USC or Not

[Mountainman]

I was the Umpire in a JV game today. The schools are neighborhood inter-city rivals and the game was heated from the opening kickoff. By the 4th qtr the losing team was of course blaming the officiating for their woes. During a 10 yd penalty mark off against the winning team, the players were verbally counting off the yardage as it was being stepped off. I thought about throwing a flag for USC but held off. I'm not convinced I made the right decision. Your comments please.

[New AZ Ref]

I feel this was the right call.

The kids were just frustrated. If their not swearing or directly insulting the officials, I would probably let it go.

[biglaz]

I might mention something about sportsmanship, but I probably wouldn't flag it.

But if you want to prevent that behavior, then don't "step off" every yard, if the field is well marked, figure out where the ball will be and jog there. They probably can't count that fast

[cowbyfan1]

I would also tell them to cool it with the comments. I would look more into what could have been done differntly to prevent such "silliness". By that I mean, maybe a USC flag earlier in the game? A talk with the head coaches telling them to get their players under control?

I don't know what was done or how the game proceeded but a couple things to consider if you haven't already.

[Ed Hickland]

First, avoid, if possible, stepping off yardage.

I would go into the huddle and remind the players of sportsmanship and that if you hear anything like that somebody is going to sit.

Last week in my varsity game with a huge margin both teams got chippy. Having had enough I yelled at my two wings as they set up for a kickoff that I wanted to see a flag on anybody who did any cheap stuff and that the player would be disqualified and sit out the next game.

I had no thought of disqualifying anybody but they did not know that and the game finished with no rough or unsportsmanlike conduct.

The point is you have to present to the players something they can understand. Flags can inflame and make things worst sometimes. The thought of sitting out a game has meaning.