Bowl Game Assignment
Yesterday I had the priviledge of working my first college post-season contest; the first annual Living Breathing Foundation Bowl, hosted in one of the most beautiful places in the world - Monterey, Ca. The air was damp and cold, the threat of rain was eminent, and the promise of a great gridiron battle hung in the air. Both teams were undefeated in conference play. The rain never materialized. Perfect.
I worked with a solid crew including two officials from my local area. In fact, one official worked with me the night before during a High School playoff game -- ironically, held at the same stadium. One official, the line judge, I had never worked with before. The White Hat I may have worked once in the past, but I actually don't recall. As I have written in the past, when you have good officials it does not matter if they have worked together or not. Yesterday was no exception.
Interesting Pre-Game Items
During our pre-game I make a point to emphasize that as the Umpire, I am the judge and jury on equipment legality, but I am not the police. We all as a crew have responsibility for player equipment. I get to be the bad guy, but I can't look at 100+ and catch everything.
Kudoes to our Linesman for bringing to my attention a player with tinted eyeshield and cleats that appears to be too long. Upon inspection, these two item indeed were in violation of the rules. Rule 1-4-5-e [Illegal Equipment] "Shoe cleats more than 1/2 inch in length....". And 1-4-5-s "Eye shields that are not clear, that are tinted....". The player responded, "it's the 11th game and you are the first one to catch this." I said, "Well, it still needs to be fixed." Which he immediately did and even came up to me to show me later it was corrected. Good man.
I Have It Here...
Another pregame discussion has to do with how we will handle pile-ups at the goal line. How do we handle situation when a wing official believes the runner has scored, but cannot see the ball in the end zone. The wing official cannot signal touchdown if he cannot see the ball crossing the goal line plane, and the Umpire never signals Touchdown. Somehow I have to give information to the wing officials that I have discovered the ball in the end zone.
What I do not do is nod my head, or the old-school technique of tapping your hand on your head. Coaches have caught on to this signal and it also shows up on film. What we don't want is one guy saying score and another guy saying no score. So, when I discover the ball in the endzone I say, "I have it here" and let the wings decide TD or not. And I have never had to actually do this until this game... and bowl game no less. It worked just fine.
Leaping
Leaping is a foul I will assume most readers have rarely heard of and have never seen. This was another 'first' for me. It was a first for the home team coach as well, because the sideline had to spend a minute or so explaining to him what the foul was. He said he never heard of it. We had about 10 questions during our summer tests on this one foul, so I was pretty clear on this one.
Here's what happened. The visitors score and are attempting a Try (extra point). I see #36 line-up next to me. I'm 3-4 yards off the ball and he just has "the look". This guy is going to charge forward, leap, and try to block the kick. Sure enough, he does this, but he also lands on top of other players. What's the problem?
Rule 9-1-2-n "No defensive player who runs forward from behind the neutral zone and leaps from behind the neutral zone in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try may land on ANY player." Any player means his own teammates. Which is what happened on this play. This is 15-yard Personal Foul penalty which was assessed on the kickoff.
Player Conduct
It was somewhat disappointing to constantly hear the losers complain about holding. They were really just getting blown off the ball. They never penetrated into the defensive backfield and the offensive linemen were never being 'beat' [if they are beat, they will cheat]. I did catch a few holds, but when the score ended 38-9 and the losers threw four interceptions, it's hardly my fault for them losing. My approach to this game was to "make them big". And the two flags for holding I threw were only moderately big.
The losers also had a melt down with player from the same team practically fighting each other. The coach had to call a timeout and have his own player removed from the field. It was the one major downer for the game.
Wrap-up
Saturday's game was a great way to end the college season and I am humbled to be chosen to work a post season contest. Hopefully this will be first of many and a stepping stone for the next level.
Several of our local high school teams have made it into the second round of high school playoffs. I should have a second round game. Next post will be on the high school playoff game last Friday.
