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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.”

Be the Referee: Selecting Finals Officials

April 9, 2018

In this final edition for the 2017-18 school year, assistant director Mark Uyl explains how officials are selected to work the MHSAA's biggest tournament events.

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment – Selecting Finals Officials - Listen

During every season and every tournament, we get the question, “How were these officials chosen to be working the championship games?”

Just like the tournament progression has the best teams playing until the bitter end, we have a process to where the best officials are also identified to be working those Semifinal and Final games.

Every official gets rated by both schools (every time she or he work a game) over a three-year period on a 1-4 scale. All of this data is compiled to where we then produce the top third, middle third and bottom third in terms of school ratings.

We then also look at recommendations from associations, assigners and leagues and conferences to identify the very best officials being on the very best games.

Past editions
March 15: We Get Letters - Listen
February 22: Block/Charge Calls - Listen
February 15: Dog Days of February - Listen
February 8: National Playing Rules Process - Listen
February 1: Calling Intentional Fouls - Listen
January 25: Points at the Edge of the Mat - Listen
January 18: Behavior Warning - Listen
January 11: Ice Hockey Safe & Sound - Listen
January 4: Why No Shot Clock - Listen
December 21: Coaches Responsible for Equipment - Listen
December 14: Mentoring New Officials - Listen
December 7: Dive on the Floor - Listen
November 30: Wrestling Weight Monitoring - Listen
November 23: Ejections - Listen
November 16: Toughest Call - Listen
November 9: Hurdling - Listen
November 2: The Survey Says - Listen
October 26: Helmet Comes Off - Listen
October 19: Goal Line Rules - Listen
October 12: No 1st-Year Fee - Listen
October 5: Athletic Empty Nesters - Listen
 September 28: Misunderstood Football Rules: Kicking - Listen
September 21: Preparation for Officials - Listen
September 14: Always Stay Registered - Listen
September 7: Other Football Rules Changes - Listen
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen