NCFL Week 1 Report

The first game of the 2009 NCFL season ended much like most of last season's games -- a one-sided contest which was essentially over before the end of the first quarter. This was very disappointing. If you look at the box scores, this was the moost lopsided game this week. It is difficult to remain focused during a game like this.

There were three Safety's during the game all against the losing team. I don't believe I ever worked a game with three Safety's. I can go an entire season and never see a Safety. Unfortunately for the losing team, they spent most of the game on their half of the field.

As a crew we found using the NFL/NCAA rules a bit challenging, but there were never any serious issues where a rule conflict caused a problem. A few on the crew a primarily high school officials, so these rules are even more challenging. We make a few mistakes, but no one noticed.

For example, during a play, 3rd and three as I recall, the offense gained four yards for a 1st down. The defense was offside. Since the offense made a first down, we just assumed the offense would decline. We should have gone previous spot, marched off the five. We shorted them a yard. Not a big deal - this team ended-up winning 63-6. So, a big whatever.

We had a holding call on a play that ended with a pass to the sideline. We did not get the information whether the holding occurred before the pass was completed or after. We (White hat and I) didn't ask either. We marched off ten yards from the flag. This mistake short changed the losing team since this would have push the offense back maybe six more yards. Again, I am assuming the holding occured before the completion of the pass and not after. If it was after, then we did it right.

As for my performance, I threw two holding fouls against winning team - a take-down and the second was arms outside the frame with a twist. There were a few other occasions where I may have had a holding, but these were often not at the point of attack, or they did not bust open the run. I'd love to see these on film.

I also threw and Illegal Player Downfield. This is a NFL rule. During a Scrimmage Kick (punt) only the two outside players can go downfield before the ball is kicked. The long snapper for the losing team streaked down the field after snapping the ball.

Player behavior was improved over last season. If this was a high school or college game, there would be some more flags on the ground for Unsportsmanlike, but overall, not too bad. There were some of the typical 'whiners', but every game, at every level I've worked, has crybabies.

As of this writing, I am not scheduled to work next week, but I'll have a posting.

Minor League Football 2009 Clinic

This Saturday, I'll work my first Minor League Football game for the 2009 season. There are high expectations for the league and I intend to do my part to make good things happen. For those who were following along last season, you will recall I worked three separate Semi-pro leagues. Each used College rules with some slight variations between them (some used down-by-contact and others didn't. Don't ask me which one used which rules.) Two of the leagues are now defunct and the NCFL has taken their place.

The NCFL (Northern California Football League) league is going to use NFL rules. More or less.

As I mentioned, the Semi-Pro games (we now use the term Minor League) used College rules with a few High School rules thrown in for safety. Now, we are using NFL rules with some College rules thrown in - I assume for simplicity.

The good news - The NFL rules are closer to College rules, than High School are to College. The bad news - many of the officials I will be working with have never worked a College game. And we did not get the rules we will using until last Saturday. This will be interesting.

Here are some of the non-College things we will have to remember:

• Offensive Pass Interference is only 10 yards, instead of 15 yards
• Defensive Pass Interference is a spot foul. No yardage penalty.
• College Chop-Block rule (meaning, not allowed)
• College block below he waist rules (they will regret allowing this one)
  
• Don't kill the clock on a 1st down
• The defense cannot score on a Try (extra point)
• Two feet in-bounds, not one
• Only the outside gunners can leave until the ball is kicked
• Overtime will be like College
  

But one of the best rules is if a player is ejected for throwing a punch, he is gone for the entire season. I'm loving this.

During the clinic we had a representative from the NFL give a presentation and the NCFL commissioner has some big ideas for the league. More on this next post.

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.