Arrrrrgh! I did it again!

[Rich]

Originally posted by OverAndBack
Moron that I am, I had my second inadvertent whistle yesterday.

Between the same two high school teams that I had my first a year ago.

And this time I hosed the other team, so at least I'm Even Steven.

Saw the face mask, threw the flag, and blew the fricking whistle. Kid spun out of it and went for a touchdown. You know the ignosecond? That split-second where you realize you've made a dreadful mistake? I wanted to pull the sound back out of the air and back into the whistle.

Happened in the first half, and the kid's team wasn't going to win anyway (they lost 42-20, they were outclassed), and it hosed the team on my sideline, but I didn't hear about it the rest of the game, so they were cool about it (one nice thing about freshman ball), but I'm so fricking stupid. Still bugs me.

Veteran guys on the crew were good about it, too. Ref said if you're going to have an inadvertent, blow the hell out of it so everybody knows.

I try not to keep the whistle in my mouth anymore. I'm not comfortable with the finger whistle. I don't know any other options other than not being a moron (which may not be an option at all for me).

Any suggestions?

I agree with your crew. When I had mine (I've had one since 1993 and it was this season), I didn't try to swallow it, I kept blowing the whistle until everyone stopped. Then, being the white hat, I got to explain the options to the coach while listening to a bunch of crap

My suggestion is to stop counting your IWs and put them in the past. Be vigilant in dropping the whistle from your mouth after the snap. Remember that you're human and you've only worked 18 games IN YOUR LIFE.

Hey, it's Friday. Time to pack the bag. Good games, everyone.