Quote:
Originally posted by MJT
So, do you call every hold you see, even if it by the right tackle as the ball is 3 yards downfield on a sweep to the left side? In BB, should a foul be called every time there is contact on an arm? In baseball, do you keep the strike zone as tight in the JV game as the Varsity game, especially if one team is out decent pitchers and they are down by 14 runs? I hope not! You need to use common sense in all parts of life, on the field, and court as well. On the FB field, it is called advantage/disadvantage, and it is one thing that separates the good and great officials from those who kill the flow of the game with 33 flags, 48 foul calls, or 19 walks.
|
I won't address the BB & BB questions, because I don't work those sports although I see what you're driving at.
Any good-experiened official will agree with you on the football points you made, but none of them address USC. USC is
never an "advantage/disadvantage" situation. Do you call USC because you don't want to lose control of the situatuion and becasue you don't want any fights breaking out (both good reasons), or do you call it because it's just plain
wrong?
I also understand what Ed is trying to say about relevance. But the problem is that the field
is an extenson of the classroom, and no matter what a student's "acceptable" expressions are at home, there are some that aren't acceptable at school (or at a function therof) and teachers/officials must help to form & mold these students/athletes. For instance, "a$$" used to be a common word for a donkey (it's used in the King James Bible even), but now it has a much different conotation and is considered a "bad word". Conversely, if a strict "Bible-belt" student is prohibited from saying "darn" at home, but says it on the field, feeling that he's being rebellious, so be it. The rules of the field/school have to be followed, not home or church or whatever...
I'd be happy to discuss situatuional ethics with ya'll as friends, but not on a football board--we'll save that for the PYSCH department
Once again, let me say this (and you all are proving it by your repsones):
Whenever you let something go, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, not only are you advocating & allowing it (message to the offender), but you're also conditioning yourself for the future to accept the action as being perfectly OK.
Situation: Jr. high game 2 seasons ago, 3 man crew. Early in the first quarter, HL hears a swear word from a player coming to his sideline and he warns the player that it's not acceptable on the football field. Late 1st quarter, HL hears another word & now warns the coach about his whole team in general. Late 4th quarter after a succesful defensive play, one of those players heading back to the huddle hollors "sh_t!" to no one in particular while walking by an official. U/LJ tosses a flag which moves the home team 15 yards closer to the goal as they try to come back & win the game. Now while I'm not going to argue the case that he should/shouldn't have been flagged in that instance (most of you would probably say no) what I'm trying to get accross to you guys, if nothing else, is if the 1st two instances in the game had not been spoken about (and the appopriate people warned), the 4th quarter flag would have seemed even more ridiculous. Moral:
Anytime you have an opporutnity to shape the lives & minds of growing student athletes and you don't do it, you are shirking your reponsibilites as an eduactor & a role model.
I've never given a warning for swearing & had the offender tell me, "but I wasn't saying it toward you or the other team..." These kids are smart--they know it's wrong and they're going to test you on it to see what they can get away with. Like one of the posters here puts in their signature: "if a play (or action) is desgined to fool someone, make sure you aren't the fool"
Guys, please don't try to turn something into gospel just because you believe it and follow it (me included). There's lot's of rules that I don't agree with, but if we start deviating from those, then we just make a mockery of who we are & what we represent. Hey, let's make this our best season ever!
JER
[Edited by jransom on Feb 26th, 2005 at 01:03 PM]