Bobref

Somebody is going to have a bad day at video review.

I, too, was quite impressed with Westfield. Their QB was the best player on the field last night. And I could see during the warmup period that they were incredibly loose and unintimidated. That speaks to excellent coaching. Their passing attack is fairly sophisticated. I look for them to have some success in the passing game if they can protect.

Again this election, I find myself in agreement with you. I have concluded that the 2 party system, as presently constructed, actually works to select out worthwhile candidates, leaving the electorate to repeatedly choose between the lesser of two evils. I don’t know the answer. But whatever it is, I’m confident that if it’s found, the entrenched resistance against its implementation will be more than formidable.

Talk about trying to put lipstick on a pig ...

?????

The schedule is set now. The IHSAA game-planned the permutations in advance, so they knew as soon as the last game ended.

Merrillville with a 30 yd. field goal. 20-16 Westfield 5:39 of the 3rd

I’m here. M’ville with 7 pre-snap penalties in the first half. Constantly behind the chains as a result.

Westfield answers immediately. 7-7 at Merrillville. 3:39 1st period

7-0 M’ville over Westfield 5:59 1st

I’m there.

I’ll be at Merrillville tonight. 50 degrees and dry on Nov. 20! I’ll take it. I remember some awfully cold semistate games. Good luck to everyone tonight, and especially to the third team on the field.

I would think the R would be especially sensitive about that when the pass is thrown from the end zone. But illegal touching is the easier call. Not much judgment involved there. It’s still loss of 5 yds., loss of down. But in this particular circumstance, the difference between the two enforcements is significant.

As with any IG foul, I’m going to say I would need to see it, know the game situation, blah, blah, blah... But what you’ve described sounds like intentional grounding.

Most of my career on the field was spent at the Referee position, so I spent an awful lot of time on intentional grounding. “Intentional” means exactly that. You have to give high school QBs a lot of leeway when you’re making a judgment based on the absence of a receiver in the area. They really make some awful throws, especially when contacted, off balance, or as in your instance, falling. In most cases their mechanics aren’t nearly good enough to have any sort of accuracy if they get out of their normal arm angle. So, if there’s any doubt, it’s not intentional grounding.

It always comes down to the definitions in Rule 2. You haven’t mastered the definitions, you can’t intelligently discuss the rules of play.

For the officials reading this, please feel free to share this with other officials (if you consider it useful). Of course, you should also feel free to raise issues or questions, as well. For the non-officials, would you like to be able to look at some little, often unnoticed, things that will tip you off about the proficiency of the officiating crew you’re watching without having to wait for a “big call” to let you know? If your crew gets observed, you can be sure your observer will make notes respecting the “big deal” items on the checklist: rules knowledge, penalty enforcement, general scrimmage and kick mechanics, etc. But you can’t control what happens in the game, so you can’t control whether the observer will get a good read on how proficient your crew is. There may not be a “big” play, like a tricky rules issue, an important catch/fumble call, overtime, or the like. But there are things you can do to showcase the crew, even if your game is plain vanilla, or a Mercy Rule blowout filled with JV players. Here are 10 “little things” you can do to impress an observer, even if the game doesn’t provide opportunities to “test” the crew: 1. Uniform/equipment Are the crew’s uniforms really “uniform?” Everyone wearing the same style shirt, pants, hat? Everyone have the same color beanbags (except for your contrasting color bag, see below)? If you choose to wear position plackets, are they accurate? If one crew member has a flag patch, does everyone have the same patch in the same location? In cold weather, if you wear jackets for the pregame, are they the same jacket for the whole crew? The more uniform your uniform, the better. 2. Pregame Do you clean up uniform/equipment issues during the pregame inspection: wristbands, face paint, exposed pads, etc.? Make note of whether the QB is right or left-handed? Ditto for kickers. Did you watch to see how the kickers and punters are? Speak with the clock operators? Inspect the line to gain equipment? Did you spend noticeably more time with one coach vs. the other (coaches notice this!)? 3. Clock Does a crew member always remind R of the clock status after any administrative stoppage, e.g, penalty enforcement, injury timeout, measurement, etc.? Did the crew let a couple seconds run off on a false start or encroachment, and not order the clock reset? Does the crew communicate on 4th down, that the clock will stop after the play regardless of the result of the play? 4. Measurements The proliferation of turf fields, with their clear markings, has reduced the frequency of measurements. When one arises, do it right. Was the ball handled correctly prior to the measurement? The clock? During the measurement, did B hold the ball from the nose, so as not to block the view of the front stake from either sideline. Following the measurement, if the ball needs to be moved in to the hash and re-spotted, was that done correctly? 5. Quarter change Did all crew members mark the down, distance, clip and ball position on their game cards before doing anything else? Did L move immediately to the succeeding spot on his sideline? Did B do the same in the field of play? Did R and U bring the ball to the succeeding spot together? Did all crew members jog to their positions, as opposed to a leisurely saunter? Did the crew communicate to make sure everyone has the same # of timeouts remaining for each team? 6. Timeouts Do all crew members note timeout information on their game cards? Does B time the length of the timeouts and signal R at the appropriate time? During the timeout, do crew members attend to their duties, or do they get together in a group and shoot the breeze? 7. Sidelines Do the wings communicate effectively with their sidelines? Is the coach allowed to step on the field to call plays? Is the restricted area kept clear while the ball is alive? Do the wing officials use the sideline warning procedure when appropriate? 8. Signaling/communication Does the crew have a method of communicating important information, by signaling or otherwise? Double stakes, clock status, “5 is a 1st down,” inbounds or out of bounds, players on or off the line of scrimmage, pass forward or backward, etc.? 9. Reverse goal line Doesn’t happen all that often, but is a telltale indicator that a crew has really talked about and honed their mechanics. Does the crew communicate every down to confirm who has goal line responsibilities? Do the wing officials “cheat” toward the goal line at the snap when they have goal line responsibility? Does R modify his normal initial position to protect the goal line when that is his responsibility? 10. Beanbag mechanics Do B, L, and R have a beanbag in hand on all free kicks? When using the bag to mark the spot of a fumble or backward pass, is the bag dropped (good) or thrown (not so good)? Is the bag used to mark a fumble behind the neutral zone? It shouldn’t be. Is the bag B carries to mark the end of the kick a contrasting color? Do the wing officials use the bag to mark an out of bounds spot (bad)? Do crew members use the bag any time they see a loose ball, or do they only use it when they actually see the ball come out of the runner’s possession? Officiating excellence is not always about making the big call in the big game. More often, it is an accumulation of many, many little things done correctly every single time over a long period. I could probably list 20 more if I gave it a moment’s thought.

I hope it works out this way. It will be grist for the GID mill for months to come.

This!

And we both know what the coach would say, had he been flagged: “We’ve been doing that for the last 12 weeks, and it’s never been called.” And he would probably be right. That’s an example of how a crew that’s not paying attention can make life miserable for the crew that comes after. The crew should have a signal, or some other form of communication, e.g., radios, so that the Umpire can notify the rest of the crew that the numbering exception for scrimmage kick formation is in effect. This is something of an obscure rule, and it does not surprise me that the coach is unaware that the rules are different on 3rd down than they are on 4th down. But the crew should know. Especially at the Regional level.

Just having a little fun.

Try this: Michigan football right now is to mediocre as Notre Dame football right now is to _______________________.

That is definitely not what I see.

Incoming!!!!! And c’mon. Your pal, Danny Mac, is such an easy target that no one could pass it up. It’s a self-inflicted wound ... and not his first, either.

And Notre Dame football is ..... C’mon, say it. You’ll feel better afterward. I promise.