Tape halfway point of the chain?
 

Why do some HL's put tape halfway up the chain?

I was also wondering why some crews move the down box to the front post on measurements.

Help on either one or both would be great!

Thanks.
HLC

If you put tape at the half way point- you can easily tell the white hat that a 5 yard penalty will get you a first down, if you are at or past the tape- thats why you will hear some HLs say, "Joe, 5 will get you 1" etc..

Our HL's usually put one of those plastic quick ties of a bright
color like day-glo orange instead of tape. It shows up better
especially in muddy conditions. We also use hand signals to
tell the R if it is more than 5 or less than 5.

That way, if the chain clip comes off during the measurement, you know where to place the stake when you reset the chains.

You could also have the HL put his foot down at the front picket. That's what we do up here.

Canadian Mechanics
 

Any NCAA-level game that I do, I bring out a marker (small clip, tape, etc) to mark the link that is half-way. As the others have noted, it helps with determining when first downs are awarded because of a defensive penalty.

This is an APG - automatic problem generator. What happens if you need the previous spot because of a possible penalty enforcement? Use the HL's foot to mark the spot of the LTG.

Hey JugglingReferee, y'all probably use a seven man crew up there right? with a seven man crew, there are a couple of "extra bodies", but I know with the five man crew, the HL is the one who has to put the clip down for the measurement, so he wouldn't be able to stand at the sideline marking the front stick.

Also, at the time of measurement, why would you ever need the previous spot (at least for NFHS rules)? By the time you are taking a measurement, the ball is dead - any foul would be enforced from the succeeding spot.

There could be reasons to need to know where the previous spot was. Say it was 4th and 18. A passes the ball and there is DPI. However the ball is still caught and A threatens the line-to-gain. A's coach wants a measurement to determine if the play made the first down. If it did then he will decline the penalty and take the play, but otherwise he wants the DPI and the automatic first down. There is a difference of three yards there that he wants if he can get them. This is the reason you don't move the box to the end of the stakes. If you really need to know where the front stake was just put your bean bag there and pick it up after measuring.

Yes, we use 7-man for CIS crews.

Even in 5-man, when there's a RFM could you not do this:

1. LJ has crowd control
2. HL tags the chain with a clip
3. HL goes to the front stick
4. Back stick picks up the clip
5. Two stick guys run to the place of measure
6. BJ takes the clip and holds it to the line on the ground
7. U takes the front stick, places it down for decision by R
8. R makes 50% of people happy

Seems simple to me. Wouldn't that work?

While I agree with you, there was a situation posted on Refstripes about the case I mentioned. For a measurement, the crew moved the box to mirror the front stick when there was a pending penalty application. We're usually smarter than this, but this gotcha creeped into that crew that day.

:o Yep, that was a crew I was on. :o

With hindsight, we should've left the down box in place in that situation (for the potential penalty mark-off) and we could've marked the front stake position (in case the clip falls off) with a beanbag.