"Cheaters Never Win"

[breynolds]

Not sure if anyone else who has replied is from GA or not. I am (although a different part of the state so I'm not familiar with the crew or the schools). This definitely a 6 man crew which is what we work for most varsity games.

I agree with Bob M. It looks to me like the sneak entered behind the FJ. The BJ (what GA calls the other deep official even though he works the sideline not the middle like in a 5 or 7 man crew) COULD have seen this from the opposite side of the field but might not have since his initial key is the widest man on his side of the formation.

I think the FJ should have realized something funny was going on when the QB threw deep down his side even though all 3 receivers on his side broke their patterns off short. Still, not an easy foul to catch. To be honest I don't know that I would have caught it either. Shame on the coaching staff for trying it.

I wonder if Effingham sent this to the GHSA and what they might do about it. It definitely deserves a penalty stronger than the 15 yards we would have hit them with. Everyone else hit the nail on the head. This guy is teaching his kids that its OK to cheat. I think more coaches need to live by the Coaches Code of Ethics. I wonder if this guy evens knows that such a thing exists.

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by Bob M.

REPLY: I'm with Ref Ump Welsch on this one. Clearly a 6-man crew. I'm sure that the side judge was not in a position to see the 'sneak' enter the field (behind him), but he had to wondering afterwards how he possibly could have gotten where he was without passing him. His curiosity was probably not enough for him to drop a flag, but I can imagine that the first question this crew asked after the game ended was "Where the %$@# did he come from?"

Also note how the coach camouflaged the sneak by positioning a bunch of teammates down in that area, just so that the sneak wouldn't stand out.

Maybe I am missing something. Aren't downfield officials suppose to spot their eligibles?

That being the case, the official should have seen he had trips and they ran short patterns. OK, so maybe an eligible from the opposite side ran a crossing pattern -- that did not happen in this case.

There should have been a flag for an ineligible downfield -- the player who ran off to the sidelines -- as he was covered.

How about the official on the opposite side of the field? He had one eligible who just kind of ran a leisurely fly pattern.

This kind of stuff is hard to catch but the crew did miss the ineligible going downfield. The R was on the left side of a right-handed QB. One rule error and one mechanical error on the same play.

But my pet peeve, players standing on the sidelines allowed this to happen. If the players had been properly positioned in the box it would have been harder for the player to leave the field as he did and another player to enter downfield without being noticed.

[TXMike]

From the Augusta Chronicle:
Coach is safe from firing
By Billy Byler | Columbia County Bureau
Friday, November 09, 2007
Lakeside High School's athletic director and football coach Jody Grooms will not be fired, Lakeside principal Dr. Jeff Carney said Thursday morning.

Grooms is under scrutiny after his team ran an illegal play on its final possession of a game last Friday at Effingham County. Carney said Grooms will be punished for the offense but would not lose his job. He would not specify the punishment.

"I'm not out to fire Jody," he said. "He made a poor decision, but this is so out of character for him. I have total faith in him that nothing like this will ever happen again."

Carney said he faxed a written report of the incident to the Georgia High School Association on Tuesday. Dennis Payne, the GHSA's associate director and administrator for football, said Wednesday he will make a recommendation after reviewing the report.

GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin said he will not comment or make a decision on the incident until today at the earliest.

Lakeside's football team went 3-7 this year in Grooms' first season as head coach and athletic director. Payne said he couldn't recall any similar incident occuring in the GHSA in recent years.

[Forksref]

This coach is also the A.D.?? What kind of ethical leadership can you expect from this guy? They need to at least relieve Ricky Bobby Jody of his A.D. duties. He's morally bankrupt.

[HLin NC]

Its linked on the Fed board too. Georgia uses 6 man crew.
http://www.nfhs.org/cgi-bin/ultimate...c;f=9;t=003052

"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
"I will not cheat"
ad infinitum

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by TXMike

From the Augusta Chronicle:
Coach is safe from firing
By Billy Byler | Columbia County Bureau
Friday, November 09, 2007
,,, Payne said he couldn't recall any similar incident occuring in the GHSA in recent years.

I hope not.

[MJT]

Originally Posted by Forksref

This coach is also the A.D.?? What kind of ethical leadership can you expect from this guy? They need to at least relieve Ricky Bobby Jody of his A.D. duties. He's morally bankrupt.

In smaller schools it is not uncommon for the AD to be a head coach of a program. It can be a problem at times but in most cases it is just fine and there is never a problem. It is not the AD/Coach situation that is the problem, it is the individual coach's ethics.

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by MJT

In smaller schools it is not uncommon for the AD to be a head coach of a program. It can be a problem at times but in most cases it is just fine and there is never a problem. It is not the AD/Coach situation that is the problem, it is the individual coach's ethics.

I have no problem with the coach being the AD. I see that all the time in small schools. My point is that he is an administrator and he lacks a moral compass. If your principal did something like this, I doubt he'd retain credibility and trust among the staff. To me, this would be something like changing test scores so your school looks better. People don't select which areas of their lives in which they will be ethical or not. Just because he is a coach does not mean that we overlook him also being an administrator. This is far worse than running up the score v. taking a knee. This is cheating by one of the administrators in this school.

[TXMike]

From the Savannah Morning News:

AUGUSTA - Lakeside High School will be fined $250 by the Georgia High School Association for the actions of the football team and head coach Jody Grooms involving a controversial play at the end of the team's final game of the season.

Dr. Ralph Swearngin, GHSA executive director, said he reviewed a written report from Lakeside and came to a final decision Friday. The punishment also included a "severe warning status" placed on Grooms until the end of the 2008 football season.

"That means any more sportsmanship problems would bring harsher penalties," Swearngin said. "We don't fine coaches in this type of situation. We fine the school."

Swearngin said he was surprised when he learned that a coach in the GHSA attempted such a play.

"Obviously, we're strongly opposed to that kind of action," he said. "This seemed like it was very out of character."

Lakeside principal Dr. Jeff Carney, who is out of town this weekend with the Lakeside cheerleading squad at the state competition in Columbus, said he hadn't seen the report from the GHSA, but an assistant told him the total fine was $250.

"We totally respect the decision from the GHSA," Carney said. "We knew we did something wrong, and we were going to be punished."

Grooms has already publicly apologized for the illegal play - a pass play where one receiver ran off the field and another receiver came from the sideline onto the field - that he called late in a game at Effingham County on Nov. 2. Carney said Thursday that Grooms will be punished but not fired by the school.