Articles

“Don’t Talk To My Kids!” Ever heard that shouted from the sideline? Coaches don’t want officials coaching their players. They do want officials to help their players avoid dumb penalties. How do you walk that line and make sure the game is played the way it’s supposed to be played? Here’s my situation: The high school team […]

Trying to manage a football game would be nearly impossible without effective and pointed communication. Although managing players is primarily the responsibility of the coaching staff, officials can facilitate the conduct of the game if specific officials manage certain players. To do that, officials must talk with players frequently. There are a few special relationships and here are the most notable ones. Referee/Quarterback The referee’s first

There are four questions that no referee wants to ask when a foul has been called. That’s because they should have been asked and answered by the calling official before he reported to the referee. The four queries are: Who committed the foul? What was the foul? When did the foul occur? Where did it occur? Let’s break those down and see why they are

24Communication between officials and coaches is extremely important and is an essential element of a properly officiated game. Most coaches identify good communication as the single most important attribute of an official. There are limits, however. Being able to recognize when not to engage is as important as knowing what and when to have proper

The opening kickoff sails over the goalline. The ball is muffed in flight by the receiver and rolls away. The ball is recovered and the run attempt ends with a tackle within the end zone. What’s the ruling? One pregame discussion for a junior college game was extended for 30 minutes because one official had

A fair catch is, in effect, a trade. The receiver gives up his right to advance in exchange for freedom from contact by the opponent. One potential catch (pardon the pun) to the deal may be a muff on the part of the receiver. In PlayPic A, the receiver has given a valid fair catch

By Jon Bible My eyebrows raised a bit when it was suggested I write a column on bad habits because it implied I had messed up everything there is to mess up on the field. But I soon realized I have and that it’s a good topic. What follows is a list of five things,

It was the championship game for the local semi-pro league with a crew of six officials. A pass was intercepted and the down ended near the sideline. The side judge promptly called for a new ball, but the ball assistants were nowhere near to be found. After what seemed an eternity, they were located behind

Even if you are too young to have watched the TV show, you should be familiar with the Lone Ranger, a fictional character that has become an enduring icon of American culture. He is a masked ex-Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. His alter ego

The human anatomy is an intricate structure consisting of 11 systems and containing more than 37 trillion cells. Officiating requires the use of many of those body parts and in most cases, those parts must coordinate with one another. Here are 7 elements of your officiating anatomy. 1. Eyes Almost everyone would likely name the eyes