Situation came up this year and I am looking for suggestions on how it may have been handled, well, better...

I be the wh. Wing official throws flag prior to snap. We meet and I ask "what?" he tells me and I then explain to him that there is no penalty and yes they can do that. He begins and continues to argue. I explain again. Doesn't work. Now he is really argueing.

I had reviewed penalty administration during pre-game.

Just looking for suggestions on how you might handle this situation in the middle of a game?

"What rule have they violated?"

or

"We may disagree but for now, we are not going to flag this. We will look this up at the half (or end of game)."

"Listen derock, I don't care how much game sense you have, we're picking this up and moving on."

If you're that positive it's not a foul, offer to buy him a beer if you're wrong. Don't let him buy you one if he's wrong.

I think this is a time to get another official involved. Every crew needs, AT LEAST ONE rulesman. It does not HAVE to be the R, but often is. If need be, get the RULESMAN in on it. The biggest thing is to "get it right" so if the crew needs to meet, so be it. A crew discussion shouldn't happen very often, but do it when necessary. We are out the to "get it right" and it is a bonus when we can do so while "looking good."

What did he want to call?

ABoselli, you a very bad man :D

LOL!

I try to cover the situation you had in my pre-game. It goes something like this.....

"If we have a situation where we disagree on the rules and I really feel I'm 100%, no-doubt-about-it correct I'll most likely go with my rules interpretation and will be accountable to the exec board for any final decision I make."

I basically promised the guys on my crew I would do everything to make myself totally accountable if I had disagreed with a ruling and turned out to be wrong. We haven't had such a situation yet but came close. What I do is not cite the rule (by number) but I will say it in a way that one of the four others will remember reading in the rules book.

An example....

We had a punt. R muffed 20 yards downfield and K recovered by falling on the ball. It's now first and 10 for K. I started the clock on the snap. One of the guys asked "aren't we supposed to start the clock on the ready?" I replied no. He replied "are you sure?" My response was "On the snap because it's the start of a new series following a legal scrimmage kick." The official recalled reading that at one time or another in the rule book and realized starting on the snap was the correct thing to do.

Now, I hope to GOD I remembered the play (and ruling) correctly or you guys will (rightfully) crucify me if I got that wrong.

REPLY: No crucifixion necessary. You got it right. Just for completeness, in an NCAA game the clock would start on the snap after a legal kick, regardless of whether or not a new series is awarded.

I would agree that the correct thing to do in this situation is to get the crew together to review the call. Obviously you review the rule at the 1/2 or end of the game.
Also the guy who wants to stand there and continue to argue with his WH should be admonished. A single disagreement and then knock it off.

I like the idea of betting a beer (or Gatorade) on the play, and pick up the flag. We had this situation this year with a coach, he said that offsides was not a dead ball foul. Our WH bet him a diet coke that it was, but the coach didn't pay up.

I agree with Jim S & MJT;

get another official involved!