"Thank God for officials who know the rules."
 

Sunday's game between the Seattle Seahawks and the St. Louis Rams ended with a game winning 54 yd. field goal by Seattle.
Rams fans/coaches was hoping that 10 seconds would be run off for Seattle's illegal formation penalty with only 4 seconds left when the ball was snapped.
Ed Houchuli explained the rule very nicely to the listening audience and the excited crowd.

QB Matt Hasselbeck was quoted after the game...

"All I can say is, 'Thank God we have Ed Houchuli out there, who knows the rules, because I don't.'"

Sidenote: Rams Coach Scott Linehan, who went to school about 45 miles from here and is a brother to a guy I officiated basketball for years with, may not be so enthusiastic about Ed and his crews' rule knowledge...untill it's his turn to get the benefit. ;)

I was at that game and experienced the entire emotional roller-coaster. It was great to sit amongst "the greatest sports fans" :confused: :( ;) . They were going bezerk over that call as they knew he was screwing it up. I meade the mistake of mentioning to some guys around our seats that probably everyone on that crew could tell you exactly what page that rule is on. They quickly reminded me that neither I nor those officials knew what I was talking about. Unfortunately, some of these fans will attend our games as well.

Ok,Chris - that explains why I didn't see you at the shoot-out yesterday. ;)

Now, since I was running up and down the basketball court at that time, someone needs to explain a little more about what happened to us uninformed masses.

Seattle was flagged for an illegal formation when Hasselbeck spiked the ball to stop the clock with 4 seconds left. St. Lous fans and coaches thought there was a ten second run off but that is only the case for a false start or when players don't set before the snap.

Thanks, mj. Since I hadn't seen it, I wasn't sure what the uproar was about.

I now consider myself less uninformed than earlier today. Which, in my case, isn't saying a whole lot. :rolleyes:

The R's explanation was terrific. "There is no 10 second run-off because the ball was legally snapped." If it had been a false start, I guess it would've been a dead-ball foul. Therefore, no snap. But b/c the snap was legal, the play is allowed to continue. So if the Rams had somehow been able to force a turnover on that play, it would have been allowed to stand. I was very impressed with the ruling and the explanation.

I also thought it was pretty funny that while he was giving the explanation, his hands were giving a sort of "calm down" gesture to the whole crowd.

Scott Linehan isn't too happy with the rule. He has a whole strategy mapped out to use it to his advantage:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2628616

It would be interesting to get some football officials take on this strategy.
Sounds like it could work...get a couple of receivers to snap the ball, while everyone is still, and take the yardage penalty instead of the clock run off...hmmmmm.

They might tweek the rule to prevent his idea but until then the refs in the game could just rule and use mechanics as he sees fit on situations where one team is doing something like this.

If a team pulled this receiver snap the all idea then I could see no whistle, no flag, and no stopping of the clock based on the idea that the offense is trying to get a penalty so they get an advantage. It could be delay of game or illegal formation but then the refs would have to stop the clock therebye giving them an advantage. Hochulies explanation would be, "Sorry coach. Nice try. The game is over."

The problem is that the R is not likely going to blow the ready for play (clock running or not) until defensive players are on their side of the ball, which means most offensive players will be in or near a formation. However, they could pick up a foul for snapping before the RFP, which is 5 yards in NCAA (don't know about NFL). It might be delay of game and there might be a run-off there.

We had a play like this last year in a JV game. Team rushes to the line after about a 6 yard run to spike the ball and stop the clock, which they do at 1 second left. They did it prior to the RFP, however. We penalized them, started the clock on the RFP, and they didn't get the play off.

Of course, the coach was sure we had screwed up.

On Sunday I celebrated 18 years of marriage with my wifey. Thank God she's a sports fan.

You spent a wedding anniversary at an NFL game?!?

She must be a keeper. ;)

Even the most die-hard sports fan won't put up with being called "wifey", will she? That's what'll split them up in the end.

1. I thought keeper was a soccer term??????? ;)
2. Yup, she's the wifey.

Then I guess "ol lady" is out of the question....???:D


Sheesh.:rolleyes: