Reporting Penalties

[Reffing Rev.]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Are you a coach? Cause, quite frankly, I think only coaches believe this nonsense.

No, I'm not a coach, never have been, can't stand them.

But I do firmly believe that if an official can't tell me who was holding, blocked in the back, or committed pass interference, that he may have guessed he saw a foul based on seeing half a play, the coaches or fans reactions, or his own anticipation.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

No, I'm not a coach, never have been, can't stand them.

But I do firmly believe that if an official can't tell me who was holding, blocked in the back, or committed pass interference, that he may have guessed he saw a foul based on seeing half a play, the coaches or fans reactions, or his own anticipation.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

Excused? I don't get what you're saying. We're not *required* to report numbers at the HS level over the microphone, matter of fact it's frowned upon.

So I see a blue jersey player grab and twist a face mask and flag it but can't get the number in the sea of players and you'd what, pick up the flag? Castigate me? I'd tell you to pound sand.

My crew gets numbers 99% of the time. I can live with the 1% where they don't.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

No, I'm not a coach, never have been, can't stand them.

But I do firmly believe that if an official can't tell me who was holding, blocked in the back, or committed pass interference, that he may have guessed he saw a foul based on seeing half a play, the coaches or fans reactions, or his own anticipation.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

I think you're a little firmer than you need to be here. HL and LJ are not always going to get the number of a lineman that grabs the defender and throws him straight down - unless the player turns or has numbers on his arms. Facemasks often happen in piles. Even lined up in the neutral zone or moved into the neutral zone - I know I've told coaches more than once - "Coach it was your nozeguard" "You didn't get a number?!?!" "No - it was the noseguard in the NZ early - but as soon as the play started I lost him in the crowd.

Comparing us to NCAA or pros is not valid - especially NFL. They have FAR fewer teams and numbers to deal with, and often not only know the number of the players but the names as well - BEFORE the game starts. If I get the same team twice in a season, it's a rarity.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

No, I'm not a coach, never have been, can't stand them.

But I do firmly believe that if an official can't tell me who was holding, blocked in the back, or committed pass interference, that he may have guessed he saw a foul based on seeing half a play, the coaches or fans reactions, or his own anticipation.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

Actually, I hear this a lot although the actual words are usually "left guard" or similar or even a number not on the field.

[wwcfoa43]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

No, I'm not a coach, never have been, can't stand them.

But I do firmly believe that if an official can't tell me who was holding, blocked in the back, or committed pass interference, that he may have guessed he saw a foul based on seeing half a play, the coaches or fans reactions, or his own anticipation.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

It is a matter of priorities. I recall one of my early college games where it was so muddy that the players were covered in mud by the end of the game. I had a legitimate holding call but spent so much focus trying to ascertain what number the player was that I did not get where the ball went dead. On the play I had three things to do (amongst others): call the foul, get the number and mark forward progress. However, two of the three (foul and forward progress) were more important than the number and so should have received the higher priority.

Are we responsible for getting a number? Yes. But you cannot conclude that a lack of number means the official does not have a foul.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

I've never heard an official with a mic say, "Holding, someone on white, 10 yards," because officials as you move up the ladder, get numbers. I want my crew to get numbers.

No, but at the high school level we do not give numbers. We only say the team or classification (offense, defense, kicking team, receiving team). And in most cases we do not get a mic. We get asked silly questions all the time even if you give them a number. So what difference does it make if we give a number? I give positions all the time.

If you are trying to suggest the pros do those things, they have 7 officials and get to stay on a key for several seconds on a play. In a 5 man or fewer crew that is not always as easy.

Peace

[JRod37]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

You tell me why an official should be excused from getting a number?

When I don't get a number it's because 1) there was probably a pile where I couldn't see the numbers but I definitely saw the jersey colors, or 2) there was something else going on that needed attention such as a guy laying someone out behind the play. I don't stop watching the play just because I need 2-3 more seconds to find the number of the player. If I'm looking for a number in those instances above, I'm not watching the rest of the play.

As mentioned earlier 99% of the time it's not a problem to get the number. And I do believe it is good officiating strive to get the number every time. But it's not critical to the game.