Quote:
Originally posted by Rich Fronheiser
By rule it is a T on the flopper, yes, but by practice many officials will simply call a block on the kid flopping.
--Rich
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Quote:
In fact, it is a difficult call.
First you have to decide that the kid is really flopping and not simply bracing for contact that never really comes.
The truth is, I like Dan's response the best (no call -- and if necessary a foul on the defense if the flop causes subsequent contact).
--Rich
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I agree with the second far more than the first statement. The rule really is that if you flop to buy the call, it should be a T. The difficulty is one of knowing the intent. As hard as players come in these days, you teach defenders to absorb the charge by going down on their butt at first contact. You do not wait until the offensive player has made enough contact to force you down or you will dramatically increasethe odds of getting injured. This really means timing your fall to coincide with the contact when a player approches at high speed.
If you anticipate contact that never comes, you will probably go down with no contact. And this is where the question of intent comes in. Did you go down anticipating the contact and you were merely ensuring you didn't get hurt, or did you go down because there was no contact but you wanted to draw the charge anyway. In more than 90% of the cases I see, it is the former. You usually see the latter in end-of-game situations where a team is behind and despaerately trying to get the ball. And I am not sure that this is the time to become a mind reader
