Good Block or penalty?

[Jim D.]

Originally Posted by ajmc

The reason the practice is to "be sure before you throw a flag" is because guessing (assuming, almost, might be) ultimately creates chaos. We have to trust each other, that we are each mature enough to realize the seriousness of certain fouls and to set our standards appropriately. However, wherever we set our standard, the one absolute must be certainty about what we see before we take action.

It's not a question about being too slow or too fast. It's a matter of being sure and being willing to accept any and all criticism for doing what we know is right.

I wonder how many calls I've made in my career where I have had the luxury of absolute 100% certainty. Players are moving, I'm moving and the action is fast so there is some degree of uncertainty in most calls. My suggestion is not that we abandon that philosophy for all fouls, and not even for some safety related fouls (clips, block in the back, etc.), but only for spears and other helmet contact. I think that we are too cautious in calling those, and since the consequences are so serious, we are doing the players a disservice by doing so. I don't think being less lenient on these calls will lead to chaos, and I don't advocate guessing, but I do think we need to be more aggressive in calling them. If it were my son playing, I'd rather an official flag him for a potentially dangerous hit and be wrong in calling it than to let it go and have my son try it again later.