Be the Referee: Clipping Clipped

August 25, 2016

MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl opens a new year of “Be the Referee” by explaining the latest rules change affecting blocking 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 – Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen

Most of the recent rules changes in high school football have all dealt with increasing player safety. The most significant change for the 2016 season focuses on safety, especially for offensive and defensive linemen.

For many years, the free blocking zone (the area between the two offensive tackles) was an area where two types of blocks – blocks below the waste and clipping, that are illegal on other parts of the field – were legal if done by linemen initially at the start of a play. For this season, clipping is now an illegal block, even in the free blocking zone, while blocks below the waste continue to be legal from in front.

Be the Referee: Basketball Replay

December 26, 2015

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the use of instant replay in basketball only for MHSAA Semifinals and Finals.

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 - Basketball Instant Replay - Listen

When watching a college or NBA game, the last 2 minutes of the game can seem like they take forever, especially in recent years where more and more judgment calls made by officials are subject to instant replay.

At the high school level, video is not used to make a ruling or confirm or overturn a call made during the course of the contest. The only time video review is used at the high school level is at the MHSAA Semifinal and Final games held at the Breslin Center. In these games, video review can be used only to determine if a shot was released in time at the end of the 4th quarter or overtime or if that shot in those periods was a 2-point or 3-point field goal when the shot is released near the 3-point line.

The MHSAA believes that this very limited use of replay in these games at the very end of the tournament series in boys and girls basketball is the right call.

Past editions:
Dec. 17: Basketball Communication - Listen
Dec. 10: Basketball Excessive Contact - Listen
Nov. 26: Pregame Communication - Listen
Nov. 19: Trick Plays - Listen
Nov. 12: 7-Person Football Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 5: Make the Call: Personal Fouls - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Demographics - Listen
Oct. 15: Make the Call: Intentional Grounding - Listen
Oct. 8: Playoff Selection - Listen
Oct. 1: Kick Returns - Listen
Sept. 24: Concussions - Listen
Sept. 17: Automatic First Downs - Listen
Sept. 10: Correcting a Down - Listen
Sept 3:
Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen