Be the Referee: 40-Second Play Clock
August 30, 2018
In this week's edition, assistant director Brent Rice explains how Michigan is continuing to experiment with a 40-second play clock in football.
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 – 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
There’s an experiment taking place on a number of high school football fields across the state again this year. Michigan is experimenting with a 40-second play clock in football.
This is designed to provide more consistency from play to play as the ball must be snapped 40 seconds after the end of the previous play and is not dependent on the referee’s subjective signal.
When play is continuing without a stoppage, the 40-second play clock will be used. If play has been stopped for a time out or penalty, the play clock will be set at 25 seconds.
After two seasons, the feedback received from coaches and officials has been very positive, and there’s a possibility the Michigan experiment may become a new national playing rule soon.
Past editions
August 23: Football Rules Changes - Listen
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