WHOOPS....I blew another...???

[Ralph Damren]

SCENE : 4th period, A leads 31-16, 0:15 to go, clock running, A's 3rd team false starts.

ACT I : I yell to B's coach ""You can ask for the clock to start on the snap and force them to run a play..."
           Coach responds , " na' let 'er run out".

ACT II : I obey, clock runs out, kids begin to shake hands;
            As we walk towards our cars,, a meak, new official asks, " Mr. referee, shouldn't they have had an untimed down  ?"
           
ACT III : "AYUH, 'SPECT SO... " If time had expired BEFORE the DB foul, there would be no untimed down...BUT in our game there should have been. 

[bossman72]

Well, we don't extend for dead ball fouls for one, and the clock needs to be at 0:00 to extend.  That was a rule change several years ago.

So you're good!

[HLinNC]

Yeah, that got changed a good while back.  It used to be that way when I started back in '94.

[Ralph Damren]

Thanks Bossman & HLinNC.. Prior to 2014 IF the clock ran out after the RFP, an untimed down would occur IF there was an accepted penalty during/after the previous play. NOW only if time expired during the down..

SOME EXCUSES:
    We were closer to the parking lot then to the field when this was brought up;
     Hurricane Flona, on its journey to Canada, scraped the edges of Maine, with it's wind gusts of +45 MPH, turning gametime temp of 48 F into a wind chill of 20 F.
     Everyone was happy the game had ended.
     I turn 78 within a month.,

I GOT IT RIGHT, AFTER ALL! 

[ElvisLives]

I GOT IT RIGHT, AFTER ALL! 

As someone once said, "Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good!"
Alabama @ Hawaii, 2002. Hawaii receiver catches a pass near the sideline and is advancing when he 'jukes' toward the sideline and steps OB nearly the length of his foot. As S, I see this and begin stopping the clock and sounding my whistle, and follow the BC with my eyes, knowing the all-time best H in NCAA history (three national championships) would be marking the spot when I turned back. However, instead, he looks at me from about 20 yards with a "WTF" look on his face and says, "What are you doing?" I said, "He stepped out of bounds." H: "He did?" I said, "Yeah." At that point, I realized that neither of us had a spot. What's a guy to do? All I could do was move to a spot that 'felt' right and put my foot down with confidence, which I did. Now I am awaiting an outcry from the Hawaii faithful, indignant that we were marking the spot incorrectly by at least 5 yards. Nothing. Moments later, still nothing. We set the chains. Still nothing. My H can see the video board and the replay, and he gives me a  on the out of bounds, but we still didn't know about the spot. Game ends with neither of us knowing how badly we had missed the spot.
Hawaii replays their games on local TV beginning around 11:00 pm. So, I stay up to watch for that down. About 1:30 am, OK, here it comes. There he is. He clearly steps out of bounds (at a yard line we can identify on TV). We disappear from view, and when we reappear, setting the chains, the down box is less than 2 feet from the actual OB spot. Whew.
That was my "Better to be lucky than good" moment.
Then I went to bed.

[NVFOA_Ump]

As someone once said, "Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good!"

 

[RiderJake]

As someone once said, "Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good!"
Alabama @ Hawaii, 2002. Hawaii receiver catches a pass near the sideline and is advancing when he 'jukes' toward the sideline and steps OB nearly the length of his foot. As S, I see this and begin stopping the clock and sounding my whistle, and follow the BC with my eyes, knowing the all-time best H in NCAA history (three national championships) would be marking the spot when I turned back. However, instead, he looks at me from about 20 yards with a "WTF" look on his face and says, "What are you doing?" I said, "He stepped out of bounds." H: "He did?" I said, "Yeah." At that point, I realized that neither of us had a spot. What's a guy to do? All I could do was move to a spot that 'felt' right and put my foot down with confidence, which I did. Now I am awaiting an outcry from the Hawaii faithful, indignant that we were marking the spot incorrectly by at least 5 yards. Nothing. Moments later, still nothing. We set the chains. Still nothing. My H can see the video board and the replay, and he gives me a  on the out of bounds, but we still didn't know about the spot. Game ends with neither of us knowing how badly we had missed the spot.
Hawaii replays their games on local TV beginning around 11:00 pm. So, I stay up to watch for that down. About 1:30 am, OK, here it comes. There he is. He clearly steps out of bounds (at a yard line we can identify on TV). We disappear from view, and when we reappear, setting the chains, the down box is less than 2 feet from the actual OB spot. Whew.
That was my "Better to be lucky than good" moment.
Then I went to bed.

Intuitive decisions are also decisions. Even if there was a glimpse of an out. But sitting up until 1:30 a.m. to make sure you're right is the highest level of professionalism

[BetweenTheLines]

Many times the games that I work will be on NFHS Network. I'll come home and watch certain plays over and over again, some with a sigh of relief some not so. For $13 a month NFHS Network is worth every sigh and cringe! Oh yeah it continues into Saturday and the next week. One of the best tools out there.

[HLinNC]

Many times the games that I work will be on NFHS Network.

I started subscribing during the Covid fall of 2020 when N.C. didn't play.  We had an official who had moved from our region out to Wyoming so I was able to watch 3 of his games that season.  We wound up playing a reduced season in the spring of '21 and I realized that quite a few of our schools stream their games.  Since our Hudl cooperation was rather slim, I started screen recording the games (haven't found a way to download) for our crews to review.

One of the items that I've suggested to our state office is that our officials be given access to NFN just like we have to Hudl.  Our then supervisor, who has now retired, told me that the idea was actually in the works but would not be accomplished before his retirement.  My understanding was that there may be a hang up with Play On Sports, who is the NFHS' partner in the streaming venture.