[With_Two_Flakes]

Originally Posted by Brandon Kincer

In saying "Little did he know" I ment he didn't even ask what my call was due to the fact he had another official come up and say he saw a legal hit. Correct me if im wrong but I do not feel that it was his place to say that my call was inaccurate. I would have preferred he come up to me and simply ask me what I saw. Besides, The play was on my side of the field and he was all the way accross the field. In the officials manual it says that since the play was on my side of the field he should have been looking for blocks in the back by players closest to him. Again correct me if im wrong.

I agree with you it wasn't that other guys place to say your call was inaccurate. He should have come to you first (like in my examples) and talked to you.
I rarely work NFHS mechanics, but you are indeed correct that on such a play he had cleanup responsibilities and should have 90% of his focus on players behind the Referee and Umpire and 10% on mirroring a progress spot once the play is dead.

If I have a flag, then I'll toot my whistle to let the White Hat know I've got a flag and I'll go to him to talk about it. If I also have the progress spot, then he comes to me. If he does not (like in your example) then I'll drop a beanbag on the progress spot and go get in his face and tell him what I've got. A flag buys you into a conversation with the White Hat.

My main concern is getting the call right as well which is why I completely agree with discussing the call with other officials on the field but I also agree that it should ultimately be up to the calling official as to whether the call stands or not. After all he is the one that saw the play and obviously saw something wrong with it. No doubt, communication is key.

Futhur more I also agree with reporting the foul to the White Hat. He's the one that has to give the signal and deal the with the coaches. However, I do not feel he has the authority to waive off a call that you feel solid on because he didn't see it to. The thing to remember is there are 3,4,5,6 other individuals out there to insure that nothing is missed. For example, The referee might not see something that the LJ can and did see.

I agree that at the end of the day it is down to the calling official, but he should first listen to input from a colleague. That colleague won't give such input lightly - in my 24 years of officiating, I bet I've had an average of one, maybe two such instances per year.

The point I was trying to make is that, in my experience, not enough emphasis is put on crew teamwork and communication when officials are initially trained and they can therefore tend to act like a group of individuals. For much of the time they will do fine, but there will likely be one or two calls a game when they need to act as a crew. It doesn't have to be penalty related either. It may be an poorly thrown pass that a receiver has to dive back to catch. Did he get his fingers under the ball? The kids body can easily block out your view of it. An official who thinks "individual" will feel compelled to make an instant call and a signal and will guess. An official who thinks "crew" will take the time to make eye contact with the opposite wing or the Umpire and get help. It takes a half second in real time but feels like a month inside your head.