Weekly Bull 10/19/22

SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL - October 19, 2021
 
No Meeting This Week – We will meet next week 10/26 on zoom at 6:00pm and then crews will meet for their final regular meeting of the year. 
 
Sportsmanship Nominations – Right now the leaders are: Rancho Buena Vista; San Diego, Pt. Loma, Scripps Ranch, and Hoover; Southwest; Santana; and San Pasqual Academy, St. Joseph, Francis Parker, and Brawley.  Does your crew have a team to add to this list?  Do you want to add your nomination to a team listed here?  Do you have an objection to a team listed here?  Email me so we honor the very best in team sportsmanship for the 2022 season!
 
Association Suryey – The Association Board annually offers the members a survey where feedback and suggestions for improvements can be forwarded to the Board.  This survey will be coming out soon and will be anonymous so you can share whatever you want “For the Good of the Association!”
 
Ball Mechanics – I’m liking what I see from our umpires!  You are making your crews more effective and more professional looking with your hustle.  The game tempos have improved and our referees are more in charge of the tempo.  Thank you for your hustle and hard work umpires!!
 
Intentional Grounding – It seems the new exception for intentional grounding is going well.  As expected, we experience very few of these situations.  Flanks are doing a great job of pointing out the eligible receivers in the area of these passes so the referee does not even have to bother with the new exception to intentional grounding.
 
Reporting Fouls – How are we doing in this area?  Referees rely on the crew to be calm, collected and complete when reporting foul information.  Many of the “huddles” we see are caused by incomplete or scrambled information being provided to the referee. Don Carey refers to a “cleansing breath” just prior to speaking.  Let your heart rate decline just a bit and collect your thoughts…then start. 
 
Full information will include (check with your referee on the preferred order, or develop your own…but be consistent and thorough:
(a) Status of the ball (During the run, pass, kick, run back, live ball/dead ball,etc.)
(b) Foul (Holding)
(c) Team (Offense, Defense, kicking team, return team, etc.)
(d) Number (Number 78)
(e) Spot of foul (At my flag, at line of scrimmage, etc.)
(f) Result of the play (Complete/incomplete pass, interception, etc.)
(g) Status of the clock (inbounds/out-of-bounds, etc.)
 
At this point in the season, the crew should be processing this information quickly and mostly without the direct involvement of the referee.  This allows the referee to do his announcement, confirm the status of the clock and hack-in the next play.  When the referee finishes the announcement and turns to the line-of-scrimmage, the ball should be on the ground!
 
Back Judges – Great Pre-Snap, Stay Active and Be Involved – Are you completing your pre-snap checklist?  Count on every play?  Down and Distance?  Location of best player and tendencies?  How about your positioning?  Is your width and depth optimum on scrimmage kicks?  Shading the proper side of the field?  Eyes on the key players especially when pressed?  Transitioning from man, to zone to ball?  Getting your vision to zone #1 quickly?  Maintaining your cushion?  Getting the old ball out on all free kicks and punts?  Clock aware at the beginning of every dead ball?  Are you involved in every major penalty by either holding a spot or covering a flag.  Relaying clock status to the referee.  BJ has a tremendous amount of responsibility.  That is why our most accomplished officials work back there.  Know your responsibilities, convey confidence in your crewmates, and be a real leader on that side of the football!
 
I Didn’t Get Film of My Game! – We are truly blessed in San Diego to be allowed instant access to our game film on a weekly basis.  Thank you coaches!  But if, for some reason, you didn’t get your game film, please contact your crew chief or another crew member who can share the game film with you, or you can contact me and I’ll share it with you.  I’m glad that you’re valuing the opportunity to self-evaluate, evaluate as a crew, and always get better!
 
NFL - QUALITIES OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATES GENERAL CANDIDATE ATTRIBUTES
Looks fit in uniform.
Observes team drills during warm-ups?

Good dead ball official?

• Getting into the bench areas?

  Observing situations away from the ball?

  Keeping spots

Confidence?

• Movement (positioning, cushion, natural movements)?

  Athletic?

  Confidence in throwing flag?

  Response after a tough call or replay overturn?

  Step up and help the crew?

Communication?

• Coach and player management and communication. Under control?

  Non-verbal communication with hand signals and eye contact with other officials?

Shows endurance to work the entire game

• Drop off in focus or performance late in games?

  Do they work a big rivalry game the same as they officiate an obvious mismatch?

 
Illegal Substitution – We had a lower-level game where a team made a miraculous catch and run for the winning TD.  As the hero was running down the field in the clear, several non-players from the bench came onto the field a bit and began celebrating the victory.  They did not participate in the play.  A flag was rightfully thrown, but the penalty reported was for illegal participation.  If you look at the chart below, you will see that substitutes (non-players) entering the field during the down, but not participating is a live-ball foul from the succeeding spot.  So, instead of taking away the game winning TD for this celebration, we should have allowed the score and penalized the winning team for this foul on the PAT (but there won’t be one by rule.)

Live-Ball Fouls from the Previous Spot:
Replaced player or substitute unsuccessfully attempts to withdraw. (3-7-4,3.7.Cmt 1)
Entering substitute not on his team's side of the neutral zone at the snap and does not participate. 3-7-5, 3.7 Cmt 4

All-But-One-Fouls
None.

Dead-Ball Fouls from the Succeeding Spot:
Replaced player does not leave field within three seconds. 3-7-1, 3.7 Cmt 2
Replaced player, substitute, or player leaves field before the snap other than on his team's sideline. (3-7-2, 3.7 Cmts 3 & 5)
Substitute becomes a player and withdraws or replaced player withdraws and re-enters during the same dead-ball interval. 3-7-3

Live-Ball Foul from the Succeeding Spot:
Substitute enters the field during down, but does not participate. Nonplayer foul. (3-7-6, 3.7 Cmt 6)