I never actually thought of this as a problem, but this Grantland column makes perfect sense to me. Here are the money quotes:
What do you guys think?
I never actually thought of this as a problem, but this Grantland column makes perfect sense to me. Here are the money quotes:
What do you guys think?
Too complicated. I think this is a solution in search of a problem.
Complicated? Two different coloured flags is complicated?
Confining my response to just the problems the NFL has, this is the smallest of non-problems. Did somebody need a column and this is the best they could come up with?
So an official is supposed to watch a play, keep the entire rulebook in his head, make a split second decision on something they only get to see once, AND pull the right color of flag out? What happens when the wrong color is thrown and the players had acted in reliance on that flag?
Beyond the operational issues, who the hell has this problem? “Informational embargo”?
Unnecessary. Unless they’re going to have a distinct flag for every possible infraction, their solution still doesn’t solve the trivial “problem” they’re describing.
Wrong color flags would be thrown all the time imo.
Where would the refs keep the flags on themselves? One on the left and one on the right? I bet the majority of them can’t throw very good with their off hand. Flags would be lying nowhere near where the penalty occurred.
Eh, I can see how it’d make a difference in some cases. If your team gets a touchdown, and there’s a flag on the play, currently you’re left wondering whether the score was good or not. If it turns out to have been a penalty on the defense, though, you can rest easy knowing that whatever it was, it’s just going to be declined.
It’s still a very minor problem, and probably not one worth worrying about.
I think another issue would be how players react on seeing a flag. As it is now, you keep playing hard because if the flag is on the other team, it’s a free play if you do better than the penalty. If you know a flag is on your team, you stop playing (I know they are supposed to be professionals, but they are human). When the wrong flag gets throw or it’s a “there’s no penalty on the play” if the flag was thrown in error (which happens now), it’s gonna really suck if the player stopped playing for no reason.
Besides, the delay builds anticipation, and it’s not like people don’t cheer when someone crosses the goal line even if a flag was throw 50 yards away.
Yep. You can almost guarantee that they’ll throw the wrong color some times. I’m not seeing a problem to be solved.
For the ref watching the receivers he’s going to make a split second decision on whether something is offensive or defensive PI, and then make sure he picks the right flag before throwing it. It will add delay between the time he sees a penalty and throws the flag which is detrimental to the process, and they’re still going to make mistakes.
I agree with others, solution in search of a non-problem.
During that “time lag” while we’re all waiting to hear the penalty explained, the refs sometimes huddle and try to figure out exactly what the situation is.
Exactly. Sometimes with different perspectives they change their thinking. What if it looked like defensive interference from one angle but the other official had a better angle and saw the push off? Sometimes that time lag is needed.
I often see flags accidentally thrown when a player fumbles instead of the correct beanbag. Adding yet another thing on the refs’ belts just so fans can know they’re OK to cheer a touchdown? Silly.
I don’t know…
Two different colored flags results in not much benefit, but a high likelihood of throwing the wrong color.
I will say that some plays should die the moment a penalty occurs. Holding or block in the bck during a kickoff? Blow it dead on the spot. I almost want to say blow it dead for holding, etc. during a regular offensive play, too, but I’d like to see stats on how frequently the defense declines the penalty in favor of the result of the play.
How many times have you seen a kickoff returned or a big offensive play that just keeps going and you know it’s coming back due to penalty? Blowing it dead would speed up the game and mitigate unnecessary injury risk when players keep playing hard despite the flag.
Its only a few seconds, let them speculate on the penalty
This I agree with entirely. Injury risk is the big one for me, but you’re right it’s also a waste of time. Plus, then the team doesn’t have the guy that ran the 90 yard return for the next play because he’s tired as crap.
Sometimes those plays work out better for the defense, the best example being a fumble they recover. Cutting off the play early would eliminate that possibility. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.
And I agree with the rest, it would never work due to frequent mistakes. And even if it worked perfectly, it’s a dumb idea. It isn’t diminishing anyone’s enjoyment of the game. I doubt the column writer even cares either - howye is right, he needed to fill some space.
You could give the Refs discretion on when to blow the play dead, based on when it’s obvious the penalty would be accepted.
Offensive holding, but the QB is still scrambling in the back field, maybe he’ll get sacked or maybe it’s fourth down and they won’t make the first down line. But if he breaks free for a big gain, or they make the first down, then they can blow it.
“During this window, fans are left wondering what happened and announcers freely speculate on the call.”
That’s a feature, not a bug. It’s fun to talk about what just happened.