Varsity Game
The varsity game was personally noteworthy for me since my first crew chief was in town and worked the Varsity game with me. And as I was the White Hat this made the game even more meaningful for me. We had a good time catching-up and working together again. Too bad the game was not a good time.
First, and this is trivial, but I was asked to wear a microphone like the big boys on TV. The PA guy says, "when you want to speak, hold down this button". "Ok, but how am I supposed to signal the fouls if I'm holding down a button?" I retort. Puzzled look from PA guy. "Ok, I'll control the volume from the press box." Swell. It was awkward, but thankfully it did not work most of the time which was just fine by me.
And my knee was still pretty painful which limited my mobility. But this was nothing compared to the pain caused by the game itself. This was 'one of those games'.
Sometimes games just don't flow well. Coaches are upset all game, some of officials are off their routines, the chain crew sucks, the clock sucks. It's never a single thing that makes a sucky game, but all these little 'things' add up. All you want to do is get the damn thing over with.
For example, on one play a flag is thrown for defensive pass interference (DPI). The pass was complete and then the flag came late. I was thinking this had to be facemask or some dead-ball personal foul. When it was reported as a DPI I was a little annoyed. I must have asked him three times, "DPI... Really?" Why throw a flag for a foul that has no impact on the play?
Here's the deal -- the pass was completed for a 25-yard gain. The penalty for DPI is 15 yards from the previous spot and an automatic first down. This is a big penalty. But, unless it had been 4th and 26 yards (meaning they were short of the first down and would have to turn the ball over), why would they accept a DPI foul and lose 10 yards? Of course, they would not.
So, again, why throw a late flag for this? Now, some officials would argue it is better to waive off a flag, or give the offended team an option, than to miss a foul. I've even heard this should be thrown just in case there are offsetting fouls, which would result in the down being repeated.
Ok, but here is the actual wording from the rule book: It is forward-pass interference if: any player [offense or defense] who is beyond the neutral zone interferes with an eligible opponent's opportunity to move toward, catch, or bat the pass.
Hmmm. So, if the receiver completes the pass was his opportunity to catch the ball interfered with? I'm interpreting the rule to mean the defender's act must affect the opponent's opportunity to complete the catch. Why would I reward offense (or further hurt the defense since the pass was completed) because of the defender use a crappy 'interference' technique? The pass was completed. Your interference technique sucked. Move the chains and let's go.
But, it's never this easy. Now, I step in and screw this up even more. I'm so annoyed with the calling official I'm not really paying attention to whay I'm doing. I still have it on my mind this has to be a dead-ball foul... which is enforced from the end of the run. So, I instruct the umpire to mark this off from the end of the run. WRONG.
Good thing my old crew chief was there. He stopped us before I could start the next play. We marched it back to the end of the run and I quickly announced the foul was -- declined.
Good thing the microphone was not working.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sore about the knee and other musings
On 9/18, I our crew did not have a high school game. I did work a college game and it was a big one.
The teams for the college game were ranked #4 and #5 in the state. Up until the 4th quarter it was very close contest. The halftime score was 7-6 and at one point the score was 21-21. The losers eventually lost the momentum and ultimately the game.
Overall the game was pretty clean and we had less than fifteen flags. I did not throw any laundry during this game.
A few interesting things occurred. We 'penalized' each team for Failure to wear mandatory equipment due to player knee pads' not covering the knees. Here is the rule under mandatory equipment: Soft knee pads at least 1/2-inch think that must cover the knees and be covered by the pants. There is also a provision which states mandatory equipment cannot be altered to decrease protection. What it does not state is the knee pad must cover the knees at all times, nor does it describe in what position the player must be in while having the knees covered. So what, you may be asking?
Here is what I mean with my the emphasis on at all times -- Before the game starts I ask a player to show me his knee pads. It looks funny. I ask him to show me they will cover his knees. The pads do cover the knees, or at least, they can if he pulls his pants down. Now what?
The books say: If a player is not wearing mandatory equipment in compliance in all respects with rule 1-4-4, the team shall be charged a timeout and the player shall not be permitted to play until he complies. (rule 1-4-4 covers several things, including the knee pads I mentioned above.)
So, if he comes to the line of scrimmage, pulls his pants over his knees, is he okay? If during the down his pant ride up, his knees are exposed, and then after the play ends he pulls them back down --- was that a foul?
My opinion is this is not a foul, but something really, really stupid by the player. If he can start the down being legally equipped, then he has fulfilled rule 1-4-4. The point is we should not allow players to participate in a down if they are not properly equipped.
And trust me, you'll get many different opinion from officials on this topic depending upon how black-and-white one interprets the rules. I hope you can see there is room to interpret the rule.
During this game, we charged both teams with a timeout for this equipment violation. This was was correct in my opinion as these particular players were in gross violation of the rule.
On a personal note, during the last play of the game, I got creamed by the tight end. He laid me out pretty good and, I love the irony, my unprotected knee was injured. The player who ran me over says, "hey, are you alright?" I reply, yes. Then he asks, "did I make the catch?" Ah, ya, and thanks for caring.
My knee is still sore but I hobbled through my games the following weekend. More on this next post.
The teams for the college game were ranked #4 and #5 in the state. Up until the 4th quarter it was very close contest. The halftime score was 7-6 and at one point the score was 21-21. The losers eventually lost the momentum and ultimately the game.
Overall the game was pretty clean and we had less than fifteen flags. I did not throw any laundry during this game.
A few interesting things occurred. We 'penalized' each team for Failure to wear mandatory equipment due to player knee pads' not covering the knees. Here is the rule under mandatory equipment: Soft knee pads at least 1/2-inch think that must cover the knees and be covered by the pants. There is also a provision which states mandatory equipment cannot be altered to decrease protection. What it does not state is the knee pad must cover the knees at all times, nor does it describe in what position the player must be in while having the knees covered. So what, you may be asking?
Here is what I mean with my the emphasis on at all times -- Before the game starts I ask a player to show me his knee pads. It looks funny. I ask him to show me they will cover his knees. The pads do cover the knees, or at least, they can if he pulls his pants down. Now what?
The books say: If a player is not wearing mandatory equipment in compliance in all respects with rule 1-4-4, the team shall be charged a timeout and the player shall not be permitted to play until he complies. (rule 1-4-4 covers several things, including the knee pads I mentioned above.)
So, if he comes to the line of scrimmage, pulls his pants over his knees, is he okay? If during the down his pant ride up, his knees are exposed, and then after the play ends he pulls them back down --- was that a foul?
My opinion is this is not a foul, but something really, really stupid by the player. If he can start the down being legally equipped, then he has fulfilled rule 1-4-4. The point is we should not allow players to participate in a down if they are not properly equipped.
And trust me, you'll get many different opinion from officials on this topic depending upon how black-and-white one interprets the rules. I hope you can see there is room to interpret the rule.
During this game, we charged both teams with a timeout for this equipment violation. This was was correct in my opinion as these particular players were in gross violation of the rule.
On a personal note, during the last play of the game, I got creamed by the tight end. He laid me out pretty good and, I love the irony, my unprotected knee was injured. The player who ran me over says, "hey, are you alright?" I reply, yes. Then he asks, "did I make the catch?" Ah, ya, and thanks for caring.
My knee is still sore but I hobbled through my games the following weekend. More on this next post.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Mr. Saturday Night
I could title this post "It's Saturday night, you dork" for a rookie mistake I made. Now, this was not the end of the world, and I realized the mistake before my flag even hit the ground, but it was one of those high school vs college rule, brain-fart moments.
The play in question transpired sometime in the second quarter. Recall, I work at the umpire position and generally have a starting position seven to eight yards off the line of scrimmage. Why is this relevant? I threw a flag for a block below the waist that occurred behind me. Confused? Let's review.
First, block below the waist is another example of how crazy the college rule book is laid out. One simple rule: Blocking below the waist is permitted except as follows: (and what follows is an entire page of exceptions). I will spare you reading all the exceptions, but the exception that applies to this situation has to do with players who are not on the line-of-scrimmage in the blocking zone. What is the blocking zone (BZ)? You'll need to draw a picture.
The description of the BZ: The BZ is a rectangle centered on the snapper and extending five yards laterally and three yards longitudinally in each direction. The blocking zone disintegrates when the ball leaves the zone.
Ok, back to blocking below the waist. If a player is within the BZ and on the line of scrimmage, they can block below the waist anywhere on the field. Simple. Actually, all players can block below the waist (because it is permitted); however, some players are limited as to when and where they can use this blocking technique.
The restrictions apply to players who are outside the BZ (think, the wing back or a wide receiver), or for players who are within the BZ, but not on the line of scrimmage (think, a running back). They are prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the original position of the ball in or behind the neutral zone and within 10 yards beyond the neutral zone.
So, take that picture of the 5 x 3 rectangle I asked you to draw and add another 7 x7 yard box on the defensive side. Put a dot seven yards in the middle and this is where I am.
Now when I say the block in the back occurred behind me the questions is -- did the block occur within this 10 yard zone by a player under restriction? Heck if I know about the restricted player part, but odds are the foul occured outside the zone and thus would not be a foul... at least on Saturday.
During a high school game, this would be a foul, no matter what. On Saturday, it depends. I threw the flag because because my high school red flag went up.
I had not games on 9/18, but I did have a college game on Saturday 9/19 which pitted the 4th and 5th ranked teams in the State. It lived-up to the hype.
The play in question transpired sometime in the second quarter. Recall, I work at the umpire position and generally have a starting position seven to eight yards off the line of scrimmage. Why is this relevant? I threw a flag for a block below the waist that occurred behind me. Confused? Let's review.
First, block below the waist is another example of how crazy the college rule book is laid out. One simple rule: Blocking below the waist is permitted except as follows: (and what follows is an entire page of exceptions). I will spare you reading all the exceptions, but the exception that applies to this situation has to do with players who are not on the line-of-scrimmage in the blocking zone. What is the blocking zone (BZ)? You'll need to draw a picture.
The description of the BZ: The BZ is a rectangle centered on the snapper and extending five yards laterally and three yards longitudinally in each direction. The blocking zone disintegrates when the ball leaves the zone.
Ok, back to blocking below the waist. If a player is within the BZ and on the line of scrimmage, they can block below the waist anywhere on the field. Simple. Actually, all players can block below the waist (because it is permitted); however, some players are limited as to when and where they can use this blocking technique.
The restrictions apply to players who are outside the BZ (think, the wing back or a wide receiver), or for players who are within the BZ, but not on the line of scrimmage (think, a running back). They are prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the original position of the ball in or behind the neutral zone and within 10 yards beyond the neutral zone.
So, take that picture of the 5 x 3 rectangle I asked you to draw and add another 7 x7 yard box on the defensive side. Put a dot seven yards in the middle and this is where I am.
Now when I say the block in the back occurred behind me the questions is -- did the block occur within this 10 yard zone by a player under restriction? Heck if I know about the restricted player part, but odds are the foul occured outside the zone and thus would not be a foul... at least on Saturday.
During a high school game, this would be a foul, no matter what. On Saturday, it depends. I threw the flag because because my high school red flag went up.
I had not games on 9/18, but I did have a college game on Saturday 9/19 which pitted the 4th and 5th ranked teams in the State. It lived-up to the hype.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
100th Post
For longtime followers this is the 100th post. I appreciate you following along and all the great feedback you give me.
I was recently asked how I started officiating football? What is my backstory? This seems like the time to share this with you.
Before I go there, first let me point out that I have deliberately remained anonymous. Some of you know who I am, but most do not. You notice I never mention my name, the teams by name, nor do I mention any other official or coach I work with. I believe I can make this interesting without those particular details, and after 100 posts, no one has ever asked or made a comment about not having these facts. I choose to use this approach so I can be a bit more open about what I say. After all this is named Confessions of an American Football Referee. I've only been challenged once on a statement I made -- I'm still right, by the way.
Flash Way Back
I only played football during my sophomore and junior years in high school. During my sophomore season I started out as a fullback and middle linebacker. I ended-up as an offensive pulling guard. This is where I earned my nickname "caveman".
One day I forgot my socks at practice. One of the coaches says, "damn Wood, you have more hair on you legs than I do. You're a friggin caveman." It was true... kinda still is, but now its migrated to my back.
During this sophomore season I played, started a few games, but mostly worked very hard.
Our coach said he just needed eleven guys who really wanted to play and the rest of you can go home. The guys who work the hardest will be the starters. I believed him. During the summer I decided I was going to make Varsity. My friends laughed at me.
I was the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave. I did all the running he asked, I worked hard, I never spoke back, and I pushed myself. I never gave-up.
The day before our first game my junior season our coach says to the entire team, "I found my first player." And he says my name. My coach kept his promise. I had pushed a senior out of the position and now I was starting Varsity. During season he and I battled back and forth for the position and I think I started half the games. I can fill pages with interesting stories from this single season. Perhaps later.
I did not play football as a senior. This is something I now deeply regret, which deserves explaining some other time.
After I graduated I coached Freshman football for two seasons. I had a blast. This was 1985.
For a dozen years, I had nothing to do with the game of football other than watching games on TV and perhaps going to a UCLA game once a year.
Flash Forward
Now it's 1997. I am new in town, my ex-wife and I are separated, and I'm pretty much alone. The pastor at the church I was attending happened to be a football official and asked if I would be interested in being a referee. I missed the game, had nothing better to do, so why not. the season had already started, so I could not work any games. But I went and asked if I could work on the chain crew.
When I joined the association the pastor arranged it so I could be assigned to his crew. This was very beneficial for me because I had more access to my crew-chief and I could ask more questions. And I asked a lot of questions. And just like in high school, I worked very hard and worked every game I possibly could. Some weekends I would work 12 games.
I was lucky (right place/right time), as is often the case with officiating, when one of the varsity crew members became injured. This opened a spot and I was promoted to the varsity crew my second season (typically it take five seasons). When the injured crew member returned, the pastor said I had earned the spot and it was mine.
Between 1998-2006 I worked two-three seasons of Youth football, but finally stopped. The parents are out of control. The money is good, but not worth the headache. And, of course, I continued to work high school.
I could fill another 100 posts with stories about things that happened during these eight seasons. On of the best things about officiating are the "you remember that game when..." Maybe during the off-season I'll share some of these. I think you'll fine many of them interesting.
Today
2007 brings us to Confessions of an American Football Referee. If you have not done so, go back to the beginning and catch-up.
I still have a college game from last week to report on. I applied some Friday night rules with Saturday rules, and I still need to explain my new nickname - twinkle toes.
No high school games this weekend, but the college game pits two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state.
I was recently asked how I started officiating football? What is my backstory? This seems like the time to share this with you.
Before I go there, first let me point out that I have deliberately remained anonymous. Some of you know who I am, but most do not. You notice I never mention my name, the teams by name, nor do I mention any other official or coach I work with. I believe I can make this interesting without those particular details, and after 100 posts, no one has ever asked or made a comment about not having these facts. I choose to use this approach so I can be a bit more open about what I say. After all this is named Confessions of an American Football Referee. I've only been challenged once on a statement I made -- I'm still right, by the way.
Flash Way Back
I only played football during my sophomore and junior years in high school. During my sophomore season I started out as a fullback and middle linebacker. I ended-up as an offensive pulling guard. This is where I earned my nickname "caveman".
One day I forgot my socks at practice. One of the coaches says, "damn Wood, you have more hair on you legs than I do. You're a friggin caveman." It was true... kinda still is, but now its migrated to my back.
During this sophomore season I played, started a few games, but mostly worked very hard.
Our coach said he just needed eleven guys who really wanted to play and the rest of you can go home. The guys who work the hardest will be the starters. I believed him. During the summer I decided I was going to make Varsity. My friends laughed at me.
I was the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave. I did all the running he asked, I worked hard, I never spoke back, and I pushed myself. I never gave-up.
The day before our first game my junior season our coach says to the entire team, "I found my first player." And he says my name. My coach kept his promise. I had pushed a senior out of the position and now I was starting Varsity. During season he and I battled back and forth for the position and I think I started half the games. I can fill pages with interesting stories from this single season. Perhaps later.
I did not play football as a senior. This is something I now deeply regret, which deserves explaining some other time.
After I graduated I coached Freshman football for two seasons. I had a blast. This was 1985.
For a dozen years, I had nothing to do with the game of football other than watching games on TV and perhaps going to a UCLA game once a year.
Flash Forward
Now it's 1997. I am new in town, my ex-wife and I are separated, and I'm pretty much alone. The pastor at the church I was attending happened to be a football official and asked if I would be interested in being a referee. I missed the game, had nothing better to do, so why not. the season had already started, so I could not work any games. But I went and asked if I could work on the chain crew.
When I joined the association the pastor arranged it so I could be assigned to his crew. This was very beneficial for me because I had more access to my crew-chief and I could ask more questions. And I asked a lot of questions. And just like in high school, I worked very hard and worked every game I possibly could. Some weekends I would work 12 games.
I was lucky (right place/right time), as is often the case with officiating, when one of the varsity crew members became injured. This opened a spot and I was promoted to the varsity crew my second season (typically it take five seasons). When the injured crew member returned, the pastor said I had earned the spot and it was mine.
Between 1998-2006 I worked two-three seasons of Youth football, but finally stopped. The parents are out of control. The money is good, but not worth the headache. And, of course, I continued to work high school.
I could fill another 100 posts with stories about things that happened during these eight seasons. On of the best things about officiating are the "you remember that game when..." Maybe during the off-season I'll share some of these. I think you'll fine many of them interesting.
Today
2007 brings us to Confessions of an American Football Referee. If you have not done so, go back to the beginning and catch-up.
I still have a college game from last week to report on. I applied some Friday night rules with Saturday rules, and I still need to explain my new nickname - twinkle toes.
No high school games this weekend, but the college game pits two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Illegal Balls?
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.
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.
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.
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