Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmc
I suspect you may already be aware of this, but just in case; a basic principle of officiating is unless an official is absolutely sure a foul has been committed, he should NOT throw a flag. That principle will not guarantee perfection, but it does help to insure level and equally applied judgment, which is all that should be expected.
Any suggestion that two plays, whether they be in the same game by the same player on the same team, are the same is simply a flawed observation.
Football plays are snowflakes, a lot of them look similar but no 2 are exactly alike. Bang-Bang plays can produce different judgments, even when viewed from vantage points only steps apart. The powers that be found it necessary to establish one level of judgment above all others and, rightly or wrongly, have decreed that the game official's judgment shall prevail over all other assessments.
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In the case of spearing/butt blocking/face tackling, etc. I think the normal philosophy of not calling a foul unless your 100% is a key part of the problem that the NFL, NCAA and NFHS have with these calls not being made.
For the spear, etc. we really need to look at it in the opposite way - unless we're 100% sure it's legal, we should throw the flag. The failure to penalize these hits is so great (death or paralysis) that we can't wait until it's a textbook case with a perfect angle before we call it. If we let these go because we're not 100% sure, then the kid will try it again and again until we either call it or he breaks his neck. We'd be doing the players, coaches and parents a favor to be too quick with the flag rather than hold off.