each position with the appropriate experience earn the right to work the Super Bowl. Officials must have five years of experience and previous playoff assignments.

Mark Burns is the replay assistant and will be working his second Super Bowl. Jeff Triplette, Butch Hannah, Carl Johnson, Buddy Horton and Rich Reels will serve as alternate officials.

So here is what a couple of Bears fans had to say about me and my crew:


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I don't understand, why would you pick the WORST crew for the Super Bowl?????

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This looks like the all-Italian team!! I'm just glad we don't have to endure 3 plus hours of Hochuli!!!

Well, everyone is a critic and the Bears fans are just plain sore losers. But some time you just have to say “What the Heck?!”

Oh, and the question about lying... well I lie a lot but I wouldn’t lie about that, unless I’m lying about this.

p.s. My son reminds me that this is neither the first nor the worst call in sports history. For those who may be new here and want to read about a truely bad call, one that probably affected the outcome of the 1985 World Series, you may want to follow this link to an older "Ask Jim" post. http://askjimblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/worst-umpires-call-in-cardinals.html