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See the Whole Play

August 19, 2014

“What I Learned from That Play” was the name given to a session at the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Summit in Albuquerque last month. Several prominent officials talked about tough calls they made. One official was telling us of an error made, the other of a correct call; but the message was the same from both: “See the whole play.”

One official described an apparent touchdown reception where the focus of the officials was intent upon whether or not the receiver had a foot inbounds and maintained possession of the ball. Both occurred, but all the officials missed the fact that the receiver’s foot had brushed the pylon at the goal line, which made the pass incomplete regardless of what followed. “In focusing so intently on two key aspects of the play, we missed a detail that overruled the other two.”

“To make the right call we have to avoid narrow focus and be aware of all details,” this college official opined.

The other official described a play in which the quarterback rolled to his left to throw a pass while linemen provided protection. There was a near chop block by the left guard and running back, near hold by the right tackle, and a center/guard double team that had to be observed closely. But there were no penalties called, correctly according to the video the audience was shown.

The play ended with the quarterback heaving a forward pass just as he was being tackled. The referee called him down by contact, before the pass; and the video showed that call to also be correct.

The referee said: “If the officials had fixated on the double team, or the potential hold or the possible chop block, the crew may have missed that the quarterback was down by contact for a seven-yard loss.”

Each official was speaking of the importance of seeing the whole play – all of the key factors. Staying open to all the details.

Game officials must do this over the span of a few seconds or less, but countless times over the course of a contest. Administrators have the luxury of minutes, days, weeks or longer to get it right.

Here are a few more pearls of wisdom from the nation’s leading gathering of sports officials, these from Barry Mano, NASO president:

  • “Incorrect no-calls are easier to explain than incorrect calls.”
  • “Officials are to enforce, not appease.”
  • “In spite of their criticisms, there is no sensible parent who would want their child to participate without officials.”

Not Just Another Season for Watson

May 3, 2018

By Cody Porter
NFHS High School Today 

A 32-second response by emergency medical technicians was the difference in life or death for 68-year-old Willie Watson, who was spared from becoming another victim of sudden cardiac arrest.

Watson, a 38-year official for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, collapsed in the tunnel near the officials’ locker room after the Division 6 Football Final at Ford Field last Nov. 25 in Detroit. Fortunately for the Kalamazoo native, stadium staff members were steps away as he fell unconscious. Within seconds, their call for help reached on-site EMTs who swiftly made their way to him from the field.

“It was strange because I wasn’t sick or anything. I drove to the game by myself. Everything was fine, got dressed, and then went out on the field for the game,” Watson said. “After the game, I came to the locker room, had a boxed lunch, and the last thing I remember is leaving towards the tunnel. That’s the last thing that I remember. I woke up in the hospital the next day, on Saturday.”

Moments before Watson’s dire situation occurred, he stood in the officials’ locker room speaking with Mark Uyl, the MHSAA assistant director who coordinates officials. Uyl said when he received the call regarding Watson, he arrived to find paramedics administering full CPR, in addition to using an automated external defibrillator (AED).

“It was a scene right out of a movie,” Uyl said.

After about 10 minutes of work on Watson, Uyl said paramedics found a pulse and promptly transported him to Detroit Medical Center.

“Things were very critical that Friday night – very touch and go,” Uyl said. “Overnight we got reports that he was slowly improving.”

An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) was placed in Watson’s chest. The pager-sized device is battery powered and placed below the skin to monitor heart rate, according to the American Heart Association. If an abnormal heart rhythm is discovered, the ICD delivers an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat.

“I got to witness an absolute miracle,” Uyl said. “If the cardiac situation doesn’t happen literally at the feet of the medical staff that we have on-site at an event like that, he would’ve gotten up to the concourse or, heaven forbid, outside the building into the parking lot or his car and I believe it would’ve been a much more tragic ending.”

Watson was working the third game of the day as a line judge, and when he collapsed, was beginning to leave the facility and head to a local hotel reserved for MHSAA officials. Uyl told Watson how much of a blessing it was that he was assigned that game. At home or at the hotel, Watson would have been alone without access to proper medical attention.

“Certainly, where we got lucky is where he collapsed,” Uyl said. “We have emergency procedures, but when we’re at one of our college or pro venues, we often use the building’s plan. It could not have been more seamless between our staff and the Ford Field building personnel.”

At MHSAA events, such as those at Ford Field, an ambulance and two EMTs are stationed on the field next to the tunnel that connects it to the other areas of the stadium. Watson said he and fellow officials routinely confirm the location of emergency responders before starting a game.

“Schools almost always have somebody from a university around who does training. Most schools have ambulance service there at the site,” Watson said. “There have been incidences where we have had injuries that require them to come out onto the field to assist a student-athlete. It could be a concussion, a leg injury or who knows. We always have somebody at a venue.”

Equipped with his ICD, Watson left for home a week later from Detroit Medical Center. Expecting to make a full recovery, Watson said the only recommendations from his doctors were to tweak his diet and increase exercise. Although he said his recovery is on track, one of the most notable effects from his incident was memory loss.

“The strange thing is that I cannot remember a single thing about the game. I can’t remember anything,” Watson said. “If you ask me what Ford Field looked like now, I couldn’t tell you. I lost my short-term memory. I remember everything except the game. It’s those 48 minutes that I can’t remember.”

An official in basketball, softball and volleyball as well, staying active won’t be too much of an issue for Watson, who said he took last basketball season off to get himself better prepared for the softball season.

“It’s just amazing how quickly they responded in my situation. Regardless of who it is, the response time I received was tremendous,” Watson said. “I was out. They had to revive me. It only took them 32 seconds to get to me. Even if it’s an injured player on the field, response times are getting so quick.”

PHOTO: Official Willie Watson signals a touchdown during the 2016 MHSAA Division 6 Final at Ford Field.