NFHS Ball Mechanics

[refbuz]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Amazing the differences -- I'm the WH on my crew and I want the ball boys (on a new series) to run all the way out and HAND the ball to the umpire. On a long incompletion either the wing or BJ will get a new ball from the ball boy while someone else chases the other ball.

I don't get the handing part, is it because your wing guys can't throw, or your Umpire can't catch?

What does your LJ do during a CoP?

[ajmc]

Excuse me RefumpWelsch, I understood the example accurately, which is why I mentioned I was suggesting something associated with a previous, related, issue about exchanging footballs.

Is it possible I could have made it clearer that I would not recommend the restrictions imposed by the referee in the sample question? Was there some part of, "unnecessary and a really poor way to elicit cooperation before the start of a game" that led you to a conclusion I was being supportive?

The secret is simply; don't don't be complicit, even unintentionally, in doing something that might allow either team to gain any unearned advantage.

Originally Posted by ajmc

The secret is simply; don't don't be complicit, even unintentionally, in doing something that might allow either team to gain any unearned advantage.

And the crew in the original posting wasn't complicit? I'm confused as to your point now, because first you were defending the crew and deriding the coach, and now you're condeming the crew, or at least that what it seems to me. I'm not being critical of your comments, but my day job as a college instructor is kicking in right now mentally, and I'm just trying to make sure I understand you correctly.

[ajmc]

I'e don't know what you teach, or what difference that makes but having no control over your reading comprehension, I'll try harder to express myself clearer.

I was simply trying to reiterate a related point, which comes up periodically and is germane to the general issue of ball replacement. Perhaps because of the processes involved in the more visible professional and collegiate games, many coaches are under the misunderstanding that they have direct input into the conditions or circumstances that dictate when, and even how, game balls are replaced.

That is NOT the case. Game officials have the exclusive and absolute authority to decide if and when game balls should be exchanged, other than at the start of a series (NF: 1.3.2) and as otherwise defined by the rules (NF: 1.3.3).

Your references to, "we can screw the team trailing and in the hurry up offense out of their time" and that somehow leads to your conclusion, "that we don't need to hustle" seem to exist more in your mind than in any of the suggestions made up to this point.

As I have tried to suggest, as officials we should not alter our process, or the interval of,of declaring the ball RFP to satisfy and special requirements giving an advantage to either team. I was not condemning the crew, although I believe the incident as described, exceeded what I would consider reasonable protocol for handling an ancillary matter such as ball exchange.

I wouldn't deride any coach's motivation, unless and until I was working a game in which a specific coach tried to exceed his authority, and even then my initial response would be to simply explain the proper answer to whatever question was being raised.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by refbuz

I don't get the handing part, is it because your wing guys can't throw, or your Umpire can't catch?

What does your LJ do during a CoP?

Irrelevant, really. Half the time the ball comes in from the chain side and the L has something to do. So both ball boys do the same thing.

There's no reason for the wings to come in. They start on the sidelines. Ball boy runs ball to umpire. Umpire spots ball while ball boy leaves field. Wings are in position. Ready for play. Not having to handle the ball frees them to count players, line up, etc.

Throwing the ball around unnecessarily is also something we try to avoid.

[OverAndBack]

Well, that's sage advice, it seems to me.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

Well, that's sage advice, it seems to me.

If I had seven, I would probably handle it a bit differently (using a deep wing and leaving the ball boy off the field). But I don't and probably never will at the high school level.

My crew spends a lot of time talking about things like this when we meet before, during, and after the season. One of the advantages, I think, of having a set crew.

[OverAndBack]

It surely is.

When you're like some of us and constantly working with different people, you may run into the same WH from time to time and know how they like things done, and that's fine, but you end up, by default, just going along and it's not as smooth as it is when you're on a crew.

Because I can tell you, we don't spend a lot of time talking about anything on a subvarsity game with a mix-and-match crew. And I think it's to the detriment of everybody.