Blarge

[OKREF]

Is this two man or three man mechanics? Here we have two man, every game I work we pregame this specific scenario, if we have a double whistle and the ball is in the lane the lead always takes it. The trail goes up with a fist and holds his preliminary signal.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by OKREF

Is this two man or three man mechanics? Here we have two man, every game I work we pregame this specific scenario, if we have a double whistle and the ball is in the lane the lead always takes it. The trail goes up with a fist and holds his preliminary signal.

Of course. But, sometimes is doesn't happen the way we'd like it to happen.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by OKREF

Is this two man or three man mechanics? Here we have two man, every game I work we pregame this specific scenario, if we have a double whistle and the ball is in the lane the lead always takes it. The trail goes up with a fist and holds his preliminary signal.

I believe that to be standard pregame conversation for all games, 2-man or 3-man, but it still doesn't prevent blarges from occurring.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by OKREF

Is this two man or three man mechanics? Here we have two man, every game I work we pregame this specific scenario, if we have a double whistle and the ball is in the lane the lead always takes it. The trail goes up with a fist and holds his preliminary signal.

Pregame this all you want, but be prepared for that play where not everyone does it the way you pregamed.

[BryanV21]

My two partners earlier this year had a blarge, and they went with a charge based on the fact that it was in that official's primary.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

My two partners earlier this year had a blarge, and they went with a charge based on the fact that it was in that official's primary.

We can't get away with that ruling in these parts. Coaches know when we have F'ed it up, they expect us to go with the double foul.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

We can't get away with that ruling in these parts. Coaches know when we have F'ed it up, they expect us to go with the double foul.

I stayed out of the way while they sorted it out, and the one coach (who didn't get the call) wanted to know why. I didn't see any sort of argument, so I guess we got lucky.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

I stayed out of the way while they sorted it out, and the one coach (who didn't get the call) wanted to know why. I didn't see any sort of argument, so I guess we got lucky.

You did. Around here, it would be the same as BNR's. Additionally, and this is where the real problem lies, this would get back to the assigner and would not go well.

[Smitty]

Had my first ever blarge this season. It felt as crappy as you'd think it would feel. It was 3-man, I was C. Play started and finished on my side of the paint. My L didn't get the pre-game memo that C has first crack on his side. It just happened, even though we pre-gamed it. Neither coach had any idea what was supposed to happen under the circumstances, but we explained it to both. Thankfully the coaches were reasonable with the explanation and we handled it the right way. I am very hesitant to jump on a block/charge anymore, no matter which position I'm in. Don't want to have it happen again.

[frezer11]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

My two partners earlier this year had a blarge, and they went with a charge based on the fact that it was in that official's primary.

I think this would be a very hard sell in NFHS. You could possibly do it in college, if there is definite knowledge that the defender is in the RA, but otherwise it'd be tough.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by frezer11

I think this would be a very hard sell in NFHS. You could possibly do it in college, if there is definite knowledge that the defender is in the RA, but otherwise it'd be tough.

"Hard sell" to who? The coaches? The players? The fans? My response to all three... who cares? What matters is getting the call right, and it seems to me that the right thing to do is find out what happened, instead of settling for a double foul, because you can't have both a charge and a block on this play.

If you want to know what to tell coaches, here you go... "coach, I was in the best position for that call, and that is how I saw it." Is he going to like it? Maybe not, but that's hardly the first or last call he's going to disagree with. So why change the way it should be done to accommodate him this time?

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

"Hard sell" to who? The coaches? The players? The fans? My response to all three... who cares? What matters is getting the call right, and it seems to me that the right thing to do is find out what happened, instead of settling for a double foul, because you can't have both a charge and a block on this play.

If you want to know what to tell coaches, here you go... "coach, I was in the best position for that call, and that is how I saw it." Is he going to like it? Maybe not, but that's hardly the first or last call he's going to disagree with. So why change the way it should be done to accommodate him this time?

This all sounds good and I actually agree with JAR's position in theory. I think it would be best to get together and go with one call.

But the powers that be for the HS games I call have ALL made it very clear that a blarge occurs when two officials give preliminary signals and that it is to be enforced and administered according to the 4 scenarios laid out in the case book.

I have had one in my career that occurred 2 seasons ago. I'm the C on a play in secondary transition. The play happened on the other side of the paint right in the L's lap. I waited, waited and then put air on my whistle for what IMO was an easy block call. I came hard to sell it since I was coming late and a little out of my primary. As I go to report and kids start lining up I see the L, a soft spoken guy who lacks presence and is consistently late with whistles, with his first pointed the other direction. My first inclination was to ignore him and proceed to the table. But then I thought better of it, knowing that everything is on tape. I go to him, talk it through, and report both to the table. All the while, kids are lined up ready to shoot FTs.

I tell both coaches, and the coach who is getting screwed goes "so you're gonna take my kid off the line?" Yes, coach by rule that's what we have to do. I saw the same coach later and we talked about it. He said he knew we did the right thing by rule and that even though he could tell I felt bad about it we did the right thing. He also sent me the tape that confirmed that it was an obvious block even though I didnt wait as long as I thought I did.

I think the current NFHS rule sucks but again, its been made very clear here that it is to be enforced as HokiePaul noted in his post.