Bobref

“So I assume the ACLU decided to file the lawsuit in Owen County because they thought that Ms. Hanlon would be more sympathetic to issuing such a preliminary injunction, than if they say filed the lawsuit in Marion County or Allen County?” The case was actually filed in Monroe County. Judge Owen was assigned the case under Indiana’s procedure that allows parties to obtain a different judge than the regular sitting judge under certain circumstances. Either the parties agreed to Judge Hanlon, or she was selected under a more or less random procedure. She was not sought out by the Plaintiffs.

How long do you have?

So, you go to your local school’s game Friday night. You see the officiating crew, but it’s unlikely you know anything about them. Are they good? Mid-pack? Novices thrown together for the occasion due to the shortage of officials? Here are some things to look for that observers see a lot, unfortunately. There are lots of little nuances that someone trained in officiating can spot, but you’re not going to appreciate. But here are 10 things you can notice from the sidelines, the stands, or perhaps even on TV or streaming, that will tell you whether this is a good crew that pays attention to detail or not. They are, in no particular order of priority or frequency: 1. Do the wing officials “square off” their forward progress spots? Proper technique, other than in goal line situations, is to trail the play up the sideline to the forward progress spot, and then move in perpendicular to the sideline. If that wing official’s route to the spot looks like a banana, that’s a sign of lack of attention to detail that doesn’t bode well for other calls. 2. Does the crew make timeouts look like a local officials’ association meeting? Everyone on the crew has a specific job to do during a dead ball interval. That is not the right time for the crew to all get together and chew the fat. 3. Is the sideline clean? IHSAA officials are under a very clear mandate to properly manage the sidelines. This means no coaches on the field itself at any time, except during charged or injury timeouts, and no one in the 6 ft. “restricted area” when the ball is alive. All coaches are fully aware of this. If the crew is lax in its enforcement of this directive, it’ll likely be lax in other areas as well. 4. Is the goal line covered? Goal line officiating is probably the greatest challenge for a 5-person crew. There is a complex set of mechanics associated with goal line officiating, but they all boil down to one thing: having someone on the goal line in a position to rule on a TD. It’s not easy, and it’s not always possible. But if a kid scores on an off tackle run from the 4 yd. line, and the wing official signaling the TD is at the 2, that’s a real problem. 5. Watch the two officials under the crossbar on a scoring kick (try or field goal). Are they talking to one another before the snap (they are supposed to be identifying eligible receivers and communicating that to one another)? Do they have to look at one another before signaling the kick? They shouldn’t. If the kick threatens an upright, and is above the top of the goalposts, does only the official on that side signal the kick? When both officials signal, do they do it in unison? Attention to details like these spills over into other areas of officiating. 6. Proper use of the beanbag is another such detail. Does the back judge use a beanbag to mark the spot where every punt ends, even if there’s a fair catch, or the ball is downed by the kickers? When the ball is fumbled, do the officials mark the spot of the fumble with a beanbag? Do they refrain from using the bag for marking the spot of a fumble behind the LOS? If a kick was “first touched,” did they mark that spot? 7. What happens during penalty enforcements? All 5 crew members have specific duties during the administration of penalties. Are all the officials moving with purpose? Or is administration left to the Referee and Umpire, while the other 3 crew members just sort of wander around? 8. Does the crew hustle? I see a lot of walking around some Friday nights. That sort of body language can be interpreted as lack of engagement, which can be fatal to your credibility. Good officials avoid it like the plague. 9. How many whistles blow at the end of the play? On most plays, two are plenty. One is better. Too many whistles means too many officials watching the ball … and not paying attention to other responsibilities. 10. How does the crew handle the ball? Proficient crews use well-established ball handling procedures designed to get the ball back in play as efficiently as possible. It’s done with a minimum of delay, and the ball doesn’t spend any time on the ground. Realistically, you cannot evaluate the crew’s performance in many areas without formal training and a better vantage point. But these 10 things to watch for will give you a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with as a crew.

The confusion arises because (1) field goal attempts are not all that common … especially in JV games, and (2) under the NF code, a kick try fails and the play is dead when the kick is blocked. That’s why varsity crews remind one another before a field goal attempt that “the ball remains alive.” Not an excuse, just an explanation.

My understanding is that a punt was blocked, picked up by a Team K player behind the neutral zone, and he punted it again. Actually, you can do that at any level of football. It’s not a “weird” high school rule.

I’ll be at the Portage - Chesterton game. Anyone else going?

First, I’d let someone else wear the white hat ….

My observation from the first couple of weeks: eventual Super Bowl champ will be the winner of the AFC championship game between Buffalo and Kansas City, just as the eventual MVP is between Allen and Mahomes.

The “crew” system was implemented in the early ‘80s, and has been the standard since then. There are occasional “pickup” crews patched together out of necessity to cover a game on relatively short notice. With the shortage of officials, however, it is happening more frequently.

Dennis Franklin. Played against him in high school.

Hey, I’m all for a run-first strategy. But 11 passes? In a game you’re trailing most of the time? You need to let him make mistakes. That’s how he’ll learn.

Pretty sure there will be an IHSAA response to this event. Understandably, they take a very dim view of contracts not being honored. Not by way of excuse or justification, rather more like an explanation, between schools scheduling years ahead, to crews breaking up, to schools changing conferences and having to reschedule, there’s a lot to keep track of. I wonder why this doesn’t happen more often especially with the shortage of officials resulting in makeshift crews being cobbled together on a short notice basis. I would think that with all scheduling now being done electronically, there is less of an excuse for this happening than back in the old days when I kept a big 3-ring binder with the master schedule and copies of all my contracts.

And you will never be able to tell with him throwing only 11 passes in a game. Turn him loose and let the chips fall where they may.

No. But before I kick him off the chain crew, I’ll have one of the on-scene police officers administer a field sobriety test. Don’t laugh. I’ve been there.

No comments at all on yesterday’s tough loss? I didn’t see the game. But a friend of mine was convinced the Boilers got jobbed by the zebras. Of course, he’s a crazy Purdue fan … and not all that rational otherwise, either.

No, this is illegal substitution, a 5 yd. live ball foul.

Nope. A live ball foul by the opponent of a team that scores a TD can be enforced either on the try or the succeeding kickoff, at the election of the offended team. That assumes there was no change of possession during the play. It’s not encroachment.

The ball was definitely tipped. That means there can’t be DPI on the play, but you can still have targeting. No doubt about the call. In general, I thought untimely penalties were a big problem. They had 4 false starts in the first half — all on 3rd down — which killed 3 drives. An unnecessary roughness penalty that was totally stupid. And the targeting call — on a play resulting in an interception that would have sealed the deal — could easily have cost them a game they dominated in the 2nd half. All world Foskey absolutely whiffed on 2 potential sacks when he came unblocked. Pyne throwing the ball into the ground. Sorry, that’s just not a very good football team right now. My hope is that they found out in the second half that running the ball is a good thing, especially when your QB lacks the arm strength to get the ball downfield.

There would be no reason to decline. Enforcement is 5 yds. from the spot of the pass, and the down counts. So, the ball would go over. As a practical matter, an experienced Referee would not even offer B’s coach a choice. Just mark off 5 from the spot of the pass, give the IG signal, together with loss of down, turn around and point the 1st down the other way, set the chains and away we go.

So, we had this one in my game last night: 3rd and 6. Team B is having trouble figuring out their substitutes. They only have 10 men on defense. B11 wakes up, realizes he’s supposed to be in the game, and sprints off the sideline. He’s on the field, but still 2 yds. on the offense’s side of the ball when it is snapped. He continues to the defensive side and participates in the play, which gains 4 yds. Whaddya’ got?

Merrillville and Michigan City trade long TD drives. 7-7 5:49 in the 1st. Merrillville scores on a 21 sec. “drive.” 14-7 5:28 in the 1st.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is Week 5.

I’ll be at Merrillville tonight. Who else?

On the other hand, the best officials are clearly the ones in the stands. 😉