Retro Refs

[OverAndBack]

CSTV replayed the 1969 Rose Bowl on New Year's Eve, and (like I do), I checked out the officiating crew. Their uniforms and mechanics gave an interesting glimpse into how things used to be (at least, it was interesting to me - if such things aren't interesting to you, move along).

First, the uniforms - instead of numbers or positions, the officials had "ROSE BOWL" and a rose on their backs. I don't know how often this was done, if it was just a Rose Bowl thing or if other bowls did it, or for how long.



Also, the head linesman and line judge apparently had NHL linesman-like armbands - the HL (as you can sorta see below) had red, the LJ (as you can see above) had green. I've never seen them before or since, and don't know how long that was done.



As for mechanics...look how far in the head linesman is cheating on this play from scrimmage (I normally only do this at very low level games when the kids are small and the field is wide and the play is on the far hash):



Even when the play is on his hash, he's still on the field instead of off the field, as you can see here:



Meanwhile, on this touchdown play, you can see the linesman is not only well into the field of play, but if you saw the video, he's running into the end zone, kind of following the ball (instead of the way we do it today, making a break to the goal line from the five or inside and then working back if necessary):



Kick mechanics are very different as well. Note how the officials line up for this field goal attempt:



Wings are well in, with the linesman almost to the hash marks and the referee is directly behind the kicker (this was obviously in the day of the straight-on kicker).

Here you see the referee directly behind the kicker and the umpire just slightly outside the center:



And as the kick goes through the uprights, you see one official on the end line, and he's not under the post (I guess that makes sense if you're only going to have one guy there - the referee takes one post, the back judge takes the other and the crossbar):



Finally, the referee's signal for a touchdown, successful try or field goal was quite a bit stiffer and regimented than it is today:



Just thought that was interesting and wondered who else might. Times sure have changed. What will they think of us in 39 years?