Midseason Rant

We have got to come up with a way to settle close calls that involves less arguing. It is greatly detracting from our game. Everyone who played in a game a few weeks ago that didn't have a single argued call can tell you it's a lot more fun.

Here are the most commonly disputed calls:

1) Whether the QB was sacked before the ball was thrown;
2) Whether the receiver was in bounds for the catch (two feet in) and whether the runner stepped out of bounds (and where); and
3) Premature calls while the play is still alive.

Of these, the first four are most serious in terms of frequency, impact on the game, and vociferousness of the argument.

Pass/Sack - The problem with this one is that in almost every case, the QB was in fact in the process of throwing the ball and so the question is whether or not the ball was out of the QB's hand by the time the flag was pulled. Often the person in the best place to make this call is one who was out of the play but not too far away. The lineman getting the flag often has his head down - his best angle is when he is coming in from behind on the QB's throwing arm-side. The QB may not hear the flag pop as he's throwing since people are often yelling. Having people yell when the ball is away might help a bit but I doubt it since there is the potential for early calls on the throw as well as the sack. A referee could clearly help this situation since the ref would be behind the line of scrimmage and his primary duty would be to look for Sack/Throw.

Feet In/Out - The problem with this one is that with the exception of 1 sideline and the 40 yard line, we have no lines to speak off on our field. Yes, it is possible to see some of the lines occasionally (I can usually find all but those where the grass is completely gone as we had at one end of the field we used this last week) but generally not during the play. So the key in such plays is to have other players marking the feet and then looking carefully for the line to see if the feet are in. If the defender has really good coverage, he's not likely to be in a good position to mark the feet (since his head will be up tracking the ball to try to pick or defense it). At the same time, players who are more than 15 yards away really have little hope of seeing it clearly.

A second ref could help with this because we'd place him deep and along the sideline that has no painted line. Another solution which I would be willing to pay for is to buy green paint and a line painter - but we'd need to find the right color in a can that is use for ground marking (if you doubt my willingness, ask Day or Nick about the lines I cut into the field at Murchison years ago). I figure the school wouldn't get ticked if we got paint that was close to grass-colored - noticeable enough that players could see it but not so noticeable that it would screw up the soccer markings.

Premature Calls - The problem here is when a player yells "sack" or "got you" or "TD" etc. before the play is really over. This last week, Nick had a nice run where he was missed twice in quick succession early in the play but people were calling him down even though he had all three flags. This is the one that should be easiest to fix. If you're getting the flag, don't yell until it is in your hand. If you're not in the play, don't yell until you clearly see the flag in someone's hand.

One thing that seems to exacerbate the above problems is calls made by players who are not close to the play. Now, I know that sometimes distance doesn't necessarily mean that you can't see a play (such as the Sack/Pass issue where a player some distance away but with a clear line of sight), but often it does (particularly on the Feet In/Out issue).

I now open this up for discussion. I'm happy to listen to suggestions people have. Refs could work but that would either add costs or require people to sit out on every series (even if we have even numbers because we'd need 2 refs). So I'd really rather find ways to avoid needing refs.