Weekly Bull 9/25/13

SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION, INC.

A Federal Non Profit Tax Exempt Corporation – www.sdcfoa.org

THE WEEKLY BULL – Sept. 25, 2013

Agenda

1. Attendance

2. Review of Weekly Bulletin

3. Communication Groups

4. Video Study Session

5. Rules & Mechanics Make Up 

Next Meetings – The remaining meetings will be at West Hills!

Communication – As much as this is a very emotional game, we still must be in control of ourselves and our words.  Coaches who are constantly complaining are not really communicating.  Neither are officials who ignore coaches.  If we are really communicating we are asking questions to get an explanation, not ask a question so they can argue back. Referees can help by asking the coach “What did you see?”  or, “Coach, I’m going to give you an explanation, but if you’re just going to yell at me, I’m going back to the field and restart the game.”  Negative comments about the quality of our calls is understandable, that’s just disagreement (at a reasonable level), but comments about us personally or us as an official crosses the line of good sportsmanship.

Keep Your Mouth Shut – I have two instances of officials making comments to innocent spectators who turned out to be 1) the coach’s wife and 2) the principal of the school (not me).  Keep all comments to yourself and save them for the locker room.

Keeping the Restricted Area Clear – We seem to be doing a reasonably good job with this thankless task.  Our focus is on the field, but for safety reasons, the restricted area needs to be clear at the start of the play.  So far so good!  One thing to keep in mind is that it is the same for both sides.  We are on the same crew, so do your crewmates a favor and do the same work for both teams. 

Instructional Video Tape is Ready – The HUDL video tape for weeks three and four is ready under Coover Clips Week 3 & Week 4

Chain Crew – It is a bonus to officials and teams to have a mobile, well trained chain crew, especially if the tempo of the game is fast.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month – I want to remind all coaches that the SDCFOA supports Cancer Awareness Month and allow teams and individuals to wear pink during the month of October.  This year, you will notice our officials using pink whistle in an effort to be more uniform in their observance of this important event.

Eligible Receiver – An eligible receiver wears a number 1-49 or 80-99 and is either in the backfield or on the end of the line of scrimmage.  In high school, there is no exception to this rule.  Player #55 cannot report to the referee that they are coming in as an eligible player.  That’s on Sunday in the NFL.  Now that I’ve said that, player #55 can take a position in the backfield or on the end of the line (if they have 5 other players on the line numbered between 50 – 79) but #55 is ineligible for a pass and cannot go downfield during a pass play.
 
Taking a Knee – There was a discussion between a referee and a coach about this play as the game was winding down.  The coach knew that there is nothing in the rule book that prevents the defense from going after the ball when the offense takes a knee. This is precisely why a referee should ask the offense if they are taking a knee and offering that information to the defense.  If the defense indicates that they are going after the ball, then the referee must share that info back to the offense so they are ready to play football.  We are not coaching, just sharing information as we end the game.  Almost all teams do well in this situation.

Unintentional Contact with a Coach in the Restricted Area - The offense runs the ball down the sideline all the way to the defense’s 20 yard line.  During the run, the coach of the offensive team moves into the restricted zone and collides with an official.  This happens at the 50 yard line.  Ruling – This is a personal foul and a non-player foul.  The enforcement spot is from the end of the run (succeeding spot) and will result in a 1^st and 10 from the defense 35.

Head Linesmen – It is our mechanic that the HL will always go to the sideline to mark the spot of the start of a new series for the chain crew.   It is imperative that on all first downs the HL mark the placement of the “box” with his heel as he communicates to the “box man” to place the stake “right here”.  Do not let the chain crew operate independently.  That is not our mechanic.

SDCFOA San Diego Youth Football Fund - In this morning's edition of the UT Sports section, there was a very great article about Dylan Aste.  He played football at Orange Glen and suffered a very serious injury in October 1998.  Dylan was one of the reasons we started the San Diego Youth Football Fund. 
He received one of our first awards because of his serious injury.  Despite braking two vertebrae in his neck, he has gone on to graduate from law school and was just sworn into the State Bar of California.  He continues to demonstrate an "I won't quit attitude". 
I thought you may want to share this story with the SDCFOA membership.  Our "game check" weekend is scheduled for October 10 - 12, 2013.  This is one of the FUND'S primary fund raising events that allows all of us to support injured youth football players like Dylan Aste.