The College football contest on Saturday was another example of how disappointing the game can be at the Community College level. Long time readers may recall my ranting about just how poor game administration can be at some facilities. Combine this with behavior by the players and you have ingredients for a crappy game. Saturday's game was crappy.
A total of ninety-three points were scored (38-55), there were a total of thirty (30) fouls, ten(10) of which were Personal Fouls, two (2) Unsportsmanlike Conduct, and a player Disqualification (Ejection). So, nearly 50% of the fouls were by players acting STUPID and not playing football.
In the second quarter, the Referee approached each sideline and asked the coaches to control their teams. In the third quarter, we actually stopped the game and brought the coaches to the middle of the field and directed them to control their teams. Pretty sad to have to do this with 'adults' who are not playing the game for money.
I was the official who ejected a player for throwing a punch.
All during the game the 25-second clock was malfunctioning. We finally just kept the play clock on the field. Before the game started we had to wait twenty minutes before we could get into our locker room. This delayed our pre-game preparation. Then after the warm-up period before the game begins the teams usually go back to the locker rooms. Neither locker was open and the two teams were mingling in the same area outside the stadium. We had stand between the teams to prevent any possible altercations.
What made this a bit uneasy is our jurisdiction pretty much only applies to the field. So, now were our outside the stadium. I'm not really sure what the protocol should be here, but we thought it best to do preventative officiating.
There was a very interesting play
This is play very interesting and we still do not know what the right answer is. During the game we did not flag this is action as a foul. While having beers after the game I think we convinced ourselves we wanted this to be a foul, but could not find anything in the rule book to state this was a foul. Here is the situation.
The visitors have lined-up for Field Goal on fourth down. They line-up with these huge splits between the center and the next lineman... like, five yard splits. The have a kicker, holder, and two personal protectors -- odd. And then the other three players spread out wide. If you are paying attention you will notice there are only ten players on the field.
The Referee and I both indicate there are only ten on the field. This is odd, but no big deal. The snap goes off and its going to be a fake Field Goal... ok, haven't seen one of these in a long time. And all of a sudden, the holder throws the ball thirty yards downfield to some receiver who came out no where. The Referee and I look at one another and chase down the Linesman. When we asked if this player had substituted properly. He said he was a player who was part of the previous play. But the team ran a group of people off the field for the field goal attempt. Something looked funny.
Rule 9-2-2-b says "not simulated replacements or substitutions may be used to confuse opponents. No tactic associated with substitutes or the substitution process may be used to confuse opponents.
In the back of the college rule book there is a section called Interpretations. The Interpretations are play examples that help explain the rules. One of the Interpretation related to this play reads as follows; "A1 leaves the field of play during a down. Team A (the offense) huddles with 10 players. Substitute A12 enters, and A2 simulates leaving the field but sets near the sideline for a "hide out" pass." This is considered a simulated replacement to confuse the opponent and is a 15 yard penalty for Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
I think we blew it on this play. The team gained about 25 yards and made the first down. They scored the next play. Since the score was 38-55 is didn't change the outcome, but I think we let them get away with it.
