For longtime followers this is the 100th post. I appreciate you following along and all the great feedback you give me.
I was recently asked how I started officiating football? What is my backstory? This seems like the time to share this with you.
Before I go there, first let me point out that I have deliberately remained anonymous. Some of you know who I am, but most do not. You notice I never mention my name, the teams by name, nor do I mention any other official or coach I work with. I believe I can make this interesting without those particular details, and after 100 posts, no one has ever asked or made a comment about not having these facts. I choose to use this approach so I can be a bit more open about what I say. After all this is named Confessions of an American Football Referee. I've only been challenged once on a statement I made -- I'm still right, by the way.
Flash Way Back
I only played football during my sophomore and junior years in high school. During my sophomore season I started out as a fullback and middle linebacker. I ended-up as an offensive pulling guard. This is where I earned my nickname "caveman".
One day I forgot my socks at practice. One of the coaches says, "damn Wood, you have more hair on you legs than I do. You're a friggin caveman." It was true... kinda still is, but now its migrated to my back.
During this sophomore season I played, started a few games, but mostly worked very hard.
Our coach said he just needed eleven guys who really wanted to play and the rest of you can go home. The guys who work the hardest will be the starters. I believed him. During the summer I decided I was going to make Varsity. My friends laughed at me.
I was the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave. I did all the running he asked, I worked hard, I never spoke back, and I pushed myself. I never gave-up.
The day before our first game my junior season our coach says to the entire team, "I found my first player." And he says my name. My coach kept his promise. I had pushed a senior out of the position and now I was starting Varsity. During season he and I battled back and forth for the position and I think I started half the games. I can fill pages with interesting stories from this single season. Perhaps later.
I did not play football as a senior. This is something I now deeply regret, which deserves explaining some other time.
After I graduated I coached Freshman football for two seasons. I had a blast. This was 1985.
For a dozen years, I had nothing to do with the game of football other than watching games on TV and perhaps going to a UCLA game once a year.
Flash Forward
Now it's 1997. I am new in town, my ex-wife and I are separated, and I'm pretty much alone. The pastor at the church I was attending happened to be a football official and asked if I would be interested in being a referee. I missed the game, had nothing better to do, so why not. the season had already started, so I could not work any games. But I went and asked if I could work on the chain crew.
When I joined the association the pastor arranged it so I could be assigned to his crew. This was very beneficial for me because I had more access to my crew-chief and I could ask more questions. And I asked a lot of questions. And just like in high school, I worked very hard and worked every game I possibly could. Some weekends I would work 12 games.
I was lucky (right place/right time), as is often the case with officiating, when one of the varsity crew members became injured. This opened a spot and I was promoted to the varsity crew my second season (typically it take five seasons). When the injured crew member returned, the pastor said I had earned the spot and it was mine.
Between 1998-2006 I worked two-three seasons of Youth football, but finally stopped. The parents are out of control. The money is good, but not worth the headache. And, of course, I continued to work high school.
I could fill another 100 posts with stories about things that happened during these eight seasons. On of the best things about officiating are the "you remember that game when..." Maybe during the off-season I'll share some of these. I think you'll fine many of them interesting.
Today
2007 brings us to Confessions of an American Football Referee. If you have not done so, go back to the beginning and catch-up.
I still have a college game from last week to report on. I applied some Friday night rules with Saturday rules, and I still need to explain my new nickname - twinkle toes.
No high school games this weekend, but the college game pits two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Illegal Balls?
9/11 Varsity Game
This game is interesting because we had several odd things occur. But first, the non-odd, yet interesting.
I once again had to throw flags for sideline warnings (see this post of a rule description) But this time I deliberately added a dramatic effect. During a long touchdown run I noticed the coach in the restricted area. I tossed my flag right in front of him. The crowd gasped. The coach turned white. I smirked. I told him the first one was just a warning - no yardage. I thought I sent a pretty strong message. I was wrong.
On the second play of the 3rd quarter he was once again in the restricted area. This time the response was "I know this is a point of emphasis this season, but shouldn't you be watching the field?" I guess this coach has not heard about the $10M dollar lawsuit in Texas http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/LawDecisionTX.jsp?hubtype=TxCaseAlert&id=1202431770981&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Basically, an official ran into a coach on the sideline. The coach now has permanent brain damage. This occurred after repeated attempts to warn the coach to stay out of the restricted area. The courts have favored on the side of the officials. I think I will keep throwing flags and stay out of court.
Next, the visitors tried to use an illegal ball when they returned after halftime. The ball was very old, felt sticky (as if it was altered - is was a cold, foggy night) and had no stripes. You may think this is odd, but there is an entire section in the rule book on the ball. It describes how many laces there can be (either 8 or 12), how far apart they can be, how many panels, the air pressure inside, and a continuous 1-inch white or yellow stripe centered 3 to 3 1/4 inches from each end of the ball. The stripes shall be located only on the two panels adjacent to and perpendicular to the seam upon which the laces are stitched.
We had an interesting foul - Illegal Touching. This may be a new one for you, so pay attention. Here is the rule, an ineligible A player (a means offense) has illegally touched a forward pass if he bats, muffs or catches a legal forward pass, unless the pass has first been touched by B (a defensive player).
Bats, muffs or catches for simplicity sake means this "ineligible offensive player" deliberately touched the ball. Being hit in the back of the head by a pass would NOT be illegal touching.
So, you should be asking, which offensive players are ineligible to touch a pass? Linemen. And who are the linemen? Players numbered 50 - 79 (most of the time.)
During this game the QB was in trouble, and to avoid a sack, he tossed the ball to #53 who caught the ball. Oops. Flags. This is a 5-yard, loss-of-down penalty from the spot of the touching. Actually, a pretty big foul.
When I went in to get the information to report to my coach, the White Hat said to enforce this from the previous spot. I said, no this should be a spot foul. He did it from the previous spot anyway.
The next day I got an email from him saying he was wrong and I was right after all. This is rare, because he knows the rules way better than I do. He told me next time I should be assertive and stop him from making mistakes.
The game was actually very well played and was tied 20-20 for a period of time. We did have a player ejection late in the 4th quarter. I did not see the foul, but the calling official said the player took a swing at another player. That will get you tossed every time.
During the college game I earned the nickname ' twinkle toes'. And yes, I'll explain why next post.
This game is interesting because we had several odd things occur. But first, the non-odd, yet interesting.
I once again had to throw flags for sideline warnings (see this post of a rule description) But this time I deliberately added a dramatic effect. During a long touchdown run I noticed the coach in the restricted area. I tossed my flag right in front of him. The crowd gasped. The coach turned white. I smirked. I told him the first one was just a warning - no yardage. I thought I sent a pretty strong message. I was wrong.
On the second play of the 3rd quarter he was once again in the restricted area. This time the response was "I know this is a point of emphasis this season, but shouldn't you be watching the field?" I guess this coach has not heard about the $10M dollar lawsuit in Texas http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/LawDecisionTX.jsp?hubtype=TxCaseAlert&id=1202431770981&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Basically, an official ran into a coach on the sideline. The coach now has permanent brain damage. This occurred after repeated attempts to warn the coach to stay out of the restricted area. The courts have favored on the side of the officials. I think I will keep throwing flags and stay out of court.
Next, the visitors tried to use an illegal ball when they returned after halftime. The ball was very old, felt sticky (as if it was altered - is was a cold, foggy night) and had no stripes. You may think this is odd, but there is an entire section in the rule book on the ball. It describes how many laces there can be (either 8 or 12), how far apart they can be, how many panels, the air pressure inside, and a continuous 1-inch white or yellow stripe centered 3 to 3 1/4 inches from each end of the ball. The stripes shall be located only on the two panels adjacent to and perpendicular to the seam upon which the laces are stitched.
We had an interesting foul - Illegal Touching. This may be a new one for you, so pay attention. Here is the rule, an ineligible A player (a means offense) has illegally touched a forward pass if he bats, muffs or catches a legal forward pass, unless the pass has first been touched by B (a defensive player).
Bats, muffs or catches for simplicity sake means this "ineligible offensive player" deliberately touched the ball. Being hit in the back of the head by a pass would NOT be illegal touching.
So, you should be asking, which offensive players are ineligible to touch a pass? Linemen. And who are the linemen? Players numbered 50 - 79 (most of the time.)
During this game the QB was in trouble, and to avoid a sack, he tossed the ball to #53 who caught the ball. Oops. Flags. This is a 5-yard, loss-of-down penalty from the spot of the touching. Actually, a pretty big foul.
When I went in to get the information to report to my coach, the White Hat said to enforce this from the previous spot. I said, no this should be a spot foul. He did it from the previous spot anyway.
The next day I got an email from him saying he was wrong and I was right after all. This is rare, because he knows the rules way better than I do. He told me next time I should be assertive and stop him from making mistakes.
The game was actually very well played and was tied 20-20 for a period of time. We did have a player ejection late in the 4th quarter. I did not see the foul, but the calling official said the player took a swing at another player. That will get you tossed every time.
During the college game I earned the nickname ' twinkle toes'. And yes, I'll explain why next post.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Phantom of the Fouls
All three games were close fought contests and were filled with drama - often caused by the coaches rather than the action on the field. Some coaches perpetually declare their ignorance each time they open their mouth. Sometimes I just want to tell them to shut the $%#& up.
JV Game
The newest version of the sideline warning violation we discussed last week came into play again. When I tossed the flag the loud-mouth coach thinks it for some phantom foul he sees on the field. He saw a lot of phantom fouls by the way. When I tell him it is a sideline warning on his team he shouts, "on who?" When the play ends I say, "look where you are standing." He babbles something incoherent. Whatever coach just follow the rule and I won't be 'killing you' anymore. I heard that a lot -- you're killing me! But, now he's all over his team and assistant coaches yelling, "get back".
With the clock stopped and eight seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, loud-mouth tells me he wants to take a timeout after this play. Ok, just say it loud so I can hear it - like that will be a problem. The play runs, I hear "timeout" and I quickly stop the clock. After about 20 seconds he says, "why did you call timeout?" So, now you are a loud-mouth schizo? "Why would I do that with two seconds left?" Cuz you're nuts?
Later in the 3rd quarter we were down by the 10 yard line he gets bent all out of shape because he wanted to talk to the White Hat about something. I never heard him ask. He says in an over-the-top sarcastic way, "thanks for listening". I was waiting for the expletive so I could nail him for this too. But it never came. Damn.
One of the phantom fouls that was killing him was something that resembled a block in the back. What is was, was a legal block that looked bad. He says, "that was Clipping, you have to call that." Now, when someone says 'hey, that was clipping' this means they are ignorant.
Clipping is defined as "a block against an opponent when the initial contact is from behind, at or below the waist, and not against a player who is the runner (ball carrier) or pretending to be the runner." (this NOT logic is not a typo. Welcome to the world of rule book interpretations.)
Please, tell me, when was the last time saw clipping or heard this foul reported during any game you've seen on TV? You'll see several blocks in the back during a game, but never clipping.
Part 2 of this relates to something called the free-blocking zone. In this section of the book it states: A player shall not clip or block an opponent in the back EXCEPT: a) in the free-blocking zone.
Now, the free-blocking zone is entire topic in itself, but my point is for Clipping to be called it has to be, more or less, in the open field. This never happens. I don't recall ever throwing a Clipping penalty.
I see Clipping being attempted within the free-blocking zone, but players usually fail in the attempt because they are pursuing the intended victim. Often the offensive guard is pulling and the defender is trying to take him out from behind. Rarely, the defender will beat the guard and the guard goes low on the defender when he passes by him. Not clipping if in the zone.
But why should I expect a guy whose job it is to teach players how to play game to actually understand the rules?
The score was tied 0-0 at halftime and ended up 7-6 in favor of the loud-mouth.
In the Varsity game... we had a horse collar tackle, a player ejection, three sideline warnings (two by me), and illegal touching, and an illegal game ball. Stay tuned.
JV Game
The newest version of the sideline warning violation we discussed last week came into play again. When I tossed the flag the loud-mouth coach thinks it for some phantom foul he sees on the field. He saw a lot of phantom fouls by the way. When I tell him it is a sideline warning on his team he shouts, "on who?" When the play ends I say, "look where you are standing." He babbles something incoherent. Whatever coach just follow the rule and I won't be 'killing you' anymore. I heard that a lot -- you're killing me! But, now he's all over his team and assistant coaches yelling, "get back".
With the clock stopped and eight seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, loud-mouth tells me he wants to take a timeout after this play. Ok, just say it loud so I can hear it - like that will be a problem. The play runs, I hear "timeout" and I quickly stop the clock. After about 20 seconds he says, "why did you call timeout?" So, now you are a loud-mouth schizo? "Why would I do that with two seconds left?" Cuz you're nuts?
Later in the 3rd quarter we were down by the 10 yard line he gets bent all out of shape because he wanted to talk to the White Hat about something. I never heard him ask. He says in an over-the-top sarcastic way, "thanks for listening". I was waiting for the expletive so I could nail him for this too. But it never came. Damn.
One of the phantom fouls that was killing him was something that resembled a block in the back. What is was, was a legal block that looked bad. He says, "that was Clipping, you have to call that." Now, when someone says 'hey, that was clipping' this means they are ignorant.
Clipping is defined as "a block against an opponent when the initial contact is from behind, at or below the waist, and not against a player who is the runner (ball carrier) or pretending to be the runner." (this NOT logic is not a typo. Welcome to the world of rule book interpretations.)
Please, tell me, when was the last time saw clipping or heard this foul reported during any game you've seen on TV? You'll see several blocks in the back during a game, but never clipping.
Part 2 of this relates to something called the free-blocking zone. In this section of the book it states: A player shall not clip or block an opponent in the back EXCEPT: a) in the free-blocking zone.
Now, the free-blocking zone is entire topic in itself, but my point is for Clipping to be called it has to be, more or less, in the open field. This never happens. I don't recall ever throwing a Clipping penalty.
I see Clipping being attempted within the free-blocking zone, but players usually fail in the attempt because they are pursuing the intended victim. Often the offensive guard is pulling and the defender is trying to take him out from behind. Rarely, the defender will beat the guard and the guard goes low on the defender when he passes by him. Not clipping if in the zone.
But why should I expect a guy whose job it is to teach players how to play game to actually understand the rules?
The score was tied 0-0 at halftime and ended up 7-6 in favor of the loud-mouth.
In the Varsity game... we had a horse collar tackle, a player ejection, three sideline warnings (two by me), and illegal touching, and an illegal game ball. Stay tuned.
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