I have a lot of little things to discuss today, but none deserving of their own column. Also, in honor of the Bison football team reaching the PIAA class AAA round of 16, I have a rules quiz for you. We’ll start with the quiz, and then the little things, with the quiz answers at the bottom of the column.
So, you think you know football?
Some of you know that I’m a football official in my spare time – and let me tell you, there’s a TON of rules to track. There are also some differences between high school rules and what you see in college or the pros. So here’s a short quiz for you, based on HIGH SCHOOL RULES.
1.)Quarterback drops back to pass, rolls right, sees no one open, and while out of the tacklebox and under no immediate pressure throws the ball 10 yards out of bounds. What’s the ruling?
2.)After the snap, a linebacker blitzes through a gap in the line. A running back blocks the linebacker by stepping up to the line of scrimmage and diving at his legs. Is this legal?
3.)At the snap, an offensive tackle blocks a defensive lineman high while simultaneously, an offensive guard blocks him at the knee. Is this legal?
4.)While a punt is in the air, there is a hold by the kicking team. AFTER the punt is caught, there’s a block in the back by the receiving team at their 40. The kick is returned to the 50. Does the receiving team keep the ball, and if so where do they get it?
5.) 1st and 10 on their own 20, QB drops back to pass. An offensive lineman gets beaten by a defender and holds at the 16. QB avoids rush and completes a pass for 10 yards. Assuming the defense accepts the hold, what will the down and distance be for the next play?
6.) Last one: On an attempted field goal, the kick falls short and is caught in the endzone by a defensive player, who runs the ball back to the 45. During the runback, there’s a block in the back by a defender at the 40. Where will the possession start from?
OK, on to a few little rants. These are things that annoy me in sports or that I think are flat-out wrong. Some are relatively insignificant; some seem to me to be unacceptably corrupt. Your mileage may vary, I’m interested in feedback.
-I read that the state, while in the midst of a very tough budget year and while looking at cutbacks, has given the Blair County Ballpark (home of the Altoona Curve) $1.3 million for fieldwork. This money is to help improve drainage on the field. I have a few questions about this: Why does the state pay for this?? Couldn’t this grant money be better used to fund truly non-profit enterprises, such as a local park, youth ballfield, or perhaps one of our deficient bridges? Aren’t the Curve privately owned, and profitable? Does this make as little sense to you as it does to me? In these uncertain economic times, THIS type of grant should be among the first budget cuts, not education or public works.
-Along these same lines, the richest teams in baseball, the Yankees and Mets, are building new stadiums with a combined pricetag of approx. $2.6 BILLION dollars. A staggering $1.2 BILLION of that is being paid for with public funds. I know other parks were built with public money, and I supported some of those initiatives – but when a team is as profitable as the Yankees, I truly believe different rules should apply. Not only did they receive enough public money to build PNC park a few times over, but by building a new stadium the Yanks will be able to reduce what they owe to MLB’s revenue-sharing pot . Again, decisions like this have helped put this country in the financial straits (Thanks to www.fieldofschemes.com for the numbers).
-Why do hockey players REFUSE to get a new stick if they break one in the defensive zone?? How many times have you seen a player killing a penalty, then stand out there for 30 seconds when his bench is 30 feet away. Skate over, get a stick skate back. MAYBE 4 seconds roundtrip. Seems simple to me…
-So in the NHL, bare-knuckle fighting is allowed, even encouraged**, but celebrating a touchdown in the NFL is a 15-yard penalty and a probable fine? Also in the NFL, a lineman can cut-block a defender, even from behind, but if a defensive lineman tackles a QB and the referee deems that it was a ‘hard tackle’ he gets 15 for roughing the QB?
** Don’t buy the league’s spin; if the league wanted to do away with fighting they’d suspend players like EVERY OTHER MAJOR SPORT DOES. Like it or not, a percentage of fans love the hockey fights, just like a percentage of fans love the big NASCAR wrecks.
-Sunday night I saw a QB throw 3 interceptions in the first quarter – two of which were so awful I still don’t know who his intended receiver was. Meanwhile a team losing by 1 point tries a crazy multi-lateral return play, which leads to a defensive return for a TD, which was (incorrectly) overturned by the referees. In both cases the favored team did not cover the gambling spread. The next day, I hear ‘the fix was in’ on the return play, because, you know, the refs PLANNED that play to turn out that way. I hear not even a SUGGESTION that the QB could have been ‘on the take’. Now, of course the QB wasn’t on the take, he just had a lousy game. The refs made a lousy call in the other game, but to suggest they were trying to ‘fix’ the game is equally ludicrous in my opinion. Let’s acknowledge officials’ mistakes and hold them accountable, but let’s get past the idea that they are INTENTIONALLY making calls one way or another.
-Last but not least: why does college football so vigorously defend their flawed polling and BCS system? The inherent bias in the system is overwhelming; it favors teams ranked highly in the preseason, ‘Major’ conference teams over so-called ‘mid majors’, and perhaps most importantly it favors easy scheduling over difficult scheduling. When it comes to playoffs, I’d rather include 1 too many teams than 1 too few, and if you created a top-8 playoff, in my opinion you would encompass all the TRUE title contenders, and ensure that no undefeated seasons went unrewarded. To make things fair for the MAC and other small conferences, I’d make several existing bowls into a ‘play-in’ scenario and guarantee the winner of that play-in the #8 seed in the playoff. 7 games over 3 weeks, starting Christmas week – school is out so there’s no conflict with classes. Explain to me why this wouldn’t be a huge, HUGE moneymaker. Perhaps our new President-elect can make this happen, although I will admit he has far more pressing duties. In any case, it’s long past time for college football to discard its ancient bowl system and embrace what EVERY OTHER NCAA SPORT HAS – a true playoff.
ANSWERS TO QUIZ:
1.) Intentional grounding, 5 yards from spot of the throw, loss of down. In high school there is no ‘out of the pocket’ throwaway, you must attempt to complete EVERY pass attempt.
2.) No, illegal block below the waist, 15 yard penalty. Only players on the line of scrimmage at the snap and in the free-blocking zone (8 yards wide) can block (and be blocked) below the waist.
3.) Yes, legal play. In the free-blocking zone, low blocks like this are permitted when the high block is SIMULTANEOUS, that’s the key.
4.) Receivers CAN keep the ball, but only if they decline the hold on the kickers. They would then get the ball at their own 30 after the 10 yard penalty for the block in the back. If they do NOT decline the hold, the penalties offset and there is a replay of the down.
5.) This one is tricky – holding is a SPOT foul in high school, so it’s enforced from the 16. However, since we’re inside the 20 we go half the distance to the goal, 1st down and 22.
6.) REALLY tricky – the ball is spotted at the 20 due to a touchback. If the officials didn’t blow a whistle they made a mistake – more likely scenario is a noisy field where the players cannot hear the whistle. Once the ball breaks the plane of the goal line in high school on a punt, kickoff, or field goal try the ball is dead. Since the play is dead the foul for block in the back does not occur.
Dave Glass lives in Clearfield with his wife, Suzanne, and their six children. He can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net
