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?

[Rich]

You'll notice that the referee is actually calling the uprights and the back judge (5-man crew, I believe) is simply saying thumbs up or thumbs down on whether it's cleared the crossbar. Both wings are still on their wings.

We still give the R the uprights in our 4-man games with the LJ signaling up or down on the crossbar from the corner of the endzone.

As far as working on the field like that, the snarky comment is "hey, it's the SEC, circa 2006!"

We had a HS crew of old-timers up until 4 years ago where the R wouldn't let the BJ/LJ (at the time) signal good on kicks -- they just gave a thumbs up and he would be the only one signaling good. They since have joined the 1970s.

[HLin NC]

was on yesterday too. By then it looked like maybe a six man crew. Still a lot of herky-jerky movement. Wings were crashing all the way to the pile for forward progress.
Wings turned sort of sidways like in these screen captures.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

We had a HS crew of old-timers up until 4 years ago where the R wouldn't let the BJ/LJ (at the time) signal good on kicks -- they just gave a thumbs up and he would be the only one signaling good.

In cases where you have one official under each post, I always thought the best would be to have each of them signal only whether the kick passed inside their own post and over the bar, ignoring the opposite post, and only the referee making the score or no score signal. As a touch judge in rugby I always told the referee I was putting my flag up if the ball passed to the other side of my post, no matter how stupid that would make me look if the ball went 50 feet outside the opposite post. Really inefficient is the way they do it in the NFL, with the officials under the posts conferring first and then signaling in unison score or no score and the referee then signaling.

What a rugby ref told me was most important was when the touch judges signaled the ball as passing the posts, because if they do it at that instant, the ref can see where the ball is. So that should be part of the mechanic too for officials under the posts. Like maybe having their fist out and swiveling thumb up or down at the instant the ball passes.

Robert

[Bob M.]

REPLY: I think (and that's not always a good thing) that the arm bands on the H and L were used to signify which official (one per sideline) were to be used when an incoming substitute entered the game. Yes...at one time, all incoming subs needed to report to an official. If you look at the current Fed rule book, there is even a vestige of that old rule remaining. Look at the definition of 'substitute.' Wouldn't be at all surprised if that criteria of "...communicates with an official" is left over from that old rule.

[Texas Aggie]

Did they ever work 6 man in (d1) college? Anyone know when they went to 7?

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

Did they ever work 6 man in (d1) college? Anyone know when they went to 7?

There was a timeline in one of the NFHS handbooks recently. All mine are in storage at the moment, or I'd check. I think it lists when various rules changes and innovations occurred.