JV
I worked Umpire during the JV game and had one game altering call. Late in the fourth quarter the visiting team QB drops back for a pass, scrambles, gets in trouble, and then chucks the ball downfield to number 43 who makes a outstanding, leaping catch in spite of being double teamed. Too bad his team mate, number 76, drifted four yards down field. During pass plays, linemen are restricted from going downfield beyond the expanded neutral zone (i.e., more than 1 yard). Obviously, the coach was not very happy, especially when the final score was 27-22.
Varsity
As mentioned, this was my first varsity White Hat of the 2008 season and overall, my second 11-man game as varsity Referee (excluding the eight-man game earlier this season).
This game was personally important because I was told I am next in-line to become a Crew Chief. This was both a training exercise and an interview of sorts. There was nothing formal about the process, but had I made any major mistakes it would have been reported back to the assigner.
We are required to give teams
Then the Athletic Director informs me tonight was Homecoming and they have arranged for a special coin-flipper this evening. He was very excited that someone paid $1,000 to have the honor of the coin flip. Great. Of course, the AD never introduced me to the person or explained the format of what was supposed to happen. I guess he was too excited. I finally found out who the person was and made it up.
And to top it off the stadium was packed with people. Adding to the pre-game grief was the Head Linesman was a rookie with this being his first Varsity game ever. Great.
But with all these hiccups what I found very odd was I had no anxiety or nerves. I felt comfortable, relaxed and in control. It helped that this game was the battle of the losers. This is not to say it was easy. When you have two evenly matched teams, and the game is close, the calls/no calls become more important.
Twice during the game I waived off my own flag. The first was on a Roughing the Passer. My initial reaction was the defender drove the QB too hard into the ground. It wasn’t so much that he contacted him, because he was already committed, but it was the way he didn’t let-up at all. After a moment of reflection, I decided it was borderline at best and not a foul.
Then, later in the game when the QB was in trouble, I had to make one of those instantaneous fumble/incomplete pass decisions. I ruled fumble and threw a beanbag to mark the spot. Well, actually I threw a flag. Don’t ask I don’t know either. But I waived off my own flag again. I got ribbed about that all the way home.
I called a Roughing the Holder during a Try. The Try was unsuccessful, so they chose the half-the-distance penalty and attempted two-points. They made it.
I called an Illegal Shift when the Tailback and Fullback both shift at the snap. Good thing I remembered this was a live-ball foul.
Otherwise, a fairly routine game. The game ended at
Next post I’ll report on Saturday’s game. Some of my predictions from the previous came true.
