Proper spot and down?

[cubes32]

thank you for the replies. I am actually a coach (for the offensive team) looking for clarification. We were not given any options. The referee said we would replay the down and that he would mark off the distance for the UC penalty.

The head coach of the defensive team is throwing a fit about the play. We threw an interception on the next play anyways, so I think they caught a break as well.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by cubes32

thank you for the replies. I am actually a coach (for the offensive team) looking for clarification. We were not given any options. The referee said we would replay the down and that he would mark off the distance for the UC penalty.

Well that is what your captains are for, they probably agreed to that option. So maybe you were never personally informed, but I do not see much of a conversation needed to go to you when the choice is more obvious. I doubt you would want the ball 5 or 6 yards away from the EZ and it did not have to be much of a conversation with the captain.

Peace

[Robert Goodman]

Hard for me to imagine how a player could "fall on the ball" and yet the whistle be inadvertent. Either the description is faulty, or there was some strange judgment that the player lying on the ball, even if it subsequently "squirted out", was not in possession of it. Did one of the other officials have a better angle that enabled him to see the ball was merely deflected off the side of the player rather than trapped between the player's body and the ground?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Hard for me to imagine how a player could "fall on the ball" and yet the whistle be inadvertent. Either the description is faulty, or there was some strange judgment that the player lying on the ball, even if it subsequently "squirted out", was not in possession of it. Did one of the other officials have a better angle that enabled him to see the ball was merely deflected off the side of the player rather than trapped between the player's body and the ground?

Happens all the time: official sees player jump on the ball but does not see possession (typically the player's back is to the official). Official blows whistle while the ball is still loose, and an opponent recovers. Classic IW.

[tomes1978]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Happens all the time: official sees player jump on the ball but does not see possession (typically the player's back is to the official). Official blows whistle while the ball is still loose, and an opponent recovers. Classic IW.

I had one the other day just like this. Luckily it was in a freshman game, I still wanted to go hide under a rock!

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

I had one the other day just like this. Luckily it was in a freshman game, I still wanted to go hide under a rock!

We all have one. The trick... just have ONE.

[Rich]

I've had 2 in my career.

One was in a freshman game where I was dealing with 16 year olds working the chains. I had a ball disappear into the line and I thought I saw the football. Whoops. The varsity coach was laughing and yelling at his players working the chains to pay attention so I could work the game.

Another was in Week 1 one year when I hadn't gotten any field work in. The QB got absolutely smeared and I reached for my flag to flag roughing and I accidentally blew my whistle (what, did I think I was working basketball?). Fortunately for me, the ball was intercepted, so the RTP took precedence anyway. Lesson? Why didn't the whistle drop at the snap like it normally does?

Now I'm a white hat most of the time and it's rare I ever blow my whistle.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Hard for me to imagine how a player could "fall on the ball" and yet the whistle be inadvertent. Either the description is faulty, or there was some strange judgment that the player lying on the ball, even if it subsequently "squirted out", was not in possession of it. Did one of the other officials have a better angle that enabled him to see the ball was merely deflected off the side of the player rather than trapped between the player's body and the ground?

This is why when coaches talk about "You must blow the whistle" why we should not blow the whistle when we "think" the player is down. The ball may not be actually in possession. It happen in our state final game a few years back and our crew member ruled a player down. Well the video showed he was not in possession of the ball, but that is what he ruled at the time so we went with that (and we do not have IR).

Peace

[Rich]

I ignore coaches that ask for quicker whistles. I know what happens when we try to speed up the whistles.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

I ignore coaches that ask for quicker whistles. I know what happens when we try to speed up the whistles.

We often have plays with no whistle at all. So that should tell you what I think of coach's requests.

Peace

[Scooby]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

We often have plays with no whistle at all. So that should tell you what I think of coach's requests.

Peace

I had a game last week and a coach must have said 100 times near the end of a play "blow and whistle and save a kid." That got real annoying!

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Hard for me to imagine how a player could "fall on the ball" and yet the whistle be inadvertent. Either the description is faulty, or there was some strange judgment that the player lying on the ball, even if it subsequently "squirted out", was not in possession of it. Did one of the other officials have a better angle that enabled him to see the ball was merely deflected off the side of the player rather than trapped between the player's body and the ground?

You're kidding, right? I'd say that MOST of the IW's I've seen were blown by an official who thought they saw the play end, when everyone else saw the ball loose.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

You're kidding, right? I'd say that MOST of the IW's I've seen were blown by an official who thought they saw the play end, when everyone else saw the ball loose.

Of course they are. But then there'd have to be something wrong with the description we were given of someone's having fallen on the ball, and then its having squirted out. Maybe what he meant was that, due to parallax, one official thought he saw the player fall on the ball, but actually fall between him and the ball.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Of course they are. But then there'd have to be something wrong with the description we were given of someone's having fallen on the ball, and then its having squirted out. Maybe what he meant was that, due to parallax, one official thought he saw the player fall on the ball, but actually fall between him and the ball.

You've never seen a player fall ON a football and it squirts out the other side?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Of course they are. But then there'd have to be something wrong with the description we were given of someone's having fallen on the ball, and then its having squirted out. Maybe what he meant was that, due to parallax, one official thought he saw the player fall on the ball, but actually fall between him and the ball.

The more you talk, the more I suspect you've never been on the field or possibly even watched a game on TV. Seems to me that when a player dives on a football - MOST of the time, it squirts somewhere. Especially if that ball was still moving. This has nothing to do with parallax - it has to do with a player landing on a ball and one official assuming he recovered it, when in fact he did not. REALLY a rather common occurrence. Good officials, however, will not blow that whistle unless they see ball AND possession, and not assume.