| A rule is a rule is a rule. In football, holding is always holding; in baseball, a balk is always a balk; in basketball, traveling is never ignored. At least that’s what I thought when I began officiating those sports over three decades ago. __My officiating "career" was in danger of becoming terminally technical. I was headed toward extinction because I didn’t understand the inseparable links between rules, their spirit and intent, and good old common sense. __One evening, after I had officiated a prep JV basketball game, the home team’s varsity coach, who had seen me work, opened my eyes and my mind by telling me in a father-like manner: "Tom, you have excellent judgment on blocks and charges, things like that. But you’re way too technical. You make unnecessary calls which ruin the tempo of the game. Yes, technically, the calls are correct, but they aren’t the right calls to make under the circumstances." __Normally I ascribe little credibility to what coaches say about officials. This time, however, the more I thought about his constructive criticisms, the more I realized I was my own worst enemy. It took months of soul-searching and years of practice to shed the vestiges of those early days. I wish I had known then what I know now. I wish I had listened more to those whose philosophies have been validated by time. __How do various officiating experts feel about the way rules are intended to be enforced? I talked with a host of them, seeking to tap their expertise. The vast majority of those interviewed are deeply rooted in high school turf; nearly all are either active or former officials. I urge you to "go to school" on what they said. Spirit and Intent Dick Schindler, 64, virtually sets the tone for what is expected of high school officials nationwide. A National Federation of State High School Associations assistant director, he is rules editor and interpreter for basketball, football and track and field. Schindler said that clearly indicating a rules spirit and intent or carefully explaining why a rule change was made is a critical part of the rules-writing process. "It’s easy (for an official) to read a paragraph and say, ‘Well, that’s the rule.’ But you also have go back and look at why the change was made. In other words, what did this rule really change? What was the intent of the rule?" He added that an official must "know the reason for the rule in order to really adjudicate it properly." __For example, Schindler cited the basketball rule prohibiting a player from faking a violation along the free-throw lane. "The intent of that rule is to try to clean up the techniques coaches taught their players to try to draw opponents into the lane at crucial times." But even knowing that won’t create complete uniformity in the way it’s handled. "It’s going to be enforced differently because, not every official is going to -we every action the same way," said Schindler. "You might judge a player’s movement as not trying to influence an opponent and I might judge the same movement as trying to influence an opponent." He said there will always be those kinds of differences, which will be minimized if the officials "know the basics of why the rule is there. What was the intent of the rules makers when they put it in?" __Dave Carlsrud, 49, an assistant to the executive director of the North Dakota High School Activities Association, said that "as officials, were charged with taking black-and-white rules and applying them to gray situations." To illustrate, he cited a common football situation. "Let’s say we have a run right and we have a left offensive tackle who uses a sloppy blocking technique which by rule is a foul. By the spirit of the rule, if the block was not at the point of attack, did not affect the play, is not a safety issue and does not involve unsportsmanlike conduct, then I don’t think we need to have a foul." Rationale: No unfair advantage had been gained. __Carlsrud said there is no gray area for fouls which could cause injuries or for unsportsmanlike behavior. "Those are letter-of-the-rule calls. With Federation rules, safety of the participants is number one and then there’s sportsmanship. You can’t warn for unsportsmanlike conduct," he said decisively. __Earle Yost, Arizona Interscholastic Association commissioner of officials, cited the same football, holding, scenario as Carlsrud and concurred on how to handle it. Yost, 70, said that in addition to weighing whether an opponent was placed at an unfair advantage, an official should also determine if the offender "put his opponent in a position where he was going to be put at a disadvantage." __Added Yost: "I think rules are written as guidelines. To be a good official, you have to apply rules based on their spirit and intent. You have to use good judgment." He elaborated by talking about the plate umpire working a baseball game, ‘The rule states that the ball must be in a certain area above the knees and below the armpits and must be over (the white part) of the plate for the pitch to be a called strike," said Yost. "I think any good baseball umpire knows that if a pitch hits the black (part of the plate), you’re going to call it a strike. When I umpired baseball, I gave the pitchers the corners, but I didn’t fluctuate up and down." __"I’m a firm believer that a rule is a rule, whether we’re officiating a junior high, high school, college or pro game, said Rick Wulkow, administrative assistant for the Iowa High School Athletic Association. Wulkow, 50, is also chairman of the National Federation Basketball Rules Committee and a major-college men’s basketball referee. "The rules are there for a purpose," continued Wulkow, "but you can’t officiate by the rulebook. I think the intent of the rule is very important in administering the game. The officials who understand spirit and intent are the most successful because they know why the rule is there and how it is to be implemented." __Suzanne Martin has served on several Federation committees, including the soccer, volleyball and gymnastics rules committees. What she said was echoed by the others who were interviewed. "The rationale for talking spirit and intent is to encourage officials to apply a rule when it makes sense because the violation was a disadvantage to the offended team," said Martin, 47, an assistant director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, Martin emphasized her point via a soccer situation. "Sometimes you may be involved in (what appears to be) dangerous play. But you hold your whistle or signal, ‘play on’ because ... in actuality, the bump, or whatever it is, caused no ..,disadvantage whatsoever. By stopping play, you’d stop the flow of the and would actually hurt the offended team. What the game is all about Randy Chrystal, 47, is a Southwest Conference baseball umpire and football official from Austin, Texas. He said that mental flexibility is an official’s ally. "I feel like you have to adjust to the game." __Christal, who has umpired seven NCAA Division I-baseball World Series title games, shared an example from an NCAA Division I regional tourney game he worked last season. "The pitchers weren’t throwing strikes," said Christal. "It was late in the regional and everybody was out of pitching. Quite frankly, some strikes were called that probably weren’t strikes." The key to doing that successfully: "You keep it consistent. You’re not going to give one pitcher one strike zone and another pitcher a different strike zone. __Along similar lines, the flow of a game should not be interrupted by calling ticky-tack infractions, particularly if the game has proceeded smoothly and there are no ominous overtones; "The intent of the rule and, the enforcement of the rule have to meet what the game is doing," said Bill Lewis, 47, supervisor of officials for the Nebraska School Activities Association. "I think we can be very, very good textbook officials and not always be good on the field or the court. You have to be able to make the rules work in the situation you have." __Lewis related a basketball analogy. "The rules say we don’t allow contact, but we all know better than that. Basketball has become a game of contact, but you have to know when the contact affects the play, for example, while rebounding. Handchecking has also been a hot item. When it affects where the ball is going, (a foul) must be called. But sometimes there’s going to be hands placed on people away from the ball. That sort of thing we aren’t going to call because it would interrupt the flow." __The key, per Lewis: "You’ve got to adjust and understand what is going on, on the court. The rulebook doesn’t always tell you that. The rulebook tells you what’s illegal, but you have to understand where and when to apply it." __Don Robinson has the same philosophy as Lewis. Robinson, 57 and the associate executive director of Illinois High School Association, cited basketballs three-second rule to illustrate how he feels. "The intent of the rule is to keep the big people from hanging out at the, basket," said Robinson. "When the ball is out there at the 10-second, line, that’s not what the (three-second) rule is for. While literally the rule says you can’t be in there, nobody worries about it when the ball’s (at midcourt)." __Another key component at the high school level: "The principal purpose (of athletics) is educational and officials play a big role in that," said Dan Salzwedel, executive director of the New Mexico Activities Association. Salzwedel, 48, said that the primary goals of most pro sports are entertainment and profit. "It’s about how many people go through the turnstiles. At the interscholastic level, the entertainment value is not as great and is not going to be as great. We realize that’s not our principal purpose." Salzwedel feels that as part of the educational process, officials must understand that their roles are to enhance the: orderly flow of the game and allow the players to compete I within the spirit and intent of the rides, to the best of their ability levels, imposing appropriate penalties on those whose actions fall outside the rules. __Often there’s a fine line between legal and illegal acts. Dave Carlsrud offered an example of where to draw that line: "In. basketball, we talk to players on borderline issues that aren’t going to put someone at a disadvantage not intended by rule. But, if a player deliberately gives an opponent one of these shots," he said, jabbing his elbow backward, "we’re not going to warn on that because it’s something that will engender ill will. If I taunt, you’re not going to warn me; you’re going to T me up. __That’s what we need to keep an orderly flow to the game!" Getting a ‘healthy base’ Jon Bible, national coordinator of the NCAA National Umpire Improvement Program, said in Referee’s 6/94 feature interview that some officials "can get so immersed in the rules that they lose sight of what’s going on." Bible, 45, from Austin, Texas, then pointed out an inherent difficulty: "You have to have a healthy base before you know how to talk in terms of spirit of the rules." __Newer officials seldom have healthy bases, in large part due to their limited experience. That gives them few alternatives when times are tough. To give those neophytes more options, veterans must help educate their younger comrades. To evoke the desired effects, those efforts must be supplemented by input from refs’ supervisors and state high school association leaders and interpreters. One potential roadblock: Those in authority often convey to officials conflicting messages, leading to inconsistency. __Rick Wulkow said that consistency is ever-elusive, from game to game and from one part of the United States to another. That poses a challenge for the Federation Basketball Rules Committee. "Mere’s a big discussion right now (in the committee) about some things, that are violations, for example, during a throw-in, if the thrower steps across the boundary line before releasing the pass, that’s a violation. Do all officials call it? No." __He said that occurs in part because those in charge don’t always see eye-to-eye. "I think we rules writers and interpreters have come to an agreement so there’s consistency in that call," said Wulkow. "There are different faction about those types of things. There’s definitely a division. That’s something (the rules committee) has to address… I think we’ve come a long way in the last five, six or seven years. We work hard to try to develop consistency in understanding the interpretations of rules. But because of the nature; of the game, I don’t think well ever get to a point where we are across-the-board consistent." __Perhaps to a lesser degree, similar problems occur at the major college level. John Adams, NCAA football rules editor and interpreter, said that the 30 or so football officials’ supervisors who are members of the Collegiate Commissioners’ Association try to iron out their philosophical differences by meeting a couple times a season. I know that some of them leave our meetings saying, ‘That’s not my philosophy.’ but we should all leave with the same philosophy. __Adams, 75 who lives in Denver and since 1968 has been Western Athletic Conference football officials’ supervisor, continued: "It’s my responsibility as (NCAA football) rules interpreter to try to get that philosophy through to everyone, that this is the rule, so we all took at it the same way, I think we’re. much better at it than we were 35 or 40 years ago, when the country was divided from coast to coast, when there wasn’t much intersectional play and there weren’t many ideas being exchanged a among the supervisors. Now I think most everyone at least has the same concept of the rule. Of course, as it goes through the supervisor of officials to the officials and then to others, its meaning may change a little bit." Common sense enters the fray Eleven years ago during an interview, Basketball Hall of Fame referee J. Dallas Shirley said something that’s as relevant today as when we talked. Observed Shirley from Reston, Va., who died in 1994 at the age of 80: "We both know that almost anyone can take a rulebook, study and pass a written test. Yet the thing we have never found in any college catalog is a course on common sense." __Good point. The term itself is a misnomer. After all, if common sense was common among officials, it wouldn’t need to be preached with such frequency or gusto. Yet common sense is a recurring theme. ‘To become a great official, you have to use an awful lot of common sense," said Earle Yost, "You have to look at the gray area and how and why the rule s were written," "I think common sense is what really separates the good officials from the great officials, added Don Robinson, __Randy Christal echoed others’ sentiments when he said, "lt’s not what you call, it’s what you don’t call that separates the guys who really make it from those who don’t." He added that typically he will hive more problems with calls he makes rather than calls he doesn’t make. __Christal also admitted that he learned by the seat of his britches that having a compressed strike zone leads to unnecessary trouble. "If you call a lot of strikes (on borderline pitches), they might bellyache, but if you don’t call strikes, you’re going to be throwing people out of the ballgame," he said. "If you have a matchbook strike zone, invariably you’ll have an ejection because you’re not calling (enough) strikes." __Dave Carlsrud said that common sense is a must, but he added a qualification: "Common sense is different for officials at different levels. You can make a statement to a group of college officials that is interpreted one way. You make that same statement to junior high officials and it’s perceived to mean something completely different." __The level and quality of play can help dictate how a game should be called. A smart official will adjust accordingly. __"Officials have to understand what level they’re working," said Bill Lewis. "In Nebraska, we have six classifications (for basketball teams). That means we officiate those levels differently because they play differently. When there’s a whole bunch of players who are 6’8", and they jump out of the gym, that game is going to be played and officiated differently than a game where the skill level is not as high. __"The kids who play in the upper classes of basketball in our state can handle some contact. They’re used to it." As a result, in their games, more contact is considered incidental than in lower-level games, which typically are played at lesser levels of skill. "The kids from the smaller schools expect some of the lesser contact to be called because that’s what they’re used to. That’s what’s expected," said Lewis. "Sometimes it’s very difficult for officials who work upper-skill-level games to adjust to lower classes." __Dick Schindler added that rules, are often applied differently based on the level of play. "The rule might be exactly the same in pro, college and high school, but it may be applied differently based on the players’ maturity and the officials’ maturity, As officials mature, their judgment gets better and they’re going to make some calls a little bit different." __Schindler concluded by offering a caution. "Common sense is always a part of judgment. But the one thing we don’t want officials to do is read the rules, read the spirit and intent, and then say, ‘I’m not going to call that,’ or, ‘I’m going to call it differently: The rulesmakers don’t want officials to decide which rules are going to apply and which ones aren’t." Schindler said individual officials acting unilaterally leads to inconsistency among the ranks. "Whether officials ... like or dislike a rule, they have to realize that this is what the rules committee has dictated," he said. __While you may not agree with everything that has been said in this story, You have a distinct advantage over me and I hope you’ll make full use of it. My officiating career would have been a lot smoother if I had practiced early on what Schindler, Carlsrud, Wulkow, Lewis, et all., have preached. The ball is now in your court. What you do with it is going to effect your officiating career, for better or for worse. This is the time to start thinking about how you’re going to handle that gray area "ball." One thing is certain: It can’t be ignored. Gray Area Guidelines Based on my 30-plus years of officiating experience and input from the officiating experts whose opinions are included in the feature story, following are some basic guidelines, which when properly considered and implemented can assist you in making various gray-area judgments. In general, the guidelines are not mutually exclusive. 1. Level of play. At lower levels of play, slight physical contact is likely to have a more significant effect than at higher levels of play. To compensate, redefine incidental contact" to fit the level of play you are working; advantage-disadvantage is a key component. 2. Quality of play. The way you officiate a game should be appropriate for the skill level of the players. A well-played, clean contest which has a discernibly smooth flow requires fewer interruptions than a poorly played, rough game which lacks any flow. Frustrations mount and tempers tend to rise as the quality of play worsens, maintaining or, regaining control of that game becomes increasingly difficult. To avoid losing control of the game, intensity your concentration and, if necessary, adjust the way you’re calling the game. 3. Type of rule involved. Only by knowing a rule’s spirit and intent can you implement it properly. However, rules involving player safety and unsportsmanlike conduct (including any act that engenders ill will) should be strictly enforced. Also, any infraction, which is blatantly obvious to a casual observer, cannot be ignored. 4. Competitiveness of contest. Typically, players and coaches behave better in a close game than in a blowout Why? Because in a close contest they cannot afford to do something negative that could have a, significant impact on the game’s outcome. If they feel the game has already been lost, they may also feel they have little if anything to lose by taking cheapshots (verbal and physical). Some of the games which are the toughest to control are blowouts, so don’t lot them get away from you. Call what needs to be called; don’t be disconcerted by the length of the game. 5. Consistency is a must. The players and coaches generally will be able to adjust to the way you are working the game, but they will have that if you are inconsistent. Once you have established the parameters within which you will call a game, don’t make any alterations unless conditions change or there are other compelling extenuating circumstances. 6. On marginal infractions, issue warning. Except for safety and sportsmanship rules (see No. 3), if a player commits what you perceive to be a marginal infraction, it is inappropriate to remain silent. Instead, issue a formal or an informal warning no threats). Most players appreciate that approach and will hot abuse it. Give them the benefit of doubt until they have proven they no longer, deserve, it... 7. Don look for calls to make. During some games, you may go long periods of time without having to make any calls. As time goes on, however, an official tends to feel pressure to "call something," perhaps to validate his presence. Resist the temptation to do it there’s nothing to call, call nothing. In the average contest, there: Will be plenty of calls to make, so don’t force the issue by fabricating calls where none exist. 8. Don’t let the players decide the game … unless their actions are within the spirit and intent of the rules. Too often players, coaches, even officials, have said, ‘I want the players to decide the game," As if somehow officials are expected to evaporate at crucial stages of games. You should never run away from making calls near the end of a ,game simply because. the game is on the line. It a call is a good one in the middle of the game, it’s probably a good one near the game’s climax. |
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