Fishing in my Pond

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by whitehat

Lesson 1: If progress not stopped, don't move in towards the pile as if it has.
Lesson 2. work as a team and don't use language that will cause a crew member to become defensive. This LJ is a good official and now he will be even better with this mechanics tweak.
lesson 3: we all make mistakes and becoming "territorial" like the comment in the OP is counterproductive to good crew relations and mechanics. there is a proper time and place to maybe have a stronger discussion, but on the field in the middle of a game does no one any good IMO. peace.

I agree wholheartedly with lessons 2 and 3. When there is an apparent difference of conclusion between field officials, the appropriate way to deal with it is for those officials to get together, share each other's perspectives and agree on a single conclusion.

That discussion should be immediate and as private as possible and absent any gestures or signals until a conclusion is agreed upon. Priority should be given to the official who saw something as opposed to the officials whose conclusion is based on something not seen (i.e. a forward pass SEEN to touch the ground before being caught versus a pass NOT SEEN to touch the ground before being caught, would be ruled incomplete).

I didn't understand the suggested lesson 1. Had the LJ believed progress was stopped, I believe he would have signalled so with his whistle as he was converging. Moving towards the ball and NOT sounding a whistle would suggest to me that he was still observing a live ball.

Any subsequent explanations you choose to make can be easily handled by simply informing "He (the other official) had the better view and saw something I didn't". If, or to what extent, you choose to amplify that information is up to you, but usually, the less said the better.

[GetItRight]

Someone needs a lesson in watching his area of responsibility and not watching the ball carrier when he is out of his zone. Classic case of ball watching rather than his area of responsibility. Easiest way to explain it is that if the ball is nto in his zone, and he is not watching his zone, that no one is covering his zone and bad things can happen. Explain the need to watch his zone and have faith that his partners can do their job.

[MNBlue]

Originally Posted by GetItRight

Someone needs a lesson in watching his area of responsibility and not watching the ball carrier when he is out of his zone. Classic case of ball watching rather than his area of responsibility. Easiest way to explain it is that if the ball is nto in his zone, and he is not watching his zone, that no one is covering his zone and bad things can happen. Explain the need to watch his zone and have faith that his partners can do their job.

I kind of disagree.

We should definitely be officiating in our area - if we don't, no one will, but we should also be observing ALL areas. If there is a question about a play, the last thing the white hat wants to hear is "I don't know. It wasn't my area."

We need to take care of our area, but we also need to have an opinion about everything that happens on the field. If you don't have all the information because you couldn't see everything, you need to articulate that during the discussion. Form an opinion but be open to new information.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by GetItRight

Someone needs a lesson in watching his area of responsibility and not watching the ball carrier when he is out of his zone. Classic case of ball watching rather than his area of responsibility. Easiest way to explain it is that if the ball is nto in his zone, and he is not watching his zone, that no one is covering his zone and bad things can happen. Explain the need to watch his zone and have faith that his partners can do their job.

Never heard of cross-field mechanics, I guess.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Never heard of cross-field mechanics, I guess.

I guess he never knew that forward progress involves two people, not just one.

Peace