Not a good start
 

Alright fellas... I'm now a 3rd year V official and need some advice on this one.

Our LJ is a veteran official. Last night JV Game - late in the 4th quarter wit team A up 42-12 - 2nd and 3rd stringers in...

Team A runs a reverse (I agree - not good) for about a 40 yard TD. From the LJ comes this long thrown flag into the offensive backfield. I am the U and see this guy come to the referee who asks him what he has. I already know the answer he is going to give as this is the 2nd time in my time with him that he has done this...

He looks at the clock and says" I've got a hold on 42-6" meaning that he doesn' think the coach should be running reverse up by this margin. I'm instantly pissed!

After the game in the locker room as I get out of the shower... he is asking our rookie - Do ya know why I called this... blah blah blah.

I speak up and tell him in front of the crew chief..."I don't think this is right - I don't think it is our job to officiate that way - Will never do it... etc - even though I agree with him that it is unsportsmanlike...

Thoughts? How would you handle?:mad:

Is this a crew? Or were you put together for this game? If a crew, handling this is going to be difficult, but I would try to have your crew chief handle it. If not a crew - I would definitely express my concern to the assignor, possibly along with a request never to work with the guy again.

Yes, it's unsportsmanlike, but that's not our decision to make. One says that what goes around comes around ... but who knows - this may have been the "come around". Call the game - don't make stuff up.

Yep - Its a crew!

You got to let the Crew Chief handle it.

Absolutely.

When a person makes the decision to become a crew chief this is one of the responsibilities they take on. You should address your concerns with your crew chief and hopefully, he will do his job and address it before it gets out of hand.

I understand where the LJ is coming from but, as previously stated, it is not his responsibility to address the poor sportsmanship demonstrated by A. This is the responsibility of the schools administration.

If there is a hold that affects the play, then flag it. If not, then don't.

The score doesn't matter. In fact, he might have taken away the only TD that player scored all year.

That official is not a veteran official. He has 1 year of experience x times.

A person like that on my crew would find himself looking for another crew.

I've "fired" two people the second and third year of my crew and since then the current guys have been together for five years.

OP, maybe it's time to find a new crew yourself.

I am the crew chief on my crew and I would have no problem with one of my crewmates questioning another about a call of this nature.

Me either. It would be refreshing for someone to step up -- then I wouldn't always be the one to ask these types of questions.

I'm the LJ on my crew, and although we have never had anything this extreme, we have always been very honest and open with one another. I've had my partners call me out on things I was doing wrong, and vise versa. Personally I like it that way, because our goal as an officiating team is to "get it right," both by the letter and the spirit of the rules.

I think how this is handled depends on the crew. My crew has very experienced officials and we talk about all kinds of situations openly. And everyone on my crew has a leadership position or is a very accomplished official in their own right. I would have said something if I disagreed with it and no one would have left this to the crew chief because he is the crew chief. Then again that is how we do it.

Peace

Now wait a minute! They've got their scrubs in, and you don't think the scrubs should get a chance to go deep into their playbook?

From a coach's perspective, I think the players who usually warm the bench look at it as a new game when they go in. Forget 42-12, that game's over. In their heads they're keeping a new score from the time the benches were cleared. Oh, and they don't care about that holding call, they're counting the TD.

Thats the way it should be IMHO

Good point... I will use your point in my discussion with him tonight.:)

I don't mind if the 2nd and 3rd teams score at all, but keep the trick plays in your back pocket...I am not going to make up a penalty but I will make it very clear to the coach that I am not happy with his choices.

Friday night we had the same situation late in the game and the winning coach took a knee on the 1-yard line at to end the game with the third string in the game...I have the a ton of respect for coaches like that.

The minute you do this is the minute that you permiss the coach to comment about your officiating.

If this type of play happened in my state, we would want them to score so we can get to the mercy rule. I do not care how they get there; just get there so the clock can run. Then we can throw all the flags we like as time is just going to run tool. ;)

Peace

So, otherwise the coaches aren't allowed to comment on our officiating? We all do things to limit a blowout. On close plays on the out of bounds do you tend to wind it? This is just an example that goes too far. I will mention to the coach "coach if you are taking a knee let me know so I can try and protect your QB." This plants the seed in his head that the game is over.

I tell my guys there is nothing worse than throwing a flag on something that's not there. I don't particularly care what the game situation is at the time. Missed calls can be defended, there is no defense for calling something that's not there.
And last I checked, we're there to officiate a game that ALL the players have prepared for all week. It's not our job to do what we can to get it over with as fast as possible no matter which "string" of players happen to be in. Yeah, inside I may think it's BS the coach that's up by 20 in the 4th qtr is still bombing the ball down the field but that's not going to change how we call the game (other than telling my guys to be even more vigilant about cheap hits).

Totally agree!

I don't remember that situation ever being covered in any rules meetings, book, mechanics or other conversations with the state or local officials. Even the second and third teams deserve a good effort from the officiating crew. This guy is off base, and our crew is very experienced...each member would tell him to take a hike not just the crew chief.

IN our state we have a running clock to end things when they get this far out of hand. Not a perfect solution, but it makes the 2nd half go quicker!