It's about time...

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

I work both sports at the HS/college levels and I find the comparison between baseball and football, in this context, to be completely absurd.

If you think the voice is more effective than a whistle, why do we have whistles in the first place?

Well I had an umpire that did nothing but use his voice. He always got players to stop or react to his voice. The main people that need to use their whistle on most plays are the short wings. Everyone else can use them sparingly or not at all in many situations. I know as a Back Judge about the only time I use a whistle is on a score that I have coverage and a pass in the middle where I have to rule it incomplete. Otherwise runs and most plays outside of the kicking game I almost never use a whistle. I do not need to, I am around where my voice is used to stop players from continuing. And if a whistle is already blown, I do not use my whistle again in most of those situations, I use my voice. I am pretty loud, I can be heard.

Peace