Pre-Game Tunnel Exchange: Saints Fans & Ref Gary Cavaletto (1 Viewer)

[Mischief Man]

Long-time lurker, first time really posting. Sorry for the long post in advance.

Situation:

I’m a season ticket holder and was invited to take part in the on-field pregame flag unfurling for team intro / national anthem. This required myself and a group of 60 or 70 other Saints fans to wait deep inside one of the tunnels that leads to the field for around the ~45 min prior to kickoff.

During this waiting period, at about 1:35 pm (~35 min prior to kick-off), each of the officials (one-at a time) came walking off the field and through the tunnel and passed right by the area where we were all assembled. When the fans noticed the refs going by, a fair amount of us started some light-hearted shoutings like "don't screw us over", or "no flags on the saints", etc.

As each ref went by, each seemed to be "All-business", walking with purpose, stern looks on their faces, fully ignoring any fans trying to get a reaction. I noticed Bill Vinovich (the only ref I recognized) walk by, fully ignoring me and the other saints fans.

However, the last ref to come through the tunnel was noticeably different in demeanor – no "all-business" here – as he was sporting a rather large grin at the sight of Saints fans off to the side in the tunnel. He stopped right in front of a group of fans and appeared ready to engage a bit of back-and-forth crap-talking or at least some chit-chat with the intrigued group of fans. He ultimately exchanged some words with the group for probably ~30-40 seconds as his crewmates had already continued toward wherever their destination was. I was 15-20 feet from him, so I unfortunately could not hear specifically what the ref was saying back to some of the fans. By people’s reactions, my assumption is that this exchange remained mostly good-natured, but also had the vibe as it might’ve been a bit of ribbing or smack talking going on regarding the game to come.

While this exchange was nothing insane or aggressive, I’ve personally never seen an exchange like this between a ref and fans when on field level (and within sites of tv cameras), whether pre-game or not. All I've seen is that refs don’t really talk to fans. So at the time, I specifically remember thinking to myself, “that’s kinda odd, this ref chumming it up with some fans in the tunnel so close to gametime (particularly when compared to his stoic crewmates).”

I only realized after the game that this ref who stopped to engage this bit of smack talk was line judge Gary Cavaletto, the key culprit who royally screwed our Saints with his willful decision to not call the most blatant pass interference of all time.

Why might this be noteworthy?

This person displayed complete lack of professionalism in his choice to not enforce the rules on this critical play. And this person’s actions could also be considered less-than-professional in his engaging of some pre-game antics with some smack-talking (yet good-spirited) fans.

Was this pregame exchange Gary’s version of 'poking the bear' knowing that he had a line of traps set up around the corner? I’m not sure. All I know is there is no reasonable explanation for his epically abysmal performance.

 

[Yatman]

Well done, MM. Reads like an episode of Curse of Oak Island. Wouldn't surprise me for a moment if it were all true.

Cavaletto and his striped podnahs saw it, knew it, and blew it.

 

[latechsaint26]

I’ve done the flag on the field before and one of the refs brought me back to the ref locker room after the game and gave me some t-shirts and the hat he wore in the game.

Some of them are just nice.

It was hard to say that.

 

[superchuck500]

The more I see the replay, the problem was (side judge) Gary Cavaletto - he’s the culprit here.

 

[efil4stnias]

The more I see the replay, the problem was (side judge) Gary Cavaletto - he’s the culprit here.

you can clearly tell the up field SJ just "folded" and let Cavaletto make the call. Almost as if he was subordinate/submissive.

 

[superchuck500]

you can clearly tell the up field SJ "fold" and let Cavaletto make the call. Almost as if he was subordinate.

He might be - I think certain refs have a sort of jurisdiction over calls in certain locations. The side/line judge might have the call over the down judge on that pass play in that location.

I think that might actually be true.

 

[picnicwithfish]

Would be nice if some video evidence appears.

 

[where yat brah]

My brother and I also did the flag unfurling. The incident in the OP occurred in the waiting area for the pink wristbanded people who did the fleur de lis flag. The whole ref crew passed by and Cavaletto did indeed stop and converse with a fan (or two). I know it was him because I remember his hat being white and most, if not all the rest, had black hats. He seemed jovial and very engaging in whatever discussion he was having but I wasn't close enough to hear what was said.

I recall this because I remember getting my brother's attention to take a look. btw, Last year, I went to a game with a different brother. Hoculi was working that game.

 

[IceHot]

Perhaps he decided before the game started he wasnt going to call anything, thus alleviating himself of any game responsibility.

 

[efil4stnias]

He might be - I think certain refs have a sort of jurisdiction over calls in certain locations. The side/line judge might have the call over the down judge on that pass play in that location.

I think that might actually be true.

and i tussle with that because we have ref "huddles" all the time. Here we had none....a simple incomplete signal and Cavaletto says something to the SJ to which he looks to nod in acceptance and moves on.

just simply remarkable considering the circumstances and the need to get it right as possible.

 

[SaintJ]

My brother and I also did the flag unfurling. The incident in the OP occurred in the waiting area for the pink wristbanded people who did the fleur de lis flag. The whole ref crew passed by and Cavaletto did indeed stop and converse with a fan (or two). I know it was him because I remember his hat being white and most, if not all the rest, had black hats. He seemed jovial and very engaging in whatever discussion he was having but I wasn't close enough to hear what was said.

I recall this because I remember getting my brother's attention to take a look. btw, Last year, I went to a game with a different brother. Hoculi was working that game.

Then that wasn't Cavaletto, it was Vonovich. Referee wears the white cap, all the rest have black.

 

[where yat brah]

I'm pretty sure his hat was white.

 

[LoE]

All I know is he should avoid home and hire some bodyguards.

1) All of us are angry.
2) 99.9999% are sane and will let it slide with a bit of fussing.
3) But there's always nut cases, even in our town.

If I were him, I'd be very worried.

 

[Mischief Man]

I'm pretty sure his hat was white.

The hat was black, and I'm nearly certain it was Cavaletto.

In fact, it struck me as an odd enough situation that I pulled out my phone to try to snap a picture of the ref and this tunnel exchange. I figured maybe I’d look him up after the game. I perched the phone up high above my head to snap the picture, but unfortunately, I must’ve not steadied my hand enough, as the picture came out rather blurry and the ref is mostly blocked by a tall Saints fan too. But this at least shows the hat, and you may be more able to agree it's Cavaletto too.

 

[Bourbon]

I hope those guys never spend another day without looking over their shoulder. I sincerely hope awful things happen to them. I'd spit on their graves.