9/11 Varsity Game
This game is interesting because we had several odd things occur. But first, the non-odd, yet interesting.
I once again had to throw flags for sideline warnings (see this post of a rule description) But this time I deliberately added a dramatic effect. During a long touchdown run I noticed the coach in the restricted area. I tossed my flag right in front of him. The crowd gasped. The coach turned white. I smirked. I told him the first one was just a warning - no yardage. I thought I sent a pretty strong message. I was wrong.
On the second play of the 3rd quarter he was once again in the restricted area. This time the response was "I know this is a point of emphasis this season, but shouldn't you be watching the field?" I guess this coach has not heard about the $10M dollar lawsuit in Texas http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/LawDecisionTX.jsp?hubtype=TxCaseAlert&id=1202431770981&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Basically, an official ran into a coach on the sideline. The coach now has permanent brain damage. This occurred after repeated attempts to warn the coach to stay out of the restricted area. The courts have favored on the side of the officials. I think I will keep throwing flags and stay out of court.
Next, the visitors tried to use an illegal ball when they returned after halftime. The ball was very old, felt sticky (as if it was altered - is was a cold, foggy night) and had no stripes. You may think this is odd, but there is an entire section in the rule book on the ball. It describes how many laces there can be (either 8 or 12), how far apart they can be, how many panels, the air pressure inside, and a continuous 1-inch white or yellow stripe centered 3 to 3 1/4 inches from each end of the ball. The stripes shall be located only on the two panels adjacent to and perpendicular to the seam upon which the laces are stitched.
We had an interesting foul - Illegal Touching. This may be a new one for you, so pay attention. Here is the rule, an ineligible A player (a means offense) has illegally touched a forward pass if he bats, muffs or catches a legal forward pass, unless the pass has first been touched by B (a defensive player).
Bats, muffs or catches for simplicity sake means this "ineligible offensive player" deliberately touched the ball. Being hit in the back of the head by a pass would NOT be illegal touching.
So, you should be asking, which offensive players are ineligible to touch a pass? Linemen. And who are the linemen? Players numbered 50 - 79 (most of the time.)
During this game the QB was in trouble, and to avoid a sack, he tossed the ball to #53 who caught the ball. Oops. Flags. This is a 5-yard, loss-of-down penalty from the spot of the touching. Actually, a pretty big foul.
When I went in to get the information to report to my coach, the White Hat said to enforce this from the previous spot. I said, no this should be a spot foul. He did it from the previous spot anyway.
The next day I got an email from him saying he was wrong and I was right after all. This is rare, because he knows the rules way better than I do. He told me next time I should be assertive and stop him from making mistakes.
The game was actually very well played and was tied 20-20 for a period of time. We did have a player ejection late in the 4th quarter. I did not see the foul, but the calling official said the player took a swing at another player. That will get you tossed every time.
During the college game I earned the nickname ' twinkle toes'. And yes, I'll explain why next post.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Phantom of the Fouls
All three games were close fought contests and were filled with drama - often caused by the coaches rather than the action on the field. Some coaches perpetually declare their ignorance each time they open their mouth. Sometimes I just want to tell them to shut the $%#& up.
JV Game
The newest version of the sideline warning violation we discussed last week came into play again. When I tossed the flag the loud-mouth coach thinks it for some phantom foul he sees on the field. He saw a lot of phantom fouls by the way. When I tell him it is a sideline warning on his team he shouts, "on who?" When the play ends I say, "look where you are standing." He babbles something incoherent. Whatever coach just follow the rule and I won't be 'killing you' anymore. I heard that a lot -- you're killing me! But, now he's all over his team and assistant coaches yelling, "get back".
With the clock stopped and eight seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, loud-mouth tells me he wants to take a timeout after this play. Ok, just say it loud so I can hear it - like that will be a problem. The play runs, I hear "timeout" and I quickly stop the clock. After about 20 seconds he says, "why did you call timeout?" So, now you are a loud-mouth schizo? "Why would I do that with two seconds left?" Cuz you're nuts?
Later in the 3rd quarter we were down by the 10 yard line he gets bent all out of shape because he wanted to talk to the White Hat about something. I never heard him ask. He says in an over-the-top sarcastic way, "thanks for listening". I was waiting for the expletive so I could nail him for this too. But it never came. Damn.
One of the phantom fouls that was killing him was something that resembled a block in the back. What is was, was a legal block that looked bad. He says, "that was Clipping, you have to call that." Now, when someone says 'hey, that was clipping' this means they are ignorant.
Clipping is defined as "a block against an opponent when the initial contact is from behind, at or below the waist, and not against a player who is the runner (ball carrier) or pretending to be the runner." (this NOT logic is not a typo. Welcome to the world of rule book interpretations.)
Please, tell me, when was the last time saw clipping or heard this foul reported during any game you've seen on TV? You'll see several blocks in the back during a game, but never clipping.
Part 2 of this relates to something called the free-blocking zone. In this section of the book it states: A player shall not clip or block an opponent in the back EXCEPT: a) in the free-blocking zone.
Now, the free-blocking zone is entire topic in itself, but my point is for Clipping to be called it has to be, more or less, in the open field. This never happens. I don't recall ever throwing a Clipping penalty.
I see Clipping being attempted within the free-blocking zone, but players usually fail in the attempt because they are pursuing the intended victim. Often the offensive guard is pulling and the defender is trying to take him out from behind. Rarely, the defender will beat the guard and the guard goes low on the defender when he passes by him. Not clipping if in the zone.
But why should I expect a guy whose job it is to teach players how to play game to actually understand the rules?
The score was tied 0-0 at halftime and ended up 7-6 in favor of the loud-mouth.
In the Varsity game... we had a horse collar tackle, a player ejection, three sideline warnings (two by me), and illegal touching, and an illegal game ball. Stay tuned.
JV Game
The newest version of the sideline warning violation we discussed last week came into play again. When I tossed the flag the loud-mouth coach thinks it for some phantom foul he sees on the field. He saw a lot of phantom fouls by the way. When I tell him it is a sideline warning on his team he shouts, "on who?" When the play ends I say, "look where you are standing." He babbles something incoherent. Whatever coach just follow the rule and I won't be 'killing you' anymore. I heard that a lot -- you're killing me! But, now he's all over his team and assistant coaches yelling, "get back".
With the clock stopped and eight seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, loud-mouth tells me he wants to take a timeout after this play. Ok, just say it loud so I can hear it - like that will be a problem. The play runs, I hear "timeout" and I quickly stop the clock. After about 20 seconds he says, "why did you call timeout?" So, now you are a loud-mouth schizo? "Why would I do that with two seconds left?" Cuz you're nuts?
Later in the 3rd quarter we were down by the 10 yard line he gets bent all out of shape because he wanted to talk to the White Hat about something. I never heard him ask. He says in an over-the-top sarcastic way, "thanks for listening". I was waiting for the expletive so I could nail him for this too. But it never came. Damn.
One of the phantom fouls that was killing him was something that resembled a block in the back. What is was, was a legal block that looked bad. He says, "that was Clipping, you have to call that." Now, when someone says 'hey, that was clipping' this means they are ignorant.
Clipping is defined as "a block against an opponent when the initial contact is from behind, at or below the waist, and not against a player who is the runner (ball carrier) or pretending to be the runner." (this NOT logic is not a typo. Welcome to the world of rule book interpretations.)
Please, tell me, when was the last time saw clipping or heard this foul reported during any game you've seen on TV? You'll see several blocks in the back during a game, but never clipping.
Part 2 of this relates to something called the free-blocking zone. In this section of the book it states: A player shall not clip or block an opponent in the back EXCEPT: a) in the free-blocking zone.
Now, the free-blocking zone is entire topic in itself, but my point is for Clipping to be called it has to be, more or less, in the open field. This never happens. I don't recall ever throwing a Clipping penalty.
I see Clipping being attempted within the free-blocking zone, but players usually fail in the attempt because they are pursuing the intended victim. Often the offensive guard is pulling and the defender is trying to take him out from behind. Rarely, the defender will beat the guard and the guard goes low on the defender when he passes by him. Not clipping if in the zone.
But why should I expect a guy whose job it is to teach players how to play game to actually understand the rules?
The score was tied 0-0 at halftime and ended up 7-6 in favor of the loud-mouth.
In the Varsity game... we had a horse collar tackle, a player ejection, three sideline warnings (two by me), and illegal touching, and an illegal game ball. Stay tuned.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
First college game of 2009
9/5/09 was the first game of the college season, and no, this was not week zero; however, the same ten out of eleven week thing applies.
Once again I was at the field where they treat the officials like crap (see http://pigskinref.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-college-football.html). Game administration was a moderately better than previous seasons, but not much. The chain crew was late, the game clock did not run when it should, the play clock (25 second clock) often sat idle, and the ball boys were lame. We did not have our escort to the locker room, they did not supply any water, and we had to wait for the doors to be open at halftime and after the game. In all we still managed to compete the game within 2:51 minutes.
I mention this because each week we get a bulletin from the 'bosses' about game length. This weeks statement goes like this, "Average length of game was right at 3 hours, with the shortest game at 2:35 and longest at 3:41. We averaged 21 fouls, and an average of 10 fouls per game would be of the “coachable” classification."
"Coachable" fouls mean brain-fart fouls such as false starts or illegal formation. These are non-judgement, no subjectivity, no 'when in question do this' type of stuff. Easy, no questions asked fouls. Even your mother would recognize these as fouls. It's the other 11 fouls (using the 21 fouls mentioned above) my bosses care about. These depend upon our rule knowledge and making judgment decisions. This is often very difficult to do.
Contrarily to common myth officials do not want to throw flags. It delays the game and we get monitored on how many flags we throw. I actually spend more energy focusing on what NOT to flag as a foul. But my duty to the players and the game is to make it safe and fair, but to also not influence the game. Safety and fairness should always trump any other motivation. It still is not easy.
For example, during the game I threw flag for a Chop Block against the visitors. A Chop Block is when two players (typically offensive players) attack an opponent with a combination of a High-Low block. Often the first man goes low to take out the knees and the second hits the victim high. Or the first man engages high and the second guy takes his knees out. Visualize what happens to the guys - it's like he gets chopped in half.
Here is the official description: A Chop block is a high-low or low-high combination block by any two players against an opponent anywhere on the field, with or without delay between blocks; the "low" component is at the opponent's thigh or below.
This uses the term block several times. So, what does blocking mean? The official description is: obstructing an opponent by contacting him with any part of the blocker's body.
Does 'contact' mean I brush by a guy with my fingernail and I blocked him?
So, you should be asking some 'what if' questions. What if a guy was on the ground and the defender trips over him while engaged with another guy up high? I mean, hell we have 22 people and over the friggin place and people are falling over left and right. By reading the descriptions above, would this be a chop block?
I was watching the Center and Guard from the visitors all night getting very close to chop blocking the defender. The guard would go low and the center would attempt to contact the defender high. He often would touch the defender, maybe with a hand or shoulder, but he never really 'blocked' they guy enough to make it 'bad'. Eventually, they succeeded and took the guy out, which I promptly flagged. This is a 15 yard penalty.
This is what my bosses are looking for. Using judgment. Technically, there may have been 10 chop block fouls if we were being absolutely anal. Is this what anybody really wants?
This is why I like working int the middle. They are big fouls and player safety is in my hands. I know I'm wrong sometimes and I do miss making the call. I hate it when I miss it. But I catch it more often now than I used to.
More games tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Once again I was at the field where they treat the officials like crap (see http://pigskinref.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-college-football.html). Game administration was a moderately better than previous seasons, but not much. The chain crew was late, the game clock did not run when it should, the play clock (25 second clock) often sat idle, and the ball boys were lame. We did not have our escort to the locker room, they did not supply any water, and we had to wait for the doors to be open at halftime and after the game. In all we still managed to compete the game within 2:51 minutes.
I mention this because each week we get a bulletin from the 'bosses' about game length. This weeks statement goes like this, "Average length of game was right at 3 hours, with the shortest game at 2:35 and longest at 3:41. We averaged 21 fouls, and an average of 10 fouls per game would be of the “coachable” classification."
"Coachable" fouls mean brain-fart fouls such as false starts or illegal formation. These are non-judgement, no subjectivity, no 'when in question do this' type of stuff. Easy, no questions asked fouls. Even your mother would recognize these as fouls. It's the other 11 fouls (using the 21 fouls mentioned above) my bosses care about. These depend upon our rule knowledge and making judgment decisions. This is often very difficult to do.
Contrarily to common myth officials do not want to throw flags. It delays the game and we get monitored on how many flags we throw. I actually spend more energy focusing on what NOT to flag as a foul. But my duty to the players and the game is to make it safe and fair, but to also not influence the game. Safety and fairness should always trump any other motivation. It still is not easy.
For example, during the game I threw flag for a Chop Block against the visitors. A Chop Block is when two players (typically offensive players) attack an opponent with a combination of a High-Low block. Often the first man goes low to take out the knees and the second hits the victim high. Or the first man engages high and the second guy takes his knees out. Visualize what happens to the guys - it's like he gets chopped in half.
Here is the official description: A Chop block is a high-low or low-high combination block by any two players against an opponent anywhere on the field, with or without delay between blocks; the "low" component is at the opponent's thigh or below.
This uses the term block several times. So, what does blocking mean? The official description is: obstructing an opponent by contacting him with any part of the blocker's body.
Does 'contact' mean I brush by a guy with my fingernail and I blocked him?
So, you should be asking some 'what if' questions. What if a guy was on the ground and the defender trips over him while engaged with another guy up high? I mean, hell we have 22 people and over the friggin place and people are falling over left and right. By reading the descriptions above, would this be a chop block?
I was watching the Center and Guard from the visitors all night getting very close to chop blocking the defender. The guard would go low and the center would attempt to contact the defender high. He often would touch the defender, maybe with a hand or shoulder, but he never really 'blocked' they guy enough to make it 'bad'. Eventually, they succeeded and took the guy out, which I promptly flagged. This is a 15 yard penalty.
This is what my bosses are looking for. Using judgment. Technically, there may have been 10 chop block fouls if we were being absolutely anal. Is this what anybody really wants?
This is why I like working int the middle. They are big fouls and player safety is in my hands. I know I'm wrong sometimes and I do miss making the call. I hate it when I miss it. But I catch it more often now than I used to.
More games tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
When zero equals eleven - Part II
Varsity Game
This season I will primarily work at the Line Judge position during Varsity games. The LJ is the wing (the guy you see on the sideline) official opposite the Chains and Down Marker. My keys (what I focus on) are watching the line of scrimmage, the tackle on my side of the line, the 'inside' receiver, and then the back coming out of the back field. When passes occur I help the Back Judge on rulings. I have forward progress all the way to the goal line. On an interception, I do something called 'fade mechanics' where I have to back peddle all the way back to the opposite goal line.
My sideline was well behaved and I had no issues with the new sideline rule. The new rule is really an old rule, but now it has teeth. The bottom line is there is no longer a 'coaches box'. The next time you watch a game look at the team area. You'll notice a wide white area about 2 yards wide. It is now called the restricted area. Only officials are allowed in this area during the live ball. Coaches are allowed to step into this area during the dead ball period between downs, but otherwise they are restricted. Everyone is restricted except officials. This means the stat girl, the guy from the news, even the Athletic Director from the school. And the restricted area runs from end zone to end zone. Violations go against the Head Coach. The foul sequence goes -- warning, 5 yards, and then 15 yard unsportsmanlike.
My way of dealing with this was to stand at the back of the restricted zone and when the play was about to start, I would step forward to the sideline. This was the clue to the coaches they should step out of the restricted area. This seemed to work nicely.
Tonights contest was between cross-town rivals, so play was a bit cranked-up. As the game progressed, and the winners clearly began to dominate, the tempers began to flare and I had to get between players a bit more than normal. There was one play with about 3 minutes remaining in the 4th I wish I had seen more of. I threw a flag for illegal helmet contact against a player from the losing team. I am absolutely sure of the illegal contact. This happened right in front of me as the runner was going to the ground. I was focusing on progress and the ball carrier at this time. What was in doubt was whether he was 'targeting' the victim. Was his intention to punish him? I did not see the entire lead-up to the contact. I'm pretty sure it was spearing aiming above the head - and ejection-able act. If I had seen one or two steps prior to the contact I would have tossed the player.
What should happen is my Umpire, Referee, or Back Judge should help me on this. They are supposed to be doing clean-up after the ball goes away from them. Everyone's focus changes during the play depending upon what is happening. As the play ends near the sidezone, the wing official is no longer focusing on blocks but rather the ball carrier. The other officials know this (or they should) and they in turn 'widen' their view to pick crap around the ball carrier or stupid stuff away from the play. I got no help.
Ironically, the young man who did the 'attacking' was the most hurt by the act. He was on the field for about two minutes before he got up.
The final score was 36-12.
This season I will primarily work at the Line Judge position during Varsity games. The LJ is the wing (the guy you see on the sideline) official opposite the Chains and Down Marker. My keys (what I focus on) are watching the line of scrimmage, the tackle on my side of the line, the 'inside' receiver, and then the back coming out of the back field. When passes occur I help the Back Judge on rulings. I have forward progress all the way to the goal line. On an interception, I do something called 'fade mechanics' where I have to back peddle all the way back to the opposite goal line.
My sideline was well behaved and I had no issues with the new sideline rule. The new rule is really an old rule, but now it has teeth. The bottom line is there is no longer a 'coaches box'. The next time you watch a game look at the team area. You'll notice a wide white area about 2 yards wide. It is now called the restricted area. Only officials are allowed in this area during the live ball. Coaches are allowed to step into this area during the dead ball period between downs, but otherwise they are restricted. Everyone is restricted except officials. This means the stat girl, the guy from the news, even the Athletic Director from the school. And the restricted area runs from end zone to end zone. Violations go against the Head Coach. The foul sequence goes -- warning, 5 yards, and then 15 yard unsportsmanlike.
My way of dealing with this was to stand at the back of the restricted zone and when the play was about to start, I would step forward to the sideline. This was the clue to the coaches they should step out of the restricted area. This seemed to work nicely.
Tonights contest was between cross-town rivals, so play was a bit cranked-up. As the game progressed, and the winners clearly began to dominate, the tempers began to flare and I had to get between players a bit more than normal. There was one play with about 3 minutes remaining in the 4th I wish I had seen more of. I threw a flag for illegal helmet contact against a player from the losing team. I am absolutely sure of the illegal contact. This happened right in front of me as the runner was going to the ground. I was focusing on progress and the ball carrier at this time. What was in doubt was whether he was 'targeting' the victim. Was his intention to punish him? I did not see the entire lead-up to the contact. I'm pretty sure it was spearing aiming above the head - and ejection-able act. If I had seen one or two steps prior to the contact I would have tossed the player.
What should happen is my Umpire, Referee, or Back Judge should help me on this. They are supposed to be doing clean-up after the ball goes away from them. Everyone's focus changes during the play depending upon what is happening. As the play ends near the sidezone, the wing official is no longer focusing on blocks but rather the ball carrier. The other officials know this (or they should) and they in turn 'widen' their view to pick crap around the ball carrier or stupid stuff away from the play. I got no help.
Ironically, the young man who did the 'attacking' was the most hurt by the act. He was on the field for about two minutes before he got up.
The final score was 36-12.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
When zero equals eleven - Part 1
The months of preparation, study, and impatience finally culminated this weekend into a four game block of contests. Unexpectedly, the games were actually pretty good for week zero and none of them were lopsided. I'll cover the HS games in this post, and include a separate post for the college game.
By the way, week zero means the regular season begins next week. The games I worked count as part of the team's overall ten game regular season team record. These same teams will have a BYE sometime during the remaining ten weeks. Stated another way, the teams which did not play Friday night already had their BYE and will play for ten straight weeks. So, the season is eleven weeks long, but the teams all play a ten game season. So why is it called week zero? I just explained it, don't you get it?
Freshman
For one official this was his first high school game. When I asked him if he was nervous he stated, "no, I did two pop warner games last week" Through a sagacious grin I said, "that's good".
Prior to the game, one of the coaches said his son would be the ball boy. The young man was around ten years old I suppose and seemed eager to please. We instructed him to stay with the Line Judge(LJ), follow him around, do what he says, etc. He respectfully said he would. Typically, the home team provids the ball boy and the LJ typically works the home team sideline. The chains are on the opposite side of the field - away from the press box so the announcer can see the down and distance.
This was twenty minutes before game time when I still only had three officials. I was getting pissed and anxious. When the forth official finally arrived, I decided to move him to LJ and the new guy to Head Linesman. (If you are going to be using four-man mechanics, then you want the stronger official on LJ). I forgot to tell the ball boy he now had a new official to follow.
Then, as we were doing the coin toss, the fifth guy shows-up. I'm getting more pissed. I've never worked this guy before, so I moved him to LJ and the fourth guy to Back Judge.
During the first five change of possessions my glorious crew cannot seem to get the right ball on the field. I have to kill the clock, bring the new ball in, slow the game down. We looks like idiots. Now I'm just annoyed as hell.
During a time-out the coach (father of the ball boy) tells me his son is on the other side of the field following the original line judge... just as we instructed. Ooops. I went over-the-top to thank the young man for listening so carefully to our instructions. And promptly told the LJ what a jack-off he was for letting this fiasco go one for half the quarter.
Insert -- voice-over exhale.
One of the new rules came into play - Horse Collar Tackle. The new guy threw two flags on a single play. One was a block in the back and the other was the horse collar. How a new guy can see this, let alone on the same play, is beyond me, but I'll leave that alone. Ok, these two live ball fouls will cancel and we'll replay the down. Then the Back Judge tells me that was not a horse collar. I defer to the BJ and waive off the horse collar. Why? The BJ reported that although one player did have his hands on the inside of the shoulder pads, there were two players tackling him.
Here is the rule:
No player shall: grab the inside back or side collar of the shoulder pads or jersey of the runner and subsequently pull the runner to the ground.
So it is a foul when a single tackler using this technique to pull the runner to the ground. Once you have more than one tackler, then there will be no foul. This was also the interpretation from the 2009 Rules Interpetation Meeting I atteneded.
The game ended 33-22, which is high scoring for Freshman. It could have been 33-29 if one of the players for the visitors was not being stupid and blind sided a guy thirty yards away from the ball. I called back the TD with this flag.
When I asked the new guy how he felt after his first high school game he said, "it's a lot faster than pop warner. And this isn't even varsity!" I promptly resumed my sagacious grin.
This was a longer post that I expected. I'll post the Varsity notes separately.
By the way, week zero means the regular season begins next week. The games I worked count as part of the team's overall ten game regular season team record. These same teams will have a BYE sometime during the remaining ten weeks. Stated another way, the teams which did not play Friday night already had their BYE and will play for ten straight weeks. So, the season is eleven weeks long, but the teams all play a ten game season. So why is it called week zero? I just explained it, don't you get it?
Freshman
For one official this was his first high school game. When I asked him if he was nervous he stated, "no, I did two pop warner games last week" Through a sagacious grin I said, "that's good".
Prior to the game, one of the coaches said his son would be the ball boy. The young man was around ten years old I suppose and seemed eager to please. We instructed him to stay with the Line Judge(LJ), follow him around, do what he says, etc. He respectfully said he would. Typically, the home team provids the ball boy and the LJ typically works the home team sideline. The chains are on the opposite side of the field - away from the press box so the announcer can see the down and distance.
This was twenty minutes before game time when I still only had three officials. I was getting pissed and anxious. When the forth official finally arrived, I decided to move him to LJ and the new guy to Head Linesman. (If you are going to be using four-man mechanics, then you want the stronger official on LJ). I forgot to tell the ball boy he now had a new official to follow.
Then, as we were doing the coin toss, the fifth guy shows-up. I'm getting more pissed. I've never worked this guy before, so I moved him to LJ and the fourth guy to Back Judge.
During the first five change of possessions my glorious crew cannot seem to get the right ball on the field. I have to kill the clock, bring the new ball in, slow the game down. We looks like idiots. Now I'm just annoyed as hell.
During a time-out the coach (father of the ball boy) tells me his son is on the other side of the field following the original line judge... just as we instructed. Ooops. I went over-the-top to thank the young man for listening so carefully to our instructions. And promptly told the LJ what a jack-off he was for letting this fiasco go one for half the quarter.
Insert -- voice-over exhale.
One of the new rules came into play - Horse Collar Tackle. The new guy threw two flags on a single play. One was a block in the back and the other was the horse collar. How a new guy can see this, let alone on the same play, is beyond me, but I'll leave that alone. Ok, these two live ball fouls will cancel and we'll replay the down. Then the Back Judge tells me that was not a horse collar. I defer to the BJ and waive off the horse collar. Why? The BJ reported that although one player did have his hands on the inside of the shoulder pads, there were two players tackling him.
Here is the rule:
No player shall: grab the inside back or side collar of the shoulder pads or jersey of the runner and subsequently pull the runner to the ground.
So it is a foul when a single tackler using this technique to pull the runner to the ground. Once you have more than one tackler, then there will be no foul. This was also the interpretation from the 2009 Rules Interpetation Meeting I atteneded.
The game ended 33-22, which is high scoring for Freshman. It could have been 33-29 if one of the players for the visitors was not being stupid and blind sided a guy thirty yards away from the ball. I called back the TD with this flag.
When I asked the new guy how he felt after his first high school game he said, "it's a lot faster than pop warner. And this isn't even varsity!" I promptly resumed my sagacious grin.
This was a longer post that I expected. I'll post the Varsity notes separately.
Monday, August 31, 2009
2009 Rules Interpretation Meeting
During the off-season I had the privilege of attending the 2009 Rules Interpretation Meeting with Steve Stearns, State CIF Football Rules Interpreter for California. I got the inside scoop on all the rule changes before anyone else. It was kinda cool.
Perhaps some explaining is in order. The CIF (California Interscolastic Federation) is the governing body for competitive events between High Schools. They sanction the events, decided which rules will be used, etc. The CIF also certifies sports official associations. I could not work Football games if my association was not certified by the CIF. The schools can only use officials from certified associations.
The CIF, as I mentioned, also decides the Football rules California schools will use. And yes, there are more than one set of rules that can be used. The CIF, as do most states in the country, use the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) rules. The NFHS is the "owner" of High School football. They decide how the game is played. They make the rules. They are the gods. This is where Steve Stearns comes in.
Steve attends the meetings at a national level and brings back to California the interpretations of the new rules. This may seem odd, but quite often, if you do not understand what problem is being addressed, or what the Rules Committee is really trying to prevent the rules cannot be applied properly. Steve is they guy who has the final say for California. If we have some weird play situation that is not clear in the book how it should be handled, then Steve is the guy who helps us decide the official ruling.
As I have outlined in many posts, much of Football officiating is about the "spirit" of a particular rule. This is what Steve does for the CIF.
Think about it -- how frustrating would this be for coaches, players, and fans to have the rules applied differently throughout the state?
The meeting lasted almost 2.5 hours. There are a lot of changes this season and I'll be mentioning these as the season progresses. A few of these will not make the coaches happy.
My first game is this Thursday and I bet one of these new rules will come into play. I'll let you know.
Perhaps some explaining is in order. The CIF (California Interscolastic Federation) is the governing body for competitive events between High Schools. They sanction the events, decided which rules will be used, etc. The CIF also certifies sports official associations. I could not work Football games if my association was not certified by the CIF. The schools can only use officials from certified associations.
The CIF, as I mentioned, also decides the Football rules California schools will use. And yes, there are more than one set of rules that can be used. The CIF, as do most states in the country, use the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) rules. The NFHS is the "owner" of High School football. They decide how the game is played. They make the rules. They are the gods. This is where Steve Stearns comes in.
Steve attends the meetings at a national level and brings back to California the interpretations of the new rules. This may seem odd, but quite often, if you do not understand what problem is being addressed, or what the Rules Committee is really trying to prevent the rules cannot be applied properly. Steve is they guy who has the final say for California. If we have some weird play situation that is not clear in the book how it should be handled, then Steve is the guy who helps us decide the official ruling.
As I have outlined in many posts, much of Football officiating is about the "spirit" of a particular rule. This is what Steve does for the CIF.
Think about it -- how frustrating would this be for coaches, players, and fans to have the rules applied differently throughout the state?
The meeting lasted almost 2.5 hours. There are a lot of changes this season and I'll be mentioning these as the season progresses. A few of these will not make the coaches happy.
My first game is this Thursday and I bet one of these new rules will come into play. I'll let you know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
