The bigger bonehead play would have been to take away the TD. I think that we are so conditioned to flag that crap (especially at the youth level, where the kids have to be broken of the habit of imitating NFL antics) that sometimes game situation may end up secondary in our thought process.

I doubt you would have had that kid's attention too long. He just scored the winning TD in a hard fought championship game - not the optimum time for hearing lectures from refs. Maybe your flag said more than the lecture would have.

As far as derock dispensing advice and officiating philosophy, take it for what its worth. Picture the youth player advising the varsity or college player on technique and what his reaction would be.

Doc Moore,

I know what you mean when you say "I wish I could make it fly back into my hand". We've all been there.

I think the flag was justified and in my game sense, the right throw. Bottom line; it didn't matter anyway other than to show that that type of garbage doesn't belong on the field. I would stand by that any day. (If you want to talk about REAL bonehead moves, let's discuss early whistles or better yet, inadvertent whistles. Of course, I've never had one -lol, lol-).

I'm guessing that you didn't get a lot of Christmas cards from the fans... So be it; we're not there to win a popularity contest.