[With_Two_Flakes]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

....I tell the box man to tell me "under 5"

A good idea and if you are doing games where you get usually get pretty good guys on the chains a workable one. if you are working lower level games and you get a crew who dont want to be there (I once had 3 kids who were on the chains as a punishment for misbehaviour in class) then its somewhat less workable.

I hate turning my back on the field, my partners can tell me when a box isn't showing the correct down (We flash the correct down at HL until he gets it fixed)

We do similar over here in the UK - it is the LJ responsibility to let the HL know. We use the uncatchable pass signal to indicate the box is wrong.

.....miss that late substitution or what ever else might accidentally happen.

If I'm HL and I have counting responsibilities then I'll look for the short/long mark before I count the team.

...we've gotten dinged twice for him having his head turned away from the field, and I agree it looks unprofessional. Just my 2 cents.

I've been officiating for over 25 years, so I now do a lot of assessing.
I would certainly ding him if he looks round to see where the front stake is at the end of a play.
I would certainly ding him if he looks round to check the down number.
I would certainly ding him if he looks for the short/long mark when the snap is immenent or looks for it after he'd done his player count.
I would certainly ding him if he is one of those HL's who are constantly turning around when setting new first downs and can't run them while facing the field.

But I'd consider it harsh to ding him for a 1 second glance at the short/long mark. That smacks of an assessor who follows assessment advice notes such as "ding the HL for turning round" too literally without understanding what is actually intended.