Hi everybody!
I am the LJ in question on the film so I figured I should at least try and explain what I was thinking in the situation. I was the one that sold the clipping to the head ref and my reasoning was that I thought it was a dangerous hit just under the the waist. I believe my exact words were "shoulder pad to the butt". I also said it was very marginal so I referred to the when in doubt rule. For those that have talked about a IBB I must say I disagree. I don't feel that he comes clear enough from behind for an IBB and from what I have learned an IBB is an obstruction foul and has nothing to do with safety. The safety aspect was my total focus when throwing the flag so I feel that it was nothing less than a 15yrd foul. Had he bumped him higher I'm not even sure he would have fallen, probably just stumbled away.
My main question in all this is why not a clip if the shoulder pad hits the butt from behind? Is this not a "when in doubt" situation and if not why? So far from my evaluation and talking to many colleagues I have only recieved the feed back that I should never have thrown the flag or seen the infraction because I shouldn't be looking there and there was no foul. Some have called it questionable weither it is a IBB but everyone says no clip and no UNR. I have absolutely nothing against being wrong in my judgement but I need to know why "when in doubt" is wrong and how I should rethink simular situations in the future.
I would also like to apologize for the poor mechanics on my part after throwing the flag. This was the first game of the season and my first game in the highest league so I was a little wired up! 
Thanks everybody!
Flipside, correct, an illegal block in the back (BIB) is not classified as a safety foul.
The location of the force of the contact is certainly debatable. I see it being just above the belt line, on the torso of the body. To me that is not in question, so clipping is not an issue. That being my 'read,' I apply the 'when in question' component to the location of the force of the contact as a possible BIB. Is it squarely in the back? No. Is it possibly anywhere in the back? Yes. That being 'questionable,' I would go with a BIB.
If you have a foul at all, it must be either a BIB or a CLP. You can't say it is a clip, but wouldn't be a BIB if it was higher. If the force of the contact is from behind, it is either a CLP or a BIB. As I stated earlier, if the contact was higher, it would have quite possibly been on the shoulder. The shoulder is not the back. So, the force of the contact would not have been from behind. The torso, however, includes the back. So, contact at the same angle on the torso can be a BIB foul.
A coordinator will, most likely, want all of your fouls to be "big." So, the "When in Question" thing gets pretty gray, and variable with the type of foul. If it is a hold, BIB, PI, continuous helmet contact, etc., and marginal, they would, I believe, prefer that you stay off the foul, rather than apply "When in Question." However, there is no doubt that emphasis is clearly on the side of throwing on anything that is potentially
targeting or
hits on defensless players. For those fouls, I believe you can apply "When in Question," and will always get supported.
You guys are doing great, and your willingness to solicit input is
awesome. Not that any of us here are perfect or have all of the answers, but we love sharing our knowledge and experience. We all get better that way.
And, I like that you write in complete words and sentences with proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc., not any of that lazy "u r gr8 cu l8r" crap. What has happened to the English language?
