sports

The National Football League this year has made player safety, especially quarterback safety, a point of emphasis. As a result more flags have been thrown, the penalties have been increased, and the players are angrier because of the changing standards and the officials not letting them play.

The Wall Street Journal in 2009 questioned whether we should have helmets at all.  The helmets, while they protect from injury, give players a sense of invulnerability, and players (famously, Gus Ferrote) have injured themselves while relying on the helmet’s promise of safety.

I have an interesting idea:

1. Have players choose between no helmet and a soft helmet, like leather.
2. Have quarterbacks choose between no helmet, a soft helmet, and a hard helmet that removes easily.
3. If the quarterback chooses the hard helmet, he may not cross the line of scrimmage with the helmet on. He may take it off and run. Once he makes a move to remove the helmet, the helmet must come off.  No fakes. No use of the helmet as a weapon; instant ejection.

I imagine if you have a mobile quarterback, e.g. Michael Vick, he would opt for either no helmet or soft helmet, because he is always a running threat. Quarterbacks like Matt Cassel who only scramble on 3rd and 10 with everyone deep would be free to run, shed the helmet, and go forward. If the QB sheds the helmet and doesn’t make it to the line of scrimmage, that was his risk.

The QB shouldn’t have today’s helmet while advancing the ball because running forward he could use the helmet as a weapon: something we are looking to avoid.

This way John Elway could take his flying leap and yet be protected most of the game.

Thoughts?

A lot of Detroit fans are in an uproar about a game-winning TD being called back because Calvin Johnson didn’t hold on to the ball after going to the ground. You can watch the play on YouTube.

Consider this play also, where the Saints’ 2-point conversion failed because the receiver didn’t hold on to the ball.

As far as rules go, the NFL has three choices with these kinds of catches:

1. Change the rule so that if a ball is controlled by the receiver as he’s touching the field in the end zone, it’s a touchdown. This may sound good, but this kills the defense’s ability to jar the ball out of a player’s hands. Catches can be jarred loose in the field; they should be able to be jarred loose in the end zone.
2. Do nothing, and let multi-million dollar athletes be accountable for their actions.
3. Something in-between that puts even more subjectiveness into the call of the official.

All I’m saying is, this guy held on to the ball.

I was on the road at the duly appointed time for Issues, Etc., so Frank Gillespie had to tell me that the show’s producer, Jeff Schwarz, picked NR for Blog of the Week. Jeff liked my basketball post, Coached to Break the Rules.

Jeff read the post on the air and added:

I agree 100%. It’s why I like high school basketball. There’s still some finesse in the game; however, it’s all trickling down. The game of basketball is becoming so physical, the Superintendent of the school board of the greatest school district in America, Edwardsville School District 7, Dr. Ed Hightower, who’s probably the most well-known college basketball official, I talked to him a couple of months ago at a basketball game. He said eventually high school and everybody’s going to have to go to international lanes because the players are getting too big and the game is getting too physical. He said he could call a foul in the paint virtually every possession at the NCAA Division I level.

Thanks, Jeff! It’s an honor! It’s also an honor that Dr. Hightower had the same feeling I do about the frequency of fouls in the big leagues.

I thought I was done with refereeing two weeks ago, but circumstances at work allowed me to catch the final week of the season. Two games were particularly challenging.

The first game was a half-court 3^rd-4^th grade boys’ game, which went pretty well.

Game two was the two sloppier 8^th grade boys’ teams. I worked it with two other referees, and the three of us kept it tight. Got some nice comments from the parents.

Game three, a full court 5^th-6^th grade boys’ game, had less whistles but was no less eventful. After the other team turned the ball over, a kid dribbled between two of his teammates, brushed up against them, tripped and fell. Since a player can’t be fouled by a teammate, I called him for traveling.

His assistant coach protested. Loudly. Which is not the atmosphere we want in our league. So I calmly asked him to settle down. He got even louder, and I asked him to settle down again. At this point the issue is not my call but his behavior. I looked him square in the eye, Sit. Down. I was relieved he did. At halftime I briefly conferred with the team’s head coach to make sure the assistant was all right and the situation wouldn’t happen again.

We don’t have technical fouls in Upward basketball, but he was a protest away from being escorted out. This was the closest I’d ever been to that situation, and I’ve been doing this for eight years.

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