Two minute drill: Why do we hurry?
 

Someone in another thread commented about the NFL's preseason experiment of putting the umpire in the offensive backfield with R, except for after the two minute warning. The reason given was so they could be quicker spotting the ball for the two minute offense.

This brought up something that has bugged me since I've been officiating (5 years):

Why should we (officials) deviate from our normal pace, just because we're at the end of the half? I've seen it time after time, officials rushing around to spot the football, giving the offense the opportunity to run one or two extra plays.

Why would we all of a sudden decide to give one team an advantage, when we work so hard the rest of the game to make sure we DON'T?

If my thinking is flawed, please let me know. I welcome all opinions.

we don't
 

On our crew we try hard to not do what you are describing, at least to the extent that it looks like it to the coaches and others. We try to be efficient during the entire game and we do our best to keep the same pace throughout. We even talk about it during the game. When it gets down to crunch time at the end of a half we try to stay as close as possible to the pace we've established all game long.

At the higher level, especially the NFL, those guys have to speed up. The justification is: That it will be done for both teams after the two minute warning. If the offense wants to speed up then so will the officials. I don't believe you're giving one team an advantage over the other. You're going to do it for both sides.

Let's say you're in the NFC championship game and the offense is down by two points. They throw a pass over the middle that gets them in to field goal range. Clock is running. The officiating crew just meanders around not hurrying up, finally sets the ball down and the clock runs out. You just cost a team a chance at the super bowl and millions of dollar. If they would've been hustling they could've gotten the ball down and the offense could've spiked to stop the clock. You would have done the same for either side.

I'm a big proponent of hurrying up under three minutes of NCAA or NFHS games if the offense wants to. There's no harm because you'll do it for both sides. Plus, more plays makes for more exciting football.

In the two minute, don't throw the ball, the umpire should be going sideline to sideline, this prevents the dreaded ball on the ground. The extra second or two to get the ball prevents the delay going after a loose ball.

We "speed up" as was said above because the offense speeds up. Normally, taking our time is not an issue because the offense will likely take 20 seconds to get the ball snapped anyway. In the event that they are trying to get a couple more snaps, it isn't unfair for us to make every thing we do a step quicker, and most of all more efficient....

That's what is great about the Canadian rules. We don't have to worry about precious seconds coming off the clock in the last 3 minutes of each half. The timing rules are such that the officials do not play a part in a end-game strategies. We get the ball in play at the same pace we do throughout the game.

We try to be efficient during the entire game and we do our best to keep the same pace throughout, The officiating crew just meanders around not hurrying up, finally sets the ball down and the clock runs out, In the event that they are trying to get a couple more snaps

I think it's because failure to ready the ball quickly at other times doesn't affect the game, because nobody wants to snap it quickly then, while failure to ready the ball fast enough when team A does want to play it does affect the game.

Of course there could be the odd occasion when team A wants to run a quick play in the middle of a period, and the officials don't know it.

Robert

If you think about it, during the normal part of the game, you have a routine to get the ball set and ready for play. In this normal routine of yours, it is about the same speed as which the teams are moving about their pace. Then it gets to where there are two minutes or so left in the half or the game and the teams pick up their pace. To maintain a pace that is similar to that of the offensive team, we pick up our pace as well. It is something you do for either team, and an injustice if you do not change your pace at all.