FBO

Man, I don't know.  We desperately need more officials.  With inflation (gas prices) and dealing with fans that get worse every year, it's a hard problem to fix.  I will say this though, I have seen an improvement in coaches over the last 2 years and how they treat officials.  They understand the issue.

First week and we already have a fan trying to tell us how to do our job.  Those flags were spot on.  As an official, I know how hard our crew works to officiate the game fairly.  We could care less who wins.  The only thing we want to do is get it right, ensure safety as best we can, and make sure the game does not get out of control.  Those flags were thrown for that reason.  If you let some taunting go here and there, it's just a down hill spiral.  Most fans and spectators don't even think about that part of officiating.  Absolutely nothing wrong with a kid being excited after a big play and celebrating with their teammates but when there is any form of taunting, it needs to be flagged.  And there is no context for the second play noted.  Maybe the kid yelled something, who knows.  Just let the officials officiate and leave them alone.  We lost like 8-9 officiating crews from last season.  You want to help Indiana High School Football?  Stop complaining about the officials.  When we screw up, we either know it or figure it out after watching film.  Nobody is harder on an official than themselves.  I promise you that.

And full disclosure, I was not one of the officials at this game.  

1 minute ago, Footballking16 said:

Didn’t account for the Brebeuf coaching staff to all go to the concession stand at once and forget to come back.

Have you had the nachos at LOS?  Delicious.

37 minutes ago, FBO said:

Wow.  At this point might have a running clock.

I spoke too soon!

Wow.  At this point might have a running clock.

Here's a wild idea.........

Wouldn't it be interesting if as the season went on, all schools classification was dynamic?  Meaning at the end of the regular season, the top 32 programs by Sagarin rating were in 6A.  The next 64 in 5A, the next 64 in 4a.......and so on........Would make for a very competitive tournament in all classes.

Of course you'd have some knuckleheads throwing games just to lower their Sagarin ratings......so I'm sure might drive the wrong behavior.

On 12/18/2019 at 10:23 PM, Bobref said:

Again, that’s a “talk-to,” not a foul. Don’t go looking for trouble.

But if you did talk to them and they continued to do it, I'm guessing the infraction would be more than 4 players in the backfield?  Since the rule changed to say it was no longer 7 players on the LOS but no more than 4 players in the backfield ( I know the only possible way for an offensive unit to have less than 7 on the line of scrimmage would be to only have 10 players on the field, which is not an infraction).

21 hours ago, Patriot 74 said:

I just hope the officials that had the game at Danville last Friday are no where near LOS!!! The BIGGEST reason the game wasn’t 41-10 or worse was because of the stripes!! Go troll somewhere else!! Maybe you watched a different game Danville ran exactly 6 plays in the second half before it was a three score game!!! Danville is done, goodbye!!

As a fairly new official, I cringe when I read these types of comments.  Was the game called unfairly?  Was it lopsided?  I'm guessing not.  The crews that were picked for the Semi-State were solid crews.  I can promise you that the crew you had didn't care one bit who won the game, but definitely cared about calling a good fair game.  I'm guessing they prepared ahead of time, talked among each other before the game about having a good game, shared critical feedback with each other at half time, and did the best they could.  Most of you will never see this side of officiating but I'm telling you.......we prepare very hard and take it very seriously.  We do take it personally.  And we try our best.  It's a different world out on the field compared to the stands.  The speed of the game increases by a factor of 10.  You've got keys and things to keep track of on every snap.  With a million different scenarios that could happen on any play and you have to officiate it and your expected to be perfect.  But nobody is perfect.  I encourage anyone that reads this post to think twice the next time you decide to yell or degrade an official.  I promise you, we put in a lot of time and effort and do the best that we can.

For your information, 146 crews applied for the tourney.  Out of those crews, 12 were selected for the semi-state games.  They were all good crews. 

Really good example of poor leadership at Roncalli.  From the players all they way to administration.  If all of this is indeed true, they need to clean house.  I wouldn't be surprised if the school folded.  What parent would want to send their child to a school with this type of leadership........I just can't imagine how a group of players got to the point that they thought this was a good idea.....what kind of kids do this?  What are they teaching these kids? 

I'm generalizing a bit here so my apologies..........the argument that kids that go to P/P schools are better kids, work harder, etc......just doesn't hold true.  Never thought I'd say this but they are not 1.5X......and this is a perfect example.

Hehehe.....I love it when people come on here talking crap and have to eat their words...

Where you at jimsinchur???

Jimsinchur is way too outrageous.  I smell an imposter....

No dog in this fight but I did see HH play a couple times this year.  Sagarin has them as a 10 point favorite.  Take into consideration home team bias and it goes to 8 point favorite.  I'm taking the Patriots in this one 28-20.

13 hours ago, Cow Bell said:

Yes it can be done...even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while. Plus there is bad recruiting years. 

Alabama lost this weekend. 

My point is that once you stop making excuses and focus on winning, regardless of who you're playing, your chance of success improves greatly.

Southridge beat 3 private schools (Mater Dei, Providence, and Scecina) on their way to a State Championship two years ago.  A southern Indiana team winning a state championship and beating 3 private schools.  It can be done....

12 hours ago, Esso Ayche said:

No, lower level game earlier this year. Fortunately it was of no consequence on the final outcome... not a close game.

Ok......not that it's right, but a little more forgivable than a varsity game would be.

On 10/30/2019 at 8:04 PM, Esso Ayche said:

First and ten on the A 40 yard line.  A-28 fumbles at the A 45 yard line and B-56 scoops and scores.  On the ensuing two-point try, A's game ball is still in play and the pass from B-9 is thrown well high and wide of the intended receiver by several yards.  The QB immediately points out to the official that the ball was not B's.  The officials quickly retrieve the B ball and each team lines back down to replay the try.  In the confusion the A sideline assumes there was a pre-snap whistle or some other issue that stopped the initial try and they are waiting on a signal and/or explanation from the officials.  Things move quickly and before anyone from the A sideline gets the attention of the officials for clarification the try is replayed successfully with B's ball.

My gut says the try should be left as no good and move along to kickoff; it's B's responsibility to get in their preferred game ball... too bad, so sad.  Is there anything about protesting the use of the wrong ball after the fact and getting to replay the down? 

 

I cannot believe that this happened........was it this past Friday's game?  A second round sectional game?

On 10/26/2019 at 11:56 PM, miner_35 said:

Sullivan should not have let them drive almost 70 yards in 20 seconds.

Bingo!  Call or no call, this was a very veteran crew with lots of experience.  Don't let one call determine the outcome of the game.  Nobody has video from the BJ's viewpoint.  Could have been a player that ran in front of him and blocked his view for a second.....things happen so fast and that's all it takes.

On 10/22/2019 at 1:08 PM, Bobref said:

Here's a part of a post I copied from another officials' forum that I frequent. Love to hear some officials comment on this … fans, coaches, too.

"Score at half time in 9-3 with this particular coach’s team having the 3 points. They take the second half kick off and from about their own 40 break a TD run down their sideline. As I am trailing the play one of the offensive linemen blocks a defensive guy in the back about 30-35 yards behind the ball. Easy call no question. Drop the flag and my head coach comes unglued."

At first, I was hesitant to answer this question but after hearing everyone else's response, I'm glad that my thought process is the same.  I'd really have a hard time calling back a TD.....unless it was an absolute safety issue.  At the IFOA clinic this past summer, they stressed making sure your calls were "big".  Like a hold away from the play that is not impactful.......let it go.  Pass interference......make sure everyone in the stadium saw it.  That sort of thing.  If it was not a safety issue and didn't affect the play, let it go (but maybe mention to the offending player).

On 8/2/2019 at 10:09 AM, JustRules said:

The guys who show up for their 5/6 and then stop coming to me aren't doing this for the right reasons.

I don't completely agree with this.  Our association does a good job with good content but we are spread out over a long distance.  I have to drive an hour one way just to make it to the meeting.  When I'm doing lower levels during the week plus a game on Friday nights, I just can't make it to every meeting, so at a minimum, I make the required amount of meetings.

I'm a technologist by trade.  I think that we can start having these meetings with technology and still accomplish the same outcome.  If the IHSAA would offer an online meeting service to each Officials Association and it was actually used, it would go along way.  Webex, Zoom, etc.  All are now optimized for video so should be no problem sharing video and collaborating.  You could still have the meeting for people that wanted to physically come to the meeting but it sure would make it a lot easier on  us that aren't retired and have a 8-5 job and a family.