MLL Championship game

[ChuckElias]

Did anybody see the Baltimore/Long Island championship game? I watched a good bit of it, and it was my first prolonged exposure to the league. It looked to me like they were just beating the snot out of each other. Was this pretty typical of the level of play throughout the season? I'm sure the refs are told to let them play and not be too quick to throw the flag. But the way it looked from my couch (I know, great view) was that you had to commit a felony to get a personal foul called on you.

Also, there was a lot of "free hand" contact on the wrap-around checks. Is this allowed, or was it just part of the "let them play" officiating?

Chuck

[kclaxdad]

I agree there must have been some X-Lax instructions given. I hate to see the middle school and high school kids I coach and referee see that type of game played. Bad habits are hard to break.

I'm a first year ref who has made it through JV games, and 20 summer league games. I was thrown into a college v. college alum game the Sunday before the MLL game, and the other ref had to cancel because of family emergency, so I was on my own. Felt pretty bad about some missed calls until I watched the MLL championship!

That raises a question. Do you call a slash on sound alone? I was going down field, following play and took my eyes away from man with ball because of some contact closer to me. I heard what was probably a slash to the helmet, (but could have been a loud stick check), but since I didn't see it, I didn't call it. Needless to say, lots of noise from the sideline. I've always operated on the principle that I can't call a foul I don't see and generally respond "Coach, I'm sorry, I didn't see it. If I see it, I'll call it." I had spent some time with coaches, captains, and teams at line up to explain that I was going to be doing this game by myself and needed some help on when they returned onto the field, etc.

Any suggestions?

[Edited by kclaxdad on Sep 12th, 2001 at 10:49 PM]

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by kclaxdad
Do you call a slash on sound alone?

First of all, you need to call somebody and rip 'em a "new one" for leaving you on the field alone for a college scrimmage. I would be pretty upset about that, myself.

But as to your specific question, the answer is that I have called a slash without seeing it, but I really hate to do it. I'll only do if I'm positive that the sound came from a helmet. I have done it only once, maybe twice. I think you need to be real real careful about doing that. But if you're certain that it was a stick-to-helmet sound, then I think you can call it.

chuck

[kclaxdad]

I didn't mind being assigned as it was more of a volunteer effort because of the holiday weekend. All experience, even bad experience, is a teacher, and it really wasn't that bad, just more vocal than I get from the high school teams. The game did move about 3 times faster than I was used to and it is tough for one person to get in proper position all the time. The guys were pretty good about letting me know when the ball was out of bounds on the end lines, and when they were back inside for restarts.

Since I left the e-mail, I talked with our regional assignor, and his view was closer to if you didn't see it, it didn't happen. He also had a lot of insight for some of the situations that arose that I hadn't seen before. Like I said, a learning experience.

I'll be going back at the end of this month to work a college fall tourney. Heck, this is something I really enjoy doing. Lacrosse is a new, but growing, sport here on the western side of Missouri and eastern Kansas, and the players way outnumber the qualified coaches and refs. I refereed football and basketball while in college and law school and for a while after that, so don't feel completely lost, depsite the fact I've never played the game. I've been around it a lot in the last three years as we've put together teams out here.

Thanks for you insight.

[J_Biz]

22 players and 1 official in a college level game!?! Yikes! Question is: How can you see everything?

The answer is simple: You can't!

But, please, please don't put yourself in a position where you have to explain to a coach (or anyone for that matter)that you called a penalty because it sounded ugly. If you didn't see it, you can't call it.

There are blind spots in games officiated by a 3-man crew.

There are even more blind spots in a 2-man game.

a 1-man game? Hey, you and Ray Charles would be on an even keel in that situation.

J. Biz

[kclaxdad]

Thanks. Like I said in the beginning of this thread, there were three refs at the MLL game who apparently didn't see and surely didn't call as many fouls as I did by myself! Maybe Ray Charles was at that game, too.