At a recent game in a 2 vs. 4 matchup with state play off implications this is what happened.
After visiting with the clock operator and determining when player announcements were to begin. I visited with the visiting coach for our pre-game conference. During this time he asked if the game clock was the official time and if when it read zero we would start the game. I informed him that this was correct.
With 6 mins. to go before kick-off They had not started player introductions. I was concerned that the game would not get started by the agreeded upon time (9-8-1g) so I went to the head coach of the home team and informed him of my concerns stating that "I really did not want to start a game with a 15 yard unsportsman like that really has nothing to do with playing football" He informed his head coach and introducitons started at about 5:30 and finished with 7 seconds to go. Everything worked out fine or so i thaught. We called a good game and went home.
In 13 years of officiating I have never called this penalty. Because I have often been able to head a delay off at the pass so to speak. How would you of handled this situation? After I read your posts I will respond with wht resulted from this action.
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