Forgive me for not rehashing all of the details, Atlanta Blue, or commenting on the legal strategies or the reasoning behind an insurance company's interest in being repaid, but the simple point I was trying to suggest, is that allowing a sideline to become more congested than the rules allow can very easily produce signidicant, unanticipated consequences.
Over the many articles repeated on these forums, I do seem to recall that it was reported that the coach, who was injured, publicly took full responsibility for the collision that injured him. I also seem to recall the school accepting the coach's version of the events.
The point, you seem to miss, is that even when there is strong suggestion that the game officials were not at fault, as evidenced by this case, officials can be dragged into situations they are not recognized as being directly culpable and have to deal with consequences they would not normally anticipate or expect.
You are certainly entitled to your assessment, "You are misrepresenting what happened here, and are just plain wrong." but what I was suggesting, that allowing a sideline to be improperly congested can cause unintended consequences is dead on, and well demonstrated by mentioning this previous incident and it's unfortunate aftermath.
The basic issue at hand is a simple question of "right of way" and the NFHS rule makers have apparently come to the logical conclusion that the space immediately adjacent to the sideline needs to be available to field officials for them to complete their responsibilities, and there is far less, if any, need for coaches to be in that space for them to be able to conclude their responsibilities.
Perhaps we read differing versions of the original incident and have different recollections of all the minute and specific details, which in the context of remembering, as related to this discussion hardly seem relevant.
