crews and positions...

[chris s]

After reading and responding to the assignments post below, I really find it hard to fathom the idea of individual assignments and as Mike Sears said the 6 year wait for varsity assignments. Continuity and ability to work different positions seems to be compromised. Say you get 5 "real umpires" to work a game, your ok in the middle, but what about the wings? My crew, for instance, we got the chief, same size as me(5'9", 190) works R and U for sub V. I work U and R for frosh and U for JV, usually LJ and U for varsity(if our real U can't make it) he's 6'4" and about 260. My HL for V is another speedster and our BJ is a former NAVY db. BUT, we all know each other and work our mechanics together, seems kinda tough working with unfamiliar folks , so , how goes it when working outside of familiar partners???

[JMN]

On our assignments, we are assigned by position. Rarely does a full-figured U get stuck on the flanks. The assignor knows that his only position is U and that it would be a mistake to assign him as a wing guy.

In regards to working with different guys every week and not "knowing" how they work. I like having different guys to work with and if you follow proper mechanics, you don't get into any more trouble than you would on crews. In fact, there's an argument to be made that you might even be more attentive as an assigned official because you don't want to relax and let down your other officials. After you've worked in an association for a few years, you get to know most of the guys and their habits. And of course, there's nothing like a solid pregame to integrate a crew.

I've worked both and prefer assignments for these reasons.

[TXMike]

You make an excellent point with regards to the pregame...I worked on a small college crew a few years back and these guys were so used to one another, there was rarely ever anything approaching a pregame. But yet on Friday nights, because we are always with different guys, the same guys would scream if there was no pregame. I fear the pregame could suffer in a crew scenario and that can pave the road to crew failure during the game.

[ABoselli]

I think a well thought out and thorough pregame is critical. How many times have you had something pop up that you didn't think to cover? You'll always remember to cover it now.

Who's where on what, at what point does the BJ gives up the goal line and moves to the end line, passes in to the deep corners of the end zone - who has what etc etc etc...

If you just went throught the motions in the pregame rather than getting your head screwed on right, it'll cost you eventually.

You're right, JMN, you do get to know most guys' tendencies after a while, who the stronger and weaker guys are, and nothing beats doing a big game with a great crew.

[Ed Hickland]

I am a stickler for a pregame. My crew worked the entire season together and we still had a pregame before every game.

One season we lost track and dismissed pregames. Bad mistake. I demand everybody to sit for a 20 minute pregame where we discuss the game and only that game. Sometimes it is a repeat of earlier pregames. But it works.

Our crew is a 4-man crew and in the preseason we had an extra point that I as the referee could not see if it was over the crossbar. So we decided to have the LJ move to position after the snap where he could see if the ball went over the crossbar.

We reviewed that in every pregame. Then late in the season on an extra point the ball hit the upright and bounced. Was it over? One look at the LJ with thumbs down and a routine signal of no good.

[nvfoa15]

The football association I belong to here in Northern Virginia assigns varsity games by the crew system (5 man). All other games are assigned individually. Playoffs are assigned by crew plus a sixth man; thus we don't have five Us and a R working a state championship game.

Even though I work with the same officials each week at the varsity level (some substitions due to availabilty), I conduct a through pre game covering all aspects of the game. Unfortunately, pre games for sub varsity games are almost non-existent due to arrival times of the crew.

[Theisey]

To make a generalized statement that says a pre-game discussion within a crew of officials who work every week together is not as good as pre-game discussions with assigned officials is just not correct.

If you don't work at it, then of course that will happen. But a lousy discussion is more apt to happen between officials that are individually assigned as each has their own agenda they want to follow and each may or may not respect the "Ref" for that game.

Been at this long enought to know that both can be equally worth the time if effort by all is put into it. That means meeting at least 1 to 1.5 hours before the game.
Does the Ref for the game send each member a pre-game sheet with assigned items to discuss? At the high school level, I doubt it. How else can you have a good discussion unless you follow a plan set of football items to discuss.

That's the way we do it the NF crew I work on and that's how it is done for the ncaa dii/iii games in which we are assigned individually. We meet 3 hours before game time and each has specific items to discuss.
So yes, it can work okay but as I said you have to work at it with planned items to go over.

[ABoselli]

I think it depends on the R. If he has a well thought out pregame that includes discussion between all participants, it will be good. I've done games with R's I thought were weak, and it showed in their pregame - it was weak. Making sure everyone is on the same page as opposed to making sure everyone does it "your" way is paramount. That means that this week we do it this way, next week we'll do it differently, but we'll all do it the same way tonight.

It should last at least an hour.

[nvfoa15]

As I have stated before in this forum, my pre game is scheduled for an hour. I discuss 90% mechanics and 10% rules; covering everything from what does each official do when we first walk on the field to where we will exit. I break down the game into runs, passes, FGs, PATs, KOs, penalty admisistration, measurments, time outs, end of half. Lastly, we do an equipment check and a prayer. I will go over OT at halftime is necessary. Each crew member responds with the keys and mechanics for each type of play. If there is a rule question during the pre game, the official who asks the question will research the answer and come up with a result before the pre game is over.

At several times during the season, I will exchange roles with the crew; the U will describe the LJ's keys and mechanics for running plays, the HL will answer as the BJ, etc. This way eveybody knows what they are supposed to do plus what the others are doing. This provides confidence that the other crew members are doing their job and we don't have "look out" for their area of responsibility. Secondly, if this should ever happen, if a crew member goes down, we can function as a 4-man crew with no problem.

I have been told that my pre game is one of most through in the association. I even had a couple of "newbies" want to be a clock operator for my games just to hear the pre game (not to sound boastful). BTW, I consider the timers to be an intregal part of the game crew and require them to attend the pre game conference

[Mike Simonds]

I agree about getting everyone actively involved in the pregame including researching the answer to their own questions (helps them to learn how to use the rule book) and to know each others areas of responsibilities...

In our association: "poaching" is illegal... In other words, don't go looking for trouble in another official's area. Trouble will find you soon enough in your own backyard!!!