[sportswriter]

The first was my own screwup today.

This was Canadian rules, but the principles (and the nature of the screwup) are interchangeable.

After a touchdown, through combined brain-farts of myself and a very, very rookie crew, I set the kicking team up on the wrong line (actually, ten yards back from the correct spot)

The kicking team blew a short kick, which means that the receiving team had possession.

That's when people noticed the screwup. I told the coach I'd made a mistake, and said that my ball-placing error should not give them a chance to kick off again. Ergo, I moved the ball back ten yards to counter the initial field-position glitch, and went from there. Thoughts?

---

In another game I heard of, (Yankee rules, NHFS), the officials had an extended delay due to player injury. The group of stripes huddled to chat and only then realized that one of the coaches had come out to instruct the team.

Granted that the officials in the game should have been alert to prevent the coach from coming out - but what was the right call given that circumstance?

The official called an unsportsmanlike.

My allocator suggests a charged time out.

I figure an unsportsmanlike is the right call, but I do see the logic of the time out, too.

Thoughts?