Does this site ever discuss football?

[scrounge]

I don't think it's a great analogy to say that many youth baseball leagues use OBR so why not use NCAA for sub-college HS. In my opinion, there is far more commonality in the main playing rules from OBR to FED in baseball than NCAA to FED in football. For the vast majority of plays, there is no substantial difference in baseball. The main differences that come up are the balk rules and obstruction, but it's pretty rare for a balk call in OBR to actually get pitched and hit, and obstruction/interference differences simply don't come up all that often. If I see more than 5 a year, it's a lot.

In football, it's a totally different story. From blocking below the waist to all the exceptions to clock management, etc., the differences are pervasive and commonplace. I think it's unreasonable to expect the vast army of officials across the country - of all different experience levels and abilities - to master the NCAA code. I understand it works in TX, with a - shall we say - unique and more intense culture. And MA is a relatively small state that may find it easier to ensure uniformity and knowledge. I don't think it would work across the board.

As an aside, here in central Ohio, it's virtually unheard of to have any baseball at any level that isn't Fed. The only league I know that uses OBR is the adult league, and even they use the Fed FSPR.