Sunday, September 15, 2013

Know Thy Hot Spot - NFL Version

So for anyone who was watching the NE v NY (NFL) game on Thursday 12-SEP, you were treated to the following incident near the end of the game. Have a look.



We see Talib #31 from NE intercept a NY pass and jaunt to the sideline, in essence winning the game for NE. In the process we see Mangold #74, the center for NY roll over Tallib's legs out of bounds, a clear penalty.

The Side judge (#125) was right there and immediately threw the flag for the penalty. Perfect position, perfect call. Also, we see around :33 of the video, he even walks the "trouble maker" out of the "hot spot" to try to calm things down. Again, perfect.

It's no accident as #125 (a.k.a. Dr. Larid Hayes) knows The Game as he serves as the men's soccer coach at Orange Coast College.

Of course his nearly two decades and multiple Super Bowl appearances I'm sure had something to do with it too. I jest of course, but the result remains for me he handles this one just right. He knew the benches were a "hot spot", he got right in there and escorted the creator of the incident away. Perfect.

So what happened next, it looked somewhat out of control.

Well, there is a lesson in there too. As a referee we can prevent, prevent, prevent, but honestly sometimes if a players is bent on causing trouble, no amount of prevention can help. I think this was the case here. There were just too many angry bodies, and no way to get between them all. At that point, as most of the refereeing crew did, step back, and take good notes for later.

One thing I did find funny was the "yellow flag dace" that was going on. Aside from the initial flag, which as I stated was absolutely necessary and well done, I think the stuff after that was a bit much in how they were delivered. At :36 we see the referee launch one and side step away quickly. At :50 we see another one launch into the air from a skittering back judge (I think).

I'm not knocking the call, just the delivery of the flag. While I'd bet the rules of the game require the tossing of a flag for a penalty to take effect, throwing it into the 300 section of Gillette would seem to have no effect. That one is just me.

Finally, once again the media showed how silly they were by insinuating that Talib was "asking to be fouled" (my words) by how he got out of bounds. It was not over celebratory or showy, he hopped out of bounds, simple. To suggest that it is ok to be rolled in the back of the legs with the potential to cause a knee injury, even if this was a genuine taunt, which it was not, is just stupid.

I can only hope Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and  Mike Mayock (game analyst) get better as the season goes on, because they were mediocre at best on Thursday, with sprinkles of ridiculous.

Here is the complete crew from that game (source):
51 Carl Cheffers, Whittier, Calif., 14
96 Undrey Wash, Duncanville, Texas, 14
79 Kent Payne, Aurora, Colo., 10
100 Tom Symonette, Windermere, Fla., 10
21 Jeff Lamberth, The Woodlands, Texas, 12
125 Laird Hayes, Newport Beach, Calif., 19
30 Todd Prukop, Rancho Santa, Margarita, Calif., 5

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