Sideline Warning announcement

[Morningrise]

What specific language should I use for the one warning that each team gets? For the life of me I can't remember what I've heard said on TV.

I suspect "Sideline warning, East Westburg State" is preferable to "Sideline warning, offense"...

And then what next?

"This is East Westburg State's first sideline warning of the game." - not ideal because it incorrectly implies that the rules call for more than one warning
"This is East Westburg State's only sideline warning of the game." - worse, I think, because it sounds threatening like a mom
"There is no penalty for the first sideline interference." - better maybe?

[bossman72]

"A sideline warning has been issued to East Westburg State.  No yardage will be penalized with this warning."

[ump_ben]

Why not "Sideline warning on the offense.  There is no yardage penalty for the first sideline warning."  You don't say false start on East Westburg State so why say SW on them?

[Legacy Zebra]

Counterpoint; We also don’t say “time our offense”. The general guideline I use is that anything charged to the team as a whole is announced with a team name. Timeouts, sideline issues, team UNS, challenges, etc.

[ElvisLives]

"A sideline warning has been issued to East Westburg State.  No yardage will be penalized with this warning."

Certainly not bad or wrong, but it suggests that discretion was used in not penalizing.

My suggestion (and what I use) is:

"Sideline warning - State University.  This is a warning, with no penalty.  Additional violations will result in a distance penalty."

This makes it clear there is no penalty associated with this warning.  The last part doesn't really threaten, it just states the fact that, should whatever caused the warning happen again, there will be a penalty.  We can't help if some folks see a threat in this.  They are the ones that only respond to threats, anyway.

This way, no one is surprised when the next violation, indeed, results in a penalty.  It will mitigate the, "You didn't warn us" or "We get another warning," arguments.

Remember, if you ever get to the 15 yard penalty, either with contact/interference (even on the opening kickoff) or by violation attrition, the warning and five-yard penalties are no longer available.  Every violation after the first 15-yarder is 15 yards.

[bossman72]

Remember, if you ever get to the 15 yard penalty, either with contact/interference (even on the opening kickoff) or by violation attrition, the warning and five-yard penalties are no longer available.  Every violation after the first 15-yarder is 15 yards.

Rule reference?

Non-contact SLI and GAI (Game Administration Interference with contact) are two separate entities.  Two separate articles in the rule book.  They do not overlap.

[ilyazhito]

Is GAM the sideline interference with contact or GAI? AFAIK, GAI is the non-contact version, SLI is the 15-yard penalty for progressive sideline infractions, and GAM is the contact version of sideline interference.

[NVFOA_Ump]

Rule reference?

Non-contact SLI and GAI (Game Administration Interference with contact) are two separate entities.  Two separate articles in the rule book.  They do not overlap.

I don't believe that is 100% correct.  Non-contact SLI moves directly to a 15 yard penalty if an official when covering a play has to move/change his path to avoid physical contact in a restricted area, no actual physical contact required.  9.2.5 AR's seem pretty clear on that.  We we're also instructed (back when we used NCAA rules here in MA) that once we've crossed the 15 yard penalty threshold and had a 15 yard SLI call, we don't then go "back" to giving a 1st warning or 5 yard penalties.

[Joe Stack]

You had your first birthday; you bought your first car; you got your first job. When these things happened, you pretty well knew that there was going to be a second one but there wasn't any guarantee, and they were called "first" at the time they happened. There's nothing wrong with calling a sideline warning a "first sideline warning." It is accurate and doesn't imply that there is definitely going to be a second one.

[JasonTX]

I don't believe that is 100% correct.  Non-contact SLI moves directly to a 15 yard penalty if an official when covering a play has to move/change his path to avoid physical contact in a restricted area, no actual physical contact required.  9.2.5 AR's seem pretty clear on that.  We we're also instructed (back when we used NCAA rules here in MA) that once we've crossed the 15 yard penalty threshold and had a 15 yard SLI call, we don't then go "back" to giving a 1st warning or 5 yard penalties.

Hmm.  We may need some higher guidance because we have been taught the opposite.  Notice that 9-2-5-a has it's own penalty statement that covers the 1st thru 4th and subsequent infractions.  Then you go to 9-2-5-b and it has a completely separate penalty statement.  Even the signal gives for that is just S27 whereas the progressive GAI has S21 and S29.  Why have 2 separate penalty statements?  Wouldn't it make more sense to have one statement that made it clear that you lose the progressive penalties if you had physical interference as the first incident? 

[bossman72]

Hmm.  We may need some higher guidance because we have been taught the opposite.  Notice that 9-2-5-a has it's own penalty statement that covers the 1st thru 4th and subsequent infractions.  Then you go to 9-2-5-b and it has a completely separate penalty statement.  Even the signal gives for that is just S27 whereas the progressive GAI has S21 and S29.  Why have 2 separate penalty statements?  Wouldn't it make more sense to have one statement that made it clear that you lose the progressive penalties if you had physical interference as the first incident? 

What Jason said.  They are completely separate rules with a completely separate set of penalties.

Say we run into or around a coach on the opening kickoff and flag it for 15.  Next series, they are loitering in the white area while the ball is alive, but not interfering with us.  We can absolutely issue a sideline warning here, as this infraction is not 15 yards off the bat.

[TxBJ]

What Jason said.  They are completely separate rules with a completely separate set of penalties.

Say we run into or around a coach on the opening kickoff and flag it for 15.  Next series, they are loitering in the white area while the ball is alive, but not interfering with us.  We can absolutely issue a sideline warning here, as this infraction is not 15 yards off the bat.

This is what I’ve been taught as well.