High School Game
You know that theory that says if you say something out loud then it won't happen? Like "break a leg". I'm telling you that theory is a load of crap.
So, here's the story... during halftime of the JV game a parent walks up to me and asks, "can I ask you about a play I saw in a game earlier in the season. I don't understand what happened." Sure, no problem.
His explanation goes like this; a short scrimmage kick (i.e., a punt) crosses the expanded neutral zone (more on this is a minute), hits a player on the defense, bounces back over to the kickers side, where they gain possession of the ball, advance, and is tackled short of the line to gain (i.e., they did not make a first down).
"They gave the offense a first down. Was that right?", he asks. I confidently said, "yes, because the defense touch the ball. If they had not touched the ball then the refs were wrong." He believed me. I kinda, more-or-less, believed myself. I thanked the guy for bringing this up, because now it won't happen.
Of course, it did.
Ok, class, now stay with me on this one. (Rule 5-1-3-f) When a scrimmage down ends with the ball in the field of play or out of bounds between the goal lines, a new series is awarded to: F) The team in possession at the end of the down, if the defense is the first to touch a scrimmage kick while it is beyond the expanded neutral zone...
The F) means there are 7 conditions where a new series is awarded; A through G.
Expanded neutral zone? For reference, the normal, none expanded neutral zone is the line of scrimmage. The neutral zone for a scrimmage down is as wide as the length if the football (rule 2-28-1). The NZ may be expanded following the snap up to a maximum of 2 yards behind the defensive line of scrimmage... (rule 2-28-2)
OK, so when MAY it get expanded? You are not going to find some nice paragraph that explains this. Basically, the Expanded NZ exists to eliminate needless flags. For example, rule 7-5-12 says, "ineligible offensive players may not advance beyond the expanded NZ on a legal forward pass play before a legal forward pass crosses the neutral zone in flight...
The point is if a ineligible offensive lineman is within two yards of the original line-of-scrimmage, this is not a foul for ineligibly receiver down field. The same holds true for the punt I described above - ball needs to cross the ENZ.
Does this make sense? If the defense touch the ball beyond the ENZ, (and this can mean some poor kid gets hit on top of the head when he is not looking), whichever team gains possession of the ball will have a new series.
Now don't get cocky and think you understand this yet. Rule 6-2-6 says, the touching of a low scrimmage kick by any player is ignored if the touching is in or behind the expanded neutral zone. IGNORE this touching.
Hold on... there's more. Rule 6-2-3 says, any offensive player may catch or recover a scrimmage kick while it is in or behind the neutral zone and advance...
But....
Let's go back to (Rule 5-1-3-f) When a scrimmage down ends with the ball in the field of play or out of bounds between the goal lines, a new series is awarded to: C) the defense, if at the end of the forth down, the ball belongs to the offense behind the line to gain.
See why this expanded neutral zone thing is important? A mere six feet (two yards) makes the difference if the defense touches the ball and the offense gains possession.
So, please, someone talk to me about lotto numbers because I need this to really, really happen!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Play until you hear the whistle
College Game
Some days are simply perfect football days. A slight chill in the air, a gentle breeze, the glistening sheen of artificial turf. Grass stains are a thing of the past. Aesthetics and meteorology aside the day was superb... until the last two minutes.
I had another actual, for real, legit, Clipping call and a Chop Block. (click on hyperlink to refresh your memory on clipping and why it is rare.) The clipping was beautiful. Right out of the book, no judgment needed, right in front me. I should make next years training tape.
The chop block was also beautiful, but for another reason. I toss the flag, the QB was sacked for a loss, and the defense decides to decline because it would make it 4th and long. The victim protests to the Referee, "Can you watch the high, low blocks?" My White Hat says, "we did" as he picks my flag off the ground and tosses it to me. The player says, "You guys rock".
Ya, we know... for 58 minutes.
So, with about 2 minutes remaining the game is tied at 27-27. The visitors are on their own 15 yard line. There is a fumble, a scramble for the ball, the defense picks-up the ball and scores. The only problem was there was a whistle during the fumble. This is called an Inadvertent Whistle (IW) and is a bad, bad, bad thing to do. If an official has an inadvertent whistle they have to buy the beer. The IW impacts the game for sure, but buying the beer... now that hurts.
Here's the rule: If an official sounds his whistle inadvertently...
1) when the ball is in player possession, then the team in possession may elect to put the ball in play where declared dead or replay the down.
2) When the ball is loose from a fumble, then the team in possession may elect to put the ball in play where possession is lost or replay the down.
There are two additional conditions in the IW ruling which I'll leave out, but the pattern is the same -- the team in possession of the ball at the time of the IW may elect to 'redo' the down and pretend like the play never happened, or they can take the result of the play.
Did I fail to mention the defense had been down 27-14 at halftime and had just scored two consecutive touchdowns to tie the score? Ya, let's try to forget you didn't get a TD.
For this post we are concerned about situation #2. The ball is fumbled, rolls around, touched by multiple players... so how do we know where possession is lost? The beanbag.
Next time you watch a game, and there is a fumble, watch the official nearest the fumble. You will see his beanbag mark the spot where 'possession is lost'. This spot is not only for the unfortunate inadvertent whistle, but is the end of the run. The end of the run is a penalty enforcement spot for fouls during the loose ball.
Now, back to the tied game, with a fumble, inadvertent whistle, fumble recovery, touchdown..... and no f-ing beanbag. Needless to say, this took a minute or three to figure out. Then it got better. And worse.
So, a few plays later, the defense... the ones who should have scored the TD, are flagged for roughing the passer. A huge 15 yard penalty with an automatic first down. Two plays later they have moved the ball to around the 25 yard line and decide to kick a field goal.... which they made and won the game with 1.7 seconds remaining.
One little missed-timed whistle can change everything. Oh, and why was the whistle blown? The coach wanted a timeout.
So the fans are screaming insults, the coach calls us names and says he sending film to our bosses, and we ask for a security escort to our cars.
Did I mention the weather was great!
Some days are simply perfect football days. A slight chill in the air, a gentle breeze, the glistening sheen of artificial turf. Grass stains are a thing of the past. Aesthetics and meteorology aside the day was superb... until the last two minutes.
I had another actual, for real, legit, Clipping call and a Chop Block. (click on hyperlink to refresh your memory on clipping and why it is rare.) The clipping was beautiful. Right out of the book, no judgment needed, right in front me. I should make next years training tape.
The chop block was also beautiful, but for another reason. I toss the flag, the QB was sacked for a loss, and the defense decides to decline because it would make it 4th and long. The victim protests to the Referee, "Can you watch the high, low blocks?" My White Hat says, "we did" as he picks my flag off the ground and tosses it to me. The player says, "You guys rock".
Ya, we know... for 58 minutes.
So, with about 2 minutes remaining the game is tied at 27-27. The visitors are on their own 15 yard line. There is a fumble, a scramble for the ball, the defense picks-up the ball and scores. The only problem was there was a whistle during the fumble. This is called an Inadvertent Whistle (IW) and is a bad, bad, bad thing to do. If an official has an inadvertent whistle they have to buy the beer. The IW impacts the game for sure, but buying the beer... now that hurts.
Here's the rule: If an official sounds his whistle inadvertently...
1) when the ball is in player possession, then the team in possession may elect to put the ball in play where declared dead or replay the down.
2) When the ball is loose from a fumble, then the team in possession may elect to put the ball in play where possession is lost or replay the down.
There are two additional conditions in the IW ruling which I'll leave out, but the pattern is the same -- the team in possession of the ball at the time of the IW may elect to 'redo' the down and pretend like the play never happened, or they can take the result of the play.
Did I fail to mention the defense had been down 27-14 at halftime and had just scored two consecutive touchdowns to tie the score? Ya, let's try to forget you didn't get a TD.
For this post we are concerned about situation #2. The ball is fumbled, rolls around, touched by multiple players... so how do we know where possession is lost? The beanbag.
Next time you watch a game, and there is a fumble, watch the official nearest the fumble. You will see his beanbag mark the spot where 'possession is lost'. This spot is not only for the unfortunate inadvertent whistle, but is the end of the run. The end of the run is a penalty enforcement spot for fouls during the loose ball.
Now, back to the tied game, with a fumble, inadvertent whistle, fumble recovery, touchdown..... and no f-ing beanbag. Needless to say, this took a minute or three to figure out. Then it got better. And worse.
So, a few plays later, the defense... the ones who should have scored the TD, are flagged for roughing the passer. A huge 15 yard penalty with an automatic first down. Two plays later they have moved the ball to around the 25 yard line and decide to kick a field goal.... which they made and won the game with 1.7 seconds remaining.
One little missed-timed whistle can change everything. Oh, and why was the whistle blown? The coach wanted a timeout.
So the fans are screaming insults, the coach calls us names and says he sending film to our bosses, and we ask for a security escort to our cars.
Did I mention the weather was great!
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