Minor League Update

The Minor League Football (or Semi-Pro Football) season begins on March 14th and I'm getting impatient . (See ncflfootball.com). The anticipation of getting back on the field is odd and hard to describe. What kind of person really looks forward to spending the bulk a Saturday running around, getting yelled at by coaches and cry-baby players? The feeling of anticpation is like looking forward to seeing an old friend you have not seen in years. Or when you were a kid two days before Christmas. Whatever that word is, that's the feeling. Let's get this thing started already.

Next Saturday we are supposed to have an officials clinic somewhere in the Bay area. What happens at a clinic? Generally, we go over league rules, how we plan on officiating the games, what the coaches want to see from us, what the league commissioner expects from us, and maybe a speaker from the NFL or NCAA D1. Then we do some field work and get to see some snaps. It's usually a long day and most of the information is useful.

I'll know more next week.

Semi-Pro Around the Corner

It's been forever and a day since my last post, but semi-pro ball will be starting again in February, so there will be plenty of Pigskinref coming your way. The Semi-pro arena has changed quite a bit since last season. More on this as we get closer.

Since the last report, I did work a High School playoff game in the Open Division between the fourth and fifth seeded teams. The Open Division has the big, powerhouse teams. What is relevant is this game did not have the best teams, but has two evenly matched teams. Around here, they pit the team seeded #1 against the #8 team, #2 against #7, etc. Generally, these games with high seeded teams are not evenly matched games, and in my opinion, do not require the best officials. It's these middle seeded games which are typically evenly matched and make me earn my money.

Unfortunately, one team pounded on the other, so there goes my theory. The team that really should have won did not come to play. They lost rather than the other team winning.

I also worked the All-Star game... again. (see 2007 All-Star post, 2006 All-Star post). As with last year, this was a clean game, but a very close contest. Click here to read the game report in the newspaper. It was a good, back and forth game. As it should.

Rain Game

The college game this weekend was the first rain game I worked in several seasons. But, rain games on synthetic fields take something away from the experience. Rain, mud, and slick fields used to be a neutralizer and made the playing field even. Game changing turnovers used to make for some exciting upsets.

This is not to say the there were no fumbles. There were plenty. It just wasn't the same. If we're going to be wet and miserable we might as well be nostalgic and have a mud bath as well.

The real difficulty with this game was keeping the ball dry. I held the ball under a towel between downs and had to scramble backwards to get into my spot.

I don't have a lot to report because my game card was useless in the rain (Game cards are basically pre-printed 3x5 cards. The card just fell apart in the rain.) I don't even remember the score. I didn't throw many flags.

Now, if you are interested in learning a bit more about the position I work during college games, the following newspaper article is very informative.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081101/SPORTS/711019787&SearchID=73335636808831

And yes, I was knocked down on the first play of tonight game.

Another Varsity White Hat

I worked three games this weekend each with a little drama.

JV

I don't even remember the final score of this game because I slept through most of it. It was lopsided and dull and the five spectators in the stands sucked all the energy from the stadium. Ok, it was Halloween night, but don't these boys have parents to watch them play?

I ran into a coach on my sideline more than once. I should be throwing flags for this -- sideline interference, but they were in the coaches box and this field was poorly marked. No excuse and I should not let them get away with it, but I didn't feel like killing these guys. They were getting murdered on the field.

Late in the forth quarter they finally did score a touchdown. Number 58 was illegally down-field. We didn't penalize them.

Then close to the end of the game, there was a pass in the end zone to my sideline. A great pass, a great leaping catch... the receiver landed with both feet on the sideline. I ruled TD anyway... the heals of his feet hit inbounds first... or so I said. Whatever, they still lost by 30 points.

Varsity

This was my second 11-man Varsity White Hat of the season. I was told before the game this was Senior Night since this was the last home game for the Seniors. So, they did that thing where all the Seniors meet their parents on the field and give them flowers. This took forever.

The game started out as a fairly close contest, but quickly turned into another one-sided affair. At half-time the score was 28-0. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter. Then, in the 4th, things got interesting.

At 6:50 in the 4th the losing team scores. Now it's 28-7. We decided to move-up to cover an on-side kick. Good thing we did, because that is exactly what they did and they recovered the ball. At 5:28, they scored again. Now it's 28-14. They on-side kick again, but do not recover. But they smell blood.

The winning team now has the ball around midfield, but the Quarterback is sacked three times and they need to punt. The losing team is fired-up. This is an important defensive stand. They have the momentum. This is like a frickin movie.

Then it happens. While the punter is kicking the ball the defender creams the kicker. A huge roughing the kicker foul. The ball went a mile straight-up in the air. The potential blocker said "I touched the ball". No way. Even my Umpire said the ball went between his hands. The coach wants a conference with me. "Didn't he touch the ball?" I retort, "I did not see him touch the ball." "Ok", he replies. He must have seen in my eyes I was absolutely confident I was right.

Well, this completely took the wind out of their sails. This is a 15-yard, automatic first down penalty. Three plays later the offense scored making the final score 35-14.

As far as running the game there were no issues and I felt comfortable. I think I am ready to become the next Crew Chief.

The college game report will be in the next post.

Triple Header - Part III

The college game on Oct 11 pitted a top twenty ranked team against a team who hasn't seen the rankings in years.

From a game management point many of the same old problems persisted. Scrambling for a chain crew, the 25-second play clock was not working, and the clock operator was terrible. On top of that, the new stadium lights are not installed, so they were using portable lighting. It made for a swell time.

We only threw eight fouls all game, so this was pretty dull. I was run into several times by linebackers. The running backs were very adept at using me as a shield. I often get scolded by the players running into me. I frequently hear, "you gotsta get out of my way". To which I reply, "you can see me but I don't see you, so deal with it". They don't really like it when I say that.

I saw several potential holding situations, but the defender was never really struggling to get away. One of the criteria we use to call holding is whether the player being 'held' is being put at a disadvantage. Often a guy is being held, but he is not fighting it. If he is not fighting it, how is he being put at a disadvantage?

As I hinted last post we had a female official on the crew. I had never worked with her before, but she has a reputation for not being a good official. My opinion was she understood the basic mechanics of her position, but does not have a full understanding of the rules. Overall, she did alright, but was not doing a great job on the whistle. We never could hear her blow the damn thing.

I did not have a college game on Oct 18th, but had two high school games the night before. A short post on that 55-7 blowout next time.

Triple Header - Part II

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 twenty-five minutes to warm-up between games. The Freshman and JV games ran long, so the varsity game did not start until 8:05. Swell.

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 10:30, which I very late for High School, but there wasn’t much I could do about that.

Next post I’ll report on Saturday’s game. Some of my predictions from the previous came true.

Triple Header - Part 1

Friday night 10/10/08

A triple header Friday night on a real grass field reminded me why I love these new synthetic football fields. (We officials affectionately call them ‘plastic’) When these fields were first introduced I expected to have separation anxiety with real grass. There is something nostalgic about the smell of grass, dirty uniforms, and slippery footballs. I really felt it would diminish the game.

But several twisted ankles, sore knees, and having to clean my shoes makes grass seem so last decade. After games on grass fields let’s just skip the post-game beer and go straight to the Advil.

The big news on this Friday night was I worked as Varsity White Hat. I’ll cover this in the next post.

Freshman Game

During this game I worked the Back Judge position which can be pretty boring in a freshman game. My primary responsibilities are pass coverage and punt return, but I also manage the game clock, timeouts, and the twenty-five second play clock.

Two interesting things occurred during this game. First, the visiting team head coach was on crack or something because he was bouncing all over the place. His players all acted like scared little rabbits. The coach shouted the entire game his team was being harmed in some why. “Aiding the runner, he’s aiding the runner”, he kept screaming. No, your defense is getting their ass handed to them, coach. Aiding the Runner is foul by the offense when a teammate of the ball carrier either pushes or pulls the ball carrier. The spirit of the rule is the ball carrier needs to earn the yardage himself.

Another interesting series of events occurred on a kickoff. Following a Touchdown and Extra Point, the teams have one minute to resume play. So, after the extra point, I start my clock, run to the forty yard line and wait for the kicking team. When the minute is up I hand the ball to the kicker, run to the sideline, and raise my hand to let the White Hat know I am ready. When he blows his whistle I start the twenty-five second play clock.

Well, the crackhead coach was taking too long, so I just put the ball on the ground, ran to the sideline, and the White Hat blew the whistle. Twenty-five seconds later, I hit them with a Delay of Game. This is a dead-ball foul, five yards from the previous spot, so now they are kicking from the thirty-five yard line.

During this game the wind was blowing so hard, the ball would not stay on the kicking tee. We stopped the clock three times before one of the members of the kicking team held the ball for the kicker.

When they finally do kick the ball it rolls Out of Bounds (OB) untouched. A Free Kick OB is a live-ball foul with three penalty options. The options are: five yard from previous spot and re-kick, add five yards to the OB spot, or take the ball twenty-five yards in advance of the kicking spot.

The receiving team coach elects for the re-kick. So, crackhead is now kicking from the thirty yard line. The next kick also rolls OB untouched. This kicker had one hell of a leg and would be awesome had the wind not been blowing so hard. But alas, we push them back five more yards to the twenty-five yard line.

And yes, the third kick also went OB. The receiving coach finally elects to take the twenty-five yards in advance of the kicking spot, so he gets the ball at the fifty yard line.

This entire sequence wasted almost seven minutes of the game time. And my Varsity game paid the price.