Had an IW tonight
 

My third year, and I had my first IW tonight (JV game). Was back on a punt, kick bounces of an R shoulder pad, mad scramble ensues. Pile of kids digging for the ball. So naturally I'm killing the clock to start digging through the pile to find the ball. Out the corner of my eye, I see somebody running. An R player with the ball shooting up the sideline. Linesman tells me the ball squirted out the back of the pile and was lying between a kids legs on the backside of the pile. Arghhhh!!!!!

Didn't realize how dirty they make you feel the rest of the night. Still have a sour taste in my mouth this morning.

Oh well, gotta brush it off before tonight.

We've all been there. Don't let it get you down, but learn from it. No ball, no whistle.

Many moons ago when I was an umpire I had a guy go into the middle of the line and a pile of players in front of me. Everyone had stopped. I blew the whistle and unpiled players. That would have been fine except thirty yards away the ball carrier was running down the side line. Fortunately it was a blow out with a good number of people having a bit of laugh at my expence. It makes you feel horrible but it happens.

Look at it this way....there are only two types of officials....ones who have had an IW and those who will. They key is to admit it...get right back in the game and do your job.

welcome to the club. I had my first one on varsity this past season.

A former Conference USA official once told me, there are only 2 kinds of officials: Those who have had an Inadvertent whistle and those who are GOING to have one. PATIENCE is the key.

Yes, but you can't always have patience when there are 10 players in a pile, scrapping for the ball.

My IW came in a 22-22 varsity game 8 years ago, with just over 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. :(

When I see a pile up, the first thing I do is stuff my whistle in my pocket. There is no hurry to blow a whistle on a pile up. I have heard of way too many cases such as the play in this post. See the ball is the best advice one can get. Anyhow, I know the IW must be tough, but you now have an addition to your officiating "war" stories.

I disagree 100%. Why would there be any need for impatience with your whistle when there are 10 players in a pile? Even to those who subscribe to the "Whistle nearly every play" camp would likely agree that this would be the ideal (perhaps lone) situation where you would NOT blow a whistle. A whistle CAN NOT help the situation, and is more likely to be an IW in this sitch than in most other situations.

Amen, Jason.

I agree with MC and Jason. Although you didn't see the ball come free, when I see the ball loose, unless I blow it dead there, I drop the whistle out of my mouth. I'll deal with late hit calls or no calls later, if they come up.

You misunderstand my point. What I'm saying is that with 10 bodies piled on top of each other, you can't nowwhere the ball is. You can't wait until the pile is completely uncovered before you blow the whistle. Wha are you gonna do, wait 10 seconds and then suddenly the ball pops out? I don't think so. Bad things happen in piles. If there's a pile, I'll wait 3 or 4 seconds but then I'm killing it and getting in there. If it hasn't popped out by then, it's in there.

No, we completely understand your point, and disagree with it. What you are suggesting is REALLY bad mechanics.

Let me ask you this - why do you feel the need to blow the play dead on a play like this? You don't need to "kill it." If the ball's in the pile, the play is dead, regardless of your whistle or lack of one. The only thing I would suggest is that in instances where timing is critical (near the end of a half), check the clock at the moment you THINK the play is over, before digging for bodies, just in case it turns out that the clock should have stopped at that moment, and you just didn't know it yet.

You are missing OUR point. DON'T blow your whistle AT ALL on a pileup. It's unnecessary, and it's EXACTLY the thing that leads to the IW in the OP.

Let me ask you further ... what would YOU do if you blew your whistle at 4 seconds, and then at 10 seconds, suddenly the ball pops out? Congrats - you have an IW.

No ball, no whistle. Period.

Does the existence of an unpossessed ball in a pileup necessarily mean the ball is dead 100% of the time? Think about it. You may be right that it's "in there" - but it may not yet be dead.

The play stops the play not the whistle. If you don't see the ball in a scrum, drop your whistle, run in and use your voice letting the players know you are there and to start rolling off. The players will stop, no IW and no one will complain about a late or even no whistle.

No, I don't. As someone already said, the whistle seldom kills the play, it's already dead.

We'll just agree to disagree.

But the key is to know its dead before you blow the whistle. I have had several plays that have ended without a whistle ever being blown.