Long Distance Call

[Adam]

Originally Posted by just another ref

I was afraid Adam had been hacked, or had an evil twin.

I am often my own evil twin.

[jTheUmp]

Quote from Bill Lemonnier (Big 10 Football Referee, retiring after this season):
Fish in my pond if you have to, just make sure you catch a big fish.

[rpirtle]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Quote from Bill Lemonnier (Big 10 Football Referee, retiring after this season):
Fish in my pond if you have to, just make sure you catch a big fish.

I like this. I will endeavor to give you and Bill the appropriate credit when I plagiarize the crud out if it.

[bob jenkins]

The problem with all these sayings is that one person's whale / elephant / felony is another person's minnow / ant / misdemeanor.

[Rich]

I was watching two JV officials work last week. Within 2 minutes, I saw the same official make two calls from at least 60 feet away.

At that point, I went into the locker room to get dressed. Couldn't watch any more...

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

The problem with all these sayings is that one person's whale / elephant / felony is another person's minnow / ant / misdemeanor.

And that is why some official's judgments are put in higher regard than others. And when assignments come out, some get certain assignments and others are sitting on the sidelines no matter what terms or phrase you use.

Peace

[dsqrddgd909]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

And that is why some official's judgments are put in higher regard than others. And when assignments come out, some get certain assignments and others are sitting on the sidelines no matter what terms or phrase you use.

Peace

For us newer officials, is there any guidance you can give to differentiate minnows from whales?

I have been taught three things about calling out of my PCA:
1. Absolutely if it's flagrant / technical.
2. Save the crew (related to #1)
3. Be late, be right, be needed.

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

For us newer officials, is there any guidance you can give to differentiate minnows from whales?

Whales are marine mammals, whereas minnow is a common term used for small fish.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

For us newer officials, is there any guidance you can give to differentiate minnows from whales?

I have been taught three things about calling out of my PCA:
1. Absolutely if it's flagrant / technical.
2. Save the crew (related to #1)
3. Be late, be right, be needed.

4. Know who you are working with.

I live 15 minutes from a D1 college, so I've often been invited to work their scrimmages over the years by one a local Big Dawg. One time a fellow D3 colleague made a call from the Trail in front of the Lead (Big Dawg). On the sideline when discussing the play, another mini-Big Dawg bascially said, if Mr. "Big Dawg" is passing on that contact, you shouldn't be coming out of your primary to make that call.

On the other hand, this summer I worked a camp and worked with a brand new official, so made at least 3-4 calls in front him and after the game Ed Malloy thanked me for extending my coverage to grab those fouls.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

For us newer officials, is there any guidance you can give to differentiate minnows from whales?

I have been taught three things about calling out of my PCA:
1. Absolutely if it's flagrant / technical.
2. Save the crew (related to #1)
3. Be late, be right, be needed.

This is something you either understand or you don't. And yes you could be given some guidance, but that is going to come with seeing these plays on video or watch games live and talk to the people that are making these decisions. After all we have people here that claim that things are missed in slow motion but do not tell you how you are going to make the call or how you would see the entire play even when video is shown. There is no magic bullets to this thing. And most of all you have to work with enough people and see enough plays and understand the interpretations to know what should or should not be done on any given situation IMO.

Peace

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

For us newer officials, is there any guidance you can give to differentiate minnows from whales?

In the OP, what makes it so bad is the combination of all things:

1. The distance. This is actually the least of it. In a two man game, when you have a couple of turnovers and have all players spread out in transition, making a call a long distance away is not so unusual, and sometimes necessary.

2. It was right in front of me. There was no question of me being screened from the play or watching something else. It was all mine.

3. As others have said, it must really be something big to consider a whistle here and this definitely was not.


When you combine all the factors, I felt that it was hard to overstate to him how serious this was. I told him that for him to have a whistle here it should involve a big long roundhouse kick to the groin or something similar, followed by a significant pause to be sure his partner wasn't going to get it. And I then went on to explain that he shouldn't even have a whistle then, because he shouldn't have seen it because of where he was and where this exchange had taken place.