What happens next? What does that mean?

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by dansaintandre
The lacrosse rules are written and maintained by the coaches with minimal input from officials at any level.

Dan,

I'm not sure where you get your information, but I think the above statement is just not true. I'm looking at both my National Federation (High School) and NCAA books right now. And I see well-known officials on both rules committees. Coaches certainly have input on what rules changes to make, but I would disagree with your statement that officials have minimal input.

I encourage each official to write out a description of WHAT TO LOOK FOR; HOW DO YOU SEE IT; candidate behaviors for each of the possible infractions --- especially those that have a lot of interpretation associated with them.

This is done in the rulebook. That's what some of the Approved Rulings are.

=== WE CAN DO BETTER IN WRITING THINGS DOWN ===

Maybe that's true, Dan, but it's not really going to help a whole lot, b/c you rarely see the exact same thing twice; especially when we're talking about those "gray" situations that are open to interpretation.

=== OFFICIALS NEED TO START WRITING THINGS DOWN SO THAT
MORE OFFICIALS USE A MORE OBJECTIVE APPROACH. WHEN WE ARE MORE CONSISTENT AND EFFECTIVE, THE RULES WILL FOLLOW ===

I don't mean to be rude, Dan, but did you even read my last post? The rules (some of them, at least) are purposely subjective. They have to allow for officials' judgment. If there was no judgment involved, you wouldn't need officials at all. You can write down all the objective descriptions you want, but there will always be exceptions (brushing the helmet following a legal stick check) and this is where the officials use their judgment. Just out of curiosity, what would your objective description of a slash to the head be? How much force is allowed before you throw the flag? How is the official supposed to judge your objective standard while the players are running by during a clear? I'm not trying to be a smart@@@, but can you see the impossibility of an "objective" standard?

I agree completely that officials need to be more consistent. They need to know and enforce the rules that are written. But as long as there are human referees, you will never get an "objective" approach to officiating lacrosse. And you shouldn't, in my opinion.

Chuck