Be The Referee: Tournament Selection
November 11, 2020
This week, MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice explains how officials are selected for assignments during the MHSAA Football Playoffs.
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 - Tournament Selection - Listen
Today we are going to talk about how officials are selected for the MHSAA Football Playoffs. Just as the best teams advance in the tournament week after week, the best officiating crews advance in the tournament in much the same way.
For a crew to be eligible for assignment, many requirements have to be met prior to the season – submission of their season schedule, making sure that the crew has completed the annual rules meeting, as well as a football rules test.
Much weight is given to ratings – each crew is rated by schools following each game – as well as observation reports where officiating experts go out and either watch crews work live or on video in making sure that the best crews advance throughout the tournament
Past editions
11/5: You Make the Call: Missed Field Goals - Listen
10/29: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
10/22: You Make the Call: Illegal Kick - Listen
10/15: Toe the Line on Penalty Kicks - Listen
10/8: Disconcerting Acts - Listen
10/1: Ball Hits Soccer Referee - Listen
9/24: Clocking the Ball from the Shotgun - Listen
Be the Referee: Pass/Kick Off Crossbar
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
November 7, 2023
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 – Pass/Kick Off Crossbar - Listen
It’s 3rd-and-goal from the 12-yard line when the quarterback throws a pass high over the middle. It goes over the out-stretched hands of the receiver, hits the crossbar of the goalposts and ricochets back toward the receiver who is able to grab it while standing in the end zone.
Is this a touchdown?
It is not. Once a pass hits the crossbar – or uprights – of the goalposts, the pass is dead. It’s an incomplete pass, and now it’s 4th-and-goal.
So … they send out the field goal unit and the kick hits an upright and also bounces back into the field of play. Is the ball returnable by either team?
Nope. Once it hits the goal post and comes back onto the field – it is a missed field goal. The defense now takes over, 1st-and-10.
Previous Editions
Oct. 31: Cross Country Interference - Listen
Oct. 24: Soccer Overtime - Listen
Oct. 17: Tennis Spin - Listen
Oct. 10: Blocked Kick - Listen
Oct. 3: Volleyball Double & Lift - Listen
Sept. 26: Registration Process - Listen
Sept. 20: Animal Interference - Listen
Sept. 13: Feet Rule on Soccer Throw-In - Listen
Sept. 6: Volleyball Jewelry - Listen
Aug. 30: Football Rules Similarities - Listen
Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen