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Football season is finally here, and for the next three months, it’s happening!
Friends and fans alike will pile into the stadium to watch the magical game of Football.
School administration and staff began preparing months in advance, and all summer getting the stadium ready. Ground crews worked to provide a beautiful green field and the week before the first home game, marked the field with the yard lines. About the only person not excited has to be the person in charge of field maintenance, knowing that from that day forward, wear and tear will take the carpet down to dirt.
But along with the athletes, spectators and school personnel, another group is preparing during the summer. This other group is usually not the hero’s of the game but many times are thought of being responsible for a loss. This group is the football officials and will be the focus for these series of articles. Now before you ask, “who wants to read about those “stinkin’ refs”, hear me out. These officials sure don’t go out there on Friday nights for the glory, and I hope I can convey to you the “why” they put themselves in that position to have coaches and fans rant and rave at them, because honestly, whacking your big toe with a hammer can get you the same amount of pain and it takes far less time!
I hope to “enlighten” you on their training they go through, explain some rules to you and “why” they are called or quite frankly, not called, yes ... seen and not called. And ultimately, add a little humor to the story.
As an example, your sitting in the stands, Carthage just scored a touchdown to get within four points with seconds remaining. Carthage kicks to the opponents receiving team, the kick returner has the ball go through his hands and a Carthage player scoops it up and runs in for the touchdown with 3 seconds left in the game. Carthage is now ahead by two, right?
You are ecstatic, the stands erupt in a frenzy, players and coaches alike are bouncing up and down — until — you see the referee or umpire bring the ball back to where Carthage first gained possession. Everyone erupts again in a different light yelling: “He wasn’t down, his knee didn’t touch”, and you think the “refs” are blind or biased.
Sorry, the rules state a kick recovered by the kicking team cannot be advanced. It’s that simple. The opponent didn’t have possession, therefore, no fumble, it’s called a muffed ball. I think we’ve all seen this in the past and may or may not understood it. Believe me, I’ve been where you are, but now that I’m on “the other side” as a football official, I can understand some of these crazy things that happen on the field. Watch for this example this year, I bet you see it once.
Football season is finally here, and for the next three months, it’s happening!
Friends and fans alike will pile into the stadium to watch the magical game of Football.
School administration and staff began preparing months in advance, and all summer getting the stadium ready. Ground crews worked to provide a beautiful green field and the week before the first home game, marked the field with the yard lines. About the only person not excited has to be the person in charge of field maintenance, knowing that from that day forward, wear and tear will take the carpet down to dirt.
But along with the athletes, spectators and school personnel, another group is preparing during the summer. This other group is usually not the hero’s of the game but many times are thought of being responsible for a loss. This group is the football officials and will be the focus for these series of articles. Now before you ask, “who wants to read about those “stinkin’ refs”, hear me out. These officials sure don’t go out there on Friday nights for the glory, and I hope I can convey to you the “why” they put themselves in that position to have coaches and fans rant and rave at them, because honestly, whacking your big toe with a hammer can get you the same amount of pain and it takes far less time!
I hope to “enlighten” you on their training they go through, explain some rules to you and “why” they are called or quite frankly, not called, yes ... seen and not called. And ultimately, add a little humor to the story.
As an example, your sitting in the stands, Carthage just scored a touchdown to get within four points with seconds remaining. Carthage kicks to the opponents receiving team, the kick returner has the ball go through his hands and a Carthage player scoops it up and runs in for the touchdown with 3 seconds left in the game. Carthage is now ahead by two, right?
You are ecstatic, the stands erupt in a frenzy, players and coaches alike are bouncing up and down — until — you see the referee or umpire bring the ball back to where Carthage first gained possession. Everyone erupts again in a different light yelling: “He wasn’t down, his knee didn’t touch”, and you think the “refs” are blind or biased.
Sorry, the rules state a kick recovered by the kicking team cannot be advanced. It’s that simple. The opponent didn’t have possession, therefore, no fumble, it’s called a muffed ball. I think we’ve all seen this in the past and may or may not understood it. Believe me, I’ve been where you are, but now that I’m on “the other side” as a football official, I can understand some of these crazy things that happen on the field. Watch for this example this year, I bet you see it once.
