Coaches and No Rules Knowledge

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Originally posted by bob jenkins

This question has *everything* to do with the situation.

If the ball hadn't been given to the inbounder yet (or made available to him if he wouldn't take it), then the ball wasn't live. The contact you saw would have been ignored, unless it was intentional or flagrant, and then we'd have a T.

As usual Bob, you are absolutely correct.

When I made the call (because it was pretty blatant), I assumed that the ball had been given to the thrower. Aftwards, after the game in fact, when discussing the play was when my partner tells me that the ball had not yet been put in the thrower's hands (not sure of the validity of his statement but this is what he said a half hour later). He had blown his whistle to start play and I saw that he was beginning to hand the ball to the thrower when my linesman blocker, I mean screener, began shoving. And I blew my whistle (2-3 seconds after my partner's whistle).

So given that I had seen my partner lean towards the thrower and with and outstretched arm, offering the ball, WAS THE CALL OKAY? The penalty for an intentional (as intentional as the act was) technical foul seems like too much but may have been "technically" correct.

I know at times I have stepped in on players during one of these pre-throwin scrums and waited for the action to stop and then said "Are you guys done?" - ignored it. Given that I wasn't in control of the throw-in timing for this situation, I blew my whistle. I'll use a little more thought, and maybe another half-second delay next time.

Of course Bob, are you saying that perhaps the coach really did know the rule? I didn't think so.