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Guys....I have to give you this play that really still bothers me still today. I made a big mistake and it sort of coincides with what we are talking about here.
I made the move to white hat 2 yrs ago. I love it and wouldn't want to do anything else. Was an umpire before that. I had a full varsity schedule this past season and had a blast at the referee position. Now, with that said, allow me to tell you guys what a bonehead thing I did in a youth game.
This game was between 2 very good 12 yr old teams. The game was everything it was cracked up to be. Hard fought battle to the bitter end. In fact, we went to overtime. In our youth leagues, we play off just like a high school game. Put it on the 10 yard line, and each team gets a turn. And we continue this until we get a winner. The first team that took their turn was UNable to score. The other team got their turn. And on 4th down the QB executed an awesome fake sweep to the left, tucked the ball to his side and pranced into the endzone UNTOUCHED. Oh, I almost forgot, all the while he's shaking the ball in the face of a defender who was trying to catch up. As you may have already guessed, I threw my flag on it. As the flag was flying through the air, I wished I could somehow make it fly back into my hand. But, I was unable to get it back. So, I had to give the signal for unsportsmanlike conduct and also the uplifted arms that shows the touchdown STILL stood. The crowd absolutely booed me off the field. I felt like crap. The call I made was a good call, under the rules. However, I should have had the sense to keep it in my pocket. And then go over and counsel the kid.
Sometimes we make mistakes. I wish I hadn't thrown that flag. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't a safety issue. It didn't allow an unfair advantage for the score. I should've had better "game sense" than to do that. However, in my defense, I'm glad I knew the rules backwards and forwards so that I didn't make it worse. For instance, what if I had taken the touchdown away in that instance? The coach was begging me to do so. He was arguing that the flag came out before the touchdown was scored. He was absolutely correct, it did happen before the kid crossed the goal line. But, as most of us know, that doesn't matter.
It was mistake that I made. But had I not known the rules, I would have REALLY messed it up BIGTIME.
Sorry for such a long post guys.
The Doctor
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