Taking A Knee

[chymechowder]

Originally Posted by asdf

Preventative Officiating

If the game's been chippy and the you know that's it's a kneel down situation, yet you let the above happen without some prior notification..... then you should be relegated to working 2nd grade ball in a two-man system.

Do you do that with each guy on a wing? Or do you go ref/umpire?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by chymechowder

Do you do that with each guy on a wing? Or do you go ref/umpire?

I know you're kidding, but I've seen both, and hybrids. Personally, the kiddo league I do runs a HL and a R/LJ. Ref counts and makes sure they are set correctly (they have bizarro rules about where the defenders have to start), then starts cheating toward his sideline, watching for initial interior holding and then acting like LJ the rest of the play (HL responsible for LOS infractions all the way across). Worked one very long day with R and U - too much running. HL and LJ, I bet EVERYONE was holding in the middle... I'll never know from there.

[kdf5]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

I know you're kidding, but I've seen both, and hybrids. Personally, the kiddo league I do runs a HL and a R/LJ. Ref counts and makes sure they are set correctly (they have bizarro rules about where the defenders have to start), then starts cheating toward his sideline, watching for initial interior holding and then acting like LJ the rest of the play (HL responsible for LOS infractions all the way across). Worked one very long day with R and U - too much running. HL and LJ, I bet EVERYONE was holding in the middle... I'll never know from there.

I did a JV game once by myself. No one else showed up. It was the best game I was ever involved in from the standpoint of sportsmanship. Early in the game there was either a false start or an encroachment. I told them that I had no clue. They all laughed and we had a do-over. They didn't make a peep and played hard and clean and shagged balls for me and helped each other off the ground. I'm glad it happened. Those kids were more polite and had more fun and it was a cleaner game than I've ever seen.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by kdf5

I did a JV game once by myself. No one else showed up. It was the best game I was ever involved in from the standpoint of sportsmanship. Early in the game there was either a false start or an encroachment. I told them that I had no clue. They all laughed and we had a do-over. They didn't make a peep and played hard and clean and shagged balls for me and helped each other off the ground. I'm glad it happened. Those kids were more polite and had more fun and it was a cleaner game than I've ever seen.

Sounds almost like what we had to do when we were kids, playing in a neighbor's yard, with zero officials.

[Rich]

I simply say "Nothing stupid, guys" and I set up about 5 yards deep instead of 15. As soon as the knee starts to the ground, I make sure my whistle is in my mouth.

I haven't had anyone fake it yet, but sounds like a good time for an inadvertent whistle. (Note the here. Not sure if this means I'm kidding or I'm tweaking those who think preventing bad behavior at the end of a blowout is a terrible idea.)