JustRules

We have done swaps before when a school specifically requested us for a game they considered a big game and wanted a crew they knew they could trust. Especially if the location of the game was more convenient we would consider it. But we always found a replacement crew and offered it to the original school. If they weren't interested in the swap for whatever reason we would honor the original contract. Nobody has rejected that. One instance was when we ended up with the same team in back to back weeks due to an opponent change in one of the contracted games. We don't like to do that, but didn't actively seek a replacement. One came up though and we were able to find a replacement crew for the original game. I have heard of two instances where a crew double booked and didn't notify the original home school until the week of the game and left them hanging without a crew. In one instance the IHSAA found about it and suspended the license of the referee for life and the rest of the crew from the post season that year. In the other instance I'm not aware anyone reported them to the IHSAA. I don't have any respect for what those crews did.

Because for regular season games we are hired directly by the home school and not through a centralized state assigning service or something through our associations. I suppose the IHSAA could set an agreed upon fee schedule but I'm not sure how easy that would be to enforce if the state isn't involved with the scheduling or assigning of officials. The tournament fees are set but the IHSAA does that assigning and reimburses the schools for the expense. I know there are some as low as $65 and has high as $100, but for the past couple years we have always been paid $75-$85 for a varsity game. The others I believe are outliers.

It would definitely help with coverage because there are enough crews who could do both Friday and Saturday. But it wouldn't be an ideal situation, and I definitely prefer HS games on Friday night. There are only about 35 Indiana small college officials (D3/NAIA) and several of those don't work full time on a HS crew so that impact is small. The bigger issue is youth and freshman/JV games as well as other personal conflicts. We mainly just need more people interested in doing this! It really is a great avocation and while the abuse/violence issues are a concern, it doesn't happen every game. It's more prevalent at the youth/sub-varsity level where most people are starting, but on Friday nights it's pretty rare. And if it does happen we honestly don't hear it much unless it's someone greeting us as we walk off the field. The biggest untapped market for potential officials...women! I think there are 4-5 licensed female officials in the state of Indiana. There is nothing about officiating that would preclude a woman from doing it as well as a man. There are many male officials who never played HS football. If you have a passion for the game and want to be involved, please consider it no matter your age or gender. Ideally we want younger adults, but someone in their 50s could still work 10-15 years and have a great experience.

As someone who i has been knocked down in the middle many times from a light bump in the side when I didn't expect the hit I can tell you it doesn't take much contact to knock someone off balance if they don't see the contact coming. I've seen many examples of players who use their hands or legally do a shield block and they are just as effective but much less dangerous. And this was even before the BSB rule came into the rules. Most blind side blocks the blocker lines up the defender from a distance and seeks him out. It's usually not a split second decision.

The key is where the focus of the defender is. If they are squared up but the defender is looking to the side he's not going to see the blocker. 99% of the time the blocker knows this which is why he likes to blow them up. If the defender doesn't see the block coming, it doesn't take much contact to take him out of the play. Lead with your hands and you should be fine. I can't comment on this particular play because without video it would just be speculation.

If they want to do something they can shorten the 2nd quarter to 2 minutes or some other length.

Neither have I but I know it exists. It was referenced briefly in a different email sent by our football chair.

That may have been the game that triggered an email from the IHSAA to officials to NOT allow a running clock unless it meets the state's mercy rule. The quarter may be shortened (i.e. 12 minutes to 8 minutes) by no running clock in the first half.

Correct. They get the option to have the clock start on the snap if it would otherwise start on the RFP by rule. But they don't have the other option. They can't choose to have it start on the RFP if by rule it would have started on the snap.

You have the ability to start and stop the clock any time you wish if you feel a team is consuming or conserving time illegally. It's not unlike accidentally stopping the clock when you think there is a turnover and starting it again when you realize the offense still has it. You start the game clock without making the ball ready for play. You could also rely on the God rule to apply what you feel is equitable to address situations not covered specifically in the rules. Several other people said they would use that. The majority definitely felt the offense should not benefit in a time aspect by committing a foul that stops the clock.

Had a discussion with some officials on a very similar play. Absent the foul there is no way A would have been able to snap the ball. They shouldn't get that option because they fouled. I would start the game clock but not make the ball ready for play (U stay over the ball) and let the game clock run out.

Some states do this. Not sure about Illinois. In some cases yes and some cases no. Depends on the state or region. It could be a difficult night physically to try to do both. Exhaustion can lead to poor mechanics and poor judgement so you have to be careful with that. I'll have 5-6 miles of steps for most high school games.

I would argue one of the wings does have a key on the back. There is nothing you have to watch at the snap with as a key because he's not on a defender. But one of the wings will have to keep him in their periphery as the play develops. If it was his key to begin with he needs to watch him once he's in an area with opponents and 5 yards downfield would definitely be his area. The B would be very unlikely to be watching him. Let's say we have a balanced formation. The B has the widest receiver on the LJ side and the LJ has #2 and the back. The H has both receivers on his side. Pay special attention to any of your keys who are pressed but if no one is pressed then watch your T to read run/pass. If you read pass stay with the T for at least a second in case he gets beat off the snap, especially if you are on the R side because he's starting with the opposite T. As the routes develop the wings and BJ go to zone. If the LJ had the back as his key, he should stay with him to this point. If both of the receivers on his side stay in then the H will have to pick him up but he doesn't necessarily know that. If one or of the receivers stay in his focus will probably be there and the back in the middle would go undetected. If both stay in then nobody is deep and the back judge COULD pick up the back in the middle. This all shows the complexity of covering eligible receivers with only a 5-man crew. You have 3 guys watching 5 players and they all have to be on the same page regarding zones and switches. It's not hard once you have experience doing it, but you still may miss something because a different receiver draws your attention even for a second.

NCAA enforcement would be the same, but I believe NFL is different. I believe a dead ball personal foul on 4th down still extends that drive with a first down.

Same assigner from same pool

This was a game at Shortridge, and I believe many of the IPS school games are assigned. The assigner has a group of officials he uses and he puts them on games each week. They aren't set crews, but I'm not sure to what extent he tries to keep people together. Based on what I'm reading here he either had 3 guys not show or was unable to find 3 guys to work it. There was not an APB put out for a crew this week and I understand there were a couple crews not working so there were officials available. They may not have been convenient to this game site though.

The definitions of player, substitute and replaced player are all key to this rule. Do you have any example of where this could happen but not be a foul? When does that substitute become a player?

That's not the NCAA's issue. It's the issue of the professional leagues dumped in the laps of the NCAA. They have been able to leverage it to generate revenue to fund all their other sports which is great. But if you know anyone who actually works for the NCAA you know they are generally under paid compared to what they could make elsewhere. The schools are similar where the football and basketball programs often underwrite the costs for swimming and soccer and lacrosse as those sports generate very little revenue. The Fortnite guy won money because he won a Fortnite tournament. If these players want to make money in their sports go play in Europe or the D-league for basketball. Football is more difficult because there are essentially no options. I understand where allowing players to earn money related to their likeness comes from. I just think it opens up a huge can of worms that will essentially kills college sports in general. Since 95% of college athletes don't play men's basketball or football I would hate for that to happen.

I've seen it happen at many MIC game I've attended. Many of thesee schools now have rules stating students from schools not participating can't attend without an adult. I was at the MIC game several years ago and a fight broke out in the bleachers below us. We found out after we left it was a group of students from a third school who showed up looking for trouble. I believe it's the same thing at basketball games. It's unfortunate because it makes it difficult for kids who have friends who play for nearby schools from attending.

The issue I think they have to address is schools (or more likely they boosters) use this as a recruiting tool. Come to State U and the local car wash company will pay you $300k/year to be their spokesperson. Is that where we really want college athletics to go? The NCAA is a good model. The NFL and NBA's inability to create a sustainable minor league system like MLB and MLS and NHL and rely on the NCAA to be their minor league is ultimately the root of this.

The crew wasn't 100% certain they had it right on the field so they looked it up when they got to the locker room and confirmed they made a mistake. They contacted Robert immediately so he heard it from them first. He had already assigned them to a second round sectional game so they got to work that, but the sectional final assignment they were supposed to get was removed. They would have completely understood if it cost them a second round game too. That is integrity and proof that even good officials can make big mistakes. We don't have many OT games and when we do we rarely start anywhere but the 10. I think I can still count on one hand the number of OT games I've worked in almost 20 years. That's not an excuse but it helps to understand. Mistakes are the greatest teachers.

Who said the other students were from Avon? Just because they were playing Avon doesn't mean it involved their students. I've attended games at MIC schools where students from a third school were there and caused problems. These are teenagers. They do stupid stuff just like we did when we were teenagers.

The former Delphi coach? He told us about a play he planned to run which was a fake punt. His punter would take the snap and throw a high pass downfield with the intent of drawing a DPI flag against the "return" team player blocking the gunner thinking it was a punt. He even told our line judge before the play he was doing to do it. He was livid we didn't have a flag as the pass landed incomplete. Unfrotunately his gunner outran the defender and was wide open with no contact. Just because you planned on the defender making contact doesn't mean they will. The philosophy on that play though is it needs to be obvious it's a pass before you'll flag DPI. NCAA has gone so far to make it an exception to the DPI rule in this situation.

We had the same situation Friday night. I know once the Mercy Rule went into effect the clock doesn't stop until after the try. I just wasn't sure if the TD itself creates the 35+ point differential if that clock should keep running through the try. Or if it would start on the succeeding kickoff. In our case the game clock operator kept it running and nobody said anything.

Nope. You got it. There are some direct communications (certification clinics, online rules interpretations, playoff application reminders, online training), but things like clarifications and weekly updates if they send them always go through the association chairs. They ask for communications and feedback to come back that way as well. There are also instances where someone asks Robert for a rule interpretation or clarification and he only replies back to that crew. You only hear about it through word of mouth. One example I heard last week was in regards to bandanas hanging out of the back of a helmet. This is very clearly not allowed in NFHS and NCAA, but when Robert was asked about it he apparently told this person it was legal. He's wrong but when he's the boss he's right. But not everyone got that response. Being on top of those things is hard when it's your full time responsibility. But officials are a very small part of his responsibilities. I will say he at least makes an effort. It would be nice to have an assistant commissioner for officials, but I don't see it happening any time soon.