Who Throws The Most Flags?

They've been throwing penalty flags this season like they're going out of style.
But who, exactly, is “they?”

Merely out of curiosity, we thought we'd take a look at which officials are contributing the most to this year's orange crush on CFL fields across the country. Of course there aren't records that indicate which official actually throws a flag, but let's consider this a guilt-by-association statistic. If you're part of the crew, you're contributing to the penalty total.

Al Bradbury is the winner among head referees, as his contests have featured an average of 22.9 penalties per game. That's nearly five infractions more – per game – than the CFL average over the last several seasons. Kim Murphy, who some regard as the league's top game caller, isn't far behind with 22.5 penalties in the matches he has overseen.

The good news is the number of penalties is dropping. There hasn't been a game with more than 25 infractions since late August, and the average is down to 21.6. That's still, however, nearly 20% more than last year.

So consider the accompanying list as a warning that the game you're watching could feature more penalties than usual from these flag-happy officials.

The official who has been involved in the games with the fewest flags is umpire Ritchie Miller, the brother of Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller. Games involving Ritchie Miller as an umpire have featured only 18.6 penalties, which is right around the league average from the past few seasons.

FLAG HAPPY
The CFL officials who have been involved in the games with the most penalties this season:
REFEREES: G Pen. Pen/G
Al Bradbury: 11, 252, 22.9
Kim Murphy: 12, 270, 22.5
Dave Foxcroft: 11, 235, 21.4
Tom Vallesi: 11, 230, 20.9
Andre Proulx: 11, 223, 20.3
OTHER OFFICIALS: G Pen. Pen/G
Cam Schwieder, linesman: 9, 219, 24.3
Parry Steen, umpire: 9, 219, 24.3
Thomas Cesari, line judge: 9, 214, 23.8
Jocelyn Paul, side judge: 10, 236, 23.6
Chris Shapka, line judge: 8, 187, 23.4
Brian Chrupalo, field judge: 10, 234, 23.4
Bryan Taylor, field judge: 11, 255, 23.2
Dave Gatza, back judge: 10, 231, 23.1
Ben Major, umpire: 12, 277, 23.1

(Kirk Penton-Winnipeg Sun)