Mississippi Officials Donate Game Fees for Slain Officer Fund

Pearl, Mississippi police officer Mike Walter was killed in the line of duty just two weeks ago.

In a show of support, officials assigned to Pearl and Callaway High's spring football game, donated their game fees. While fans donated $1,500 at the gate, officials donated their time and $500 to the Mike Walter Memorial Fund. The fund benefits the officer's family. Read the full article.

A Layman's Guide to Football Penalties

Whether you are considering becoming a football official or a fan wanting to understand the game better, get the skinny on football penalties in Michael Rapp's blog article "American Football Penalties Explained".

He takes a basic, sometimes humorous approach, to a game where "For sixty minutes grown men beat the heck out of each other, yet there is a penalty called roughing".

Posted by Jim Kirk, CEO/President of Ump-Attire.com and avid fan of sports and sports officials everywhere. Find Jim on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

SEC Umpire Wilbur Hackett, Jr Says Protect Yourself

It was 2008. University of South Carolina quarterback Steven Garcia rolls out in the red zone against LSU. The first person to make contact with and slow Garcia down is umpire Wilbur Hackett, Jr.

Umpires are in the heart of many plays standing behind the defensive line and invariably get hit or even knocked out. Defending yourself at times paramount alongside making the right call. Hackett says,

"I don’t care what position you work, you as an official you can get hit and you can get hurt. You have an obligation and a duty to protect yourself”.

In watching the replay, you would think Mr. Hackett was reverting to playing linebacker as he did for the University of Kentucky (Go Cats!) when he gave what looked like an excellent form forearm shiver to Garcia.

To read the full excerpt of Hackett's comments, read the full article on profootballreferee.com.

NFL Officials to Learn New 2012 Rule Changes

Just as doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professions have to keep up with yearly continuing education, the officials profession, at all levels, has their share of new rules and points of emphasis to learn as well.


At the NFL level, owners met recently and made several rules changes. Some won't greatly impact in-game officiating. Those include:

• A player illegally kicks a loose ball requires a loss-of-down penalty. 
• Too many men on the field will now be a dead-ball foul.
• Overtime can not end after the team wins a coin toss kicks a field goal. The other team will have a chance with a possession.
• Replay officials will now have the option to review turnovers.

The change that will charge officials with additional monitoring is in the realm of player safety, where there has been much discussion in the past few years, especially in light of helmet-to-helmet contact and concussions.

The change classifies a player who receives a crack-back block as a defenseless player. Defenseless players are restricted from helmet-to-helmet contact as they should be.

In the situation of a "crack-back" block, a player who doesn't see another one in their field of vision is certainly defenseless. The NFL owners were wise to realize that helmet-to-helmet contact is overkill in this situation and should be classified within the "defenseless" definition.

Now the NFL will need to clarify what exactly justifies a "crack-back" block.  Does it have to be from a certain angle? From a certain distance? Or a a certain degree of intensity?

For more details on NFL rules changes, see the full article.


How would you define a "crack-back" block? What are your thoughts on the "crack-back" rule change? 

Officials Who Officiate More than One Sport : NFL Referee Gene Steratore

Photo: Brian Blanco/Associated Press

Most fans probably don't recognize that the official of the game they're watching may also officiate other sports.

If you watch football on Sundays, you may see 6 year NFL official Gene Steratore. What you may not know is that he's also a Division I basketball official of 15 years.

Read the New York Times profile of Steratore: For Two-Way Referee, it's NFL One Day, College Basketball the Next.

Are you a football official who officiates another sport? In the article, Steratore discusses his travel to games is drastically different; first-class flights with the NFL vs driving to many of his collegiate games. Which do you prefer and why?

ICE Your Phone

I borrowed this from Mark Stubblefield who the medical coordinator for The Umpire School. It works just as well for football officials.

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency.

So how do you ICE your cell phone? Add a contact to your cell phone with the name "ICE". The entry includes the family member who should be dialed that can respond to medical decisions if you are injured or incapacitated.

Paramedics know to check for ICE entries, which will make their job easier. Translation: it could save for your life on the off-chance a medical emergency happens while officiating.

The best practice is to list an ICE1, ICE2 contact, etc. Go ahead. do it today.

I recall a few years back at a NASO Summit, a female, can't remember her name, selling ID cards to keep on your person with medical info. That can work as well. What other best practice to you have in this area besides communicating any pre-existing condition to your fellow crew members?

Posted by Jim Kirk, CEO/President of Ump-Attire.com and avid fan of sports and sports officials everywhere. Find Jim on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

5 Officials Offer Tips for Rookie Officials

After posting 45 year veteran Clifford "Biff" Lee's advice on Ump-Attire.com's Facebook fan page, 5 officials chimed in with more good tips for rookie football officials.

1. Hustle.
   - Josh Junker
   
   
2. When you blow your whistle, blow it loud.
   -Arik Goldsmit
   
   
3. Look good and be on time.
   -Rick Alderman, Jr.
   
   
4. Never look rattled, never bark, keep your cool...tough sometimes.
   -Clint Vinyard
   
   
5. Make sure you see the ball before you blow your whistle, and don't anticipate.
   -Mark Weathers

Related Posts

• Official of 45 Years Provides Insights to Officials
• 5 Self Assessment Off-Season Questions

Posted by Jim Kirk, CEO/President of Ump-Attire.com and avid fan of sports and sports officials everywhere.