[mcrowder]

Last night, I got a mild butt-chewing from an official with a lot of experience that I respect a lot. 99% of the time, when this guy tells me something, I log it, and try to do what he said going forward. But this time, doubts linger.

Let me say beforehand that the rules support what I did, but also what he said I should do... so this shouldn't be a RULE discussion... more of a IMPLEMENTATION discussion, and comments from the more experienced of the group will be appreciated. The core of his commentary was "Do that on Friday night and you won't work much on Fridays."

Sitch - Visitor 14, Home 6, Visitor's ball, 2nd and 7, 2:50 on the clock. Visitor's coach is doing a solid job yelling "NOW" to the QB to have him snap it at 23-24 seconds, using as much clock as possible. On this particular play, clock hits 2:27, coach yells "NOW", and the tackle moves before the snap. We walk off 5.

The point of contention. I did not start the clock at RFP - I started it at the snap. I do not believe the foul was intentional, but I do believe the offense gained a significant clock advantage even without the intent. My umpire (with equal experience to me) agreed with me, but BJ (more experience than the rest of us put together, and a white-hat on Fridays) disagreed with me, as did the visiting coach (loudly). We discussed at a timeout about 30 seconds later, at which point he told me that he would not have started it at the snap unless the offense had done it 3-4 times, or he believe the foul was intentional.

I'd like to hear what the peanut gallery has to add or suggest - what is common practice in your games, especially at a varsity level?