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Originally Posted by Robert Goodman
Depends...at what point is the helmet considered "lost"? If illegal use of the hands by the opponent dislodged the helmet from a secure position, does it matter (to the need to sit out a down) what the player wearing it does to the helmet from there? Or is the player still considered to be wearing the helmet even if it's been knocked loose by such an act?
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Don't think of it as "lost", the rule (at least in NCAA...I'm too tired/lazy to look up the FED rule right now, but I'm about 95% sure it's the same) is that the issue occurs if the players helmet comes completely off during the down.
By rule, B81 can only remain in the game if an opponent's foul causes B81's helmet to come completely off. In this case, the hypothetical hands-to-the-face foul did not cause B81's helmet to come completely off... B81 took his own helmet off, so he gets to go to the sideline to put it back on.
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Also, was #81's throwing the helmet an unsportsmanlike act? He didn't look like he was throwing it demonstratively, nor using it as a weapon. OTOH, he could've simply dropped it once he had it in his hand, no need to throw it. But maybe he thought he could more quickly retrieve it after the play if he threw it in the direction he was going to run in.
There was a live-ball UC & DQ for throwing the helmet during this season in our club. I didn't see it thrown, so can't say whether it was demonstrative or dangerous, but it may be that the very act of throwing it, no matter where or how, is UC. I explain to the kids that the helmets are fragile without a head in them, so they should never be thrown or sat on.
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I personally don't see anything unsportsmanlike about this particular act, but if you were on my crew and threw a UNS flag on it, I wouldn't try to talk you off of it either. With that said, if you tried to go flagrant UNS for this particular act, I would try to talk you off it. To me, flagrant acts are the 'you know it when you see it' kind of thing, usually with a reaction along the lines "oh HELL no".
Make sense?