Haha you guys are so funny! What's the point?

Oh my god you guys can be so funny on the field that it makes no sense at all. Some of the comments I heard on the weekend would be better published in a book for entertainment for people to read.

2 comments I heard that should be commented on go as follows.
In game 1 a player commits a PF close to the end of the game. A captain replies to an official that the player is a rookie. (Is this to mean that it somehow diminishes his responsibilities?) The captain is told that it is the teams job to ensure the rookie knows what to do with a particular rule. The captain replies "But it is not our job to teach him the rules!"
So now with cooler heads prevailing just whose job is it to teach the player the rules? Surely not the officials on the field? You want us calling your tactics on the field as well?

The second comment comes from a scrambling QB who gets hit from pillar to post. He continues to run play after play. Well done to him for taking it up to the other teams. What surprises me is that from the sideline a coaching staff member calls out to protect the QB. Well once he begins to run he is no longer a QB but now a ball carrier RB. The QB no longer has any protection dealing with a passer. If the QB clearly slides at the end of a play to show he is giving up then he will have protection provided to him as a defenseless player. But while he stands up and takes the hits right down to the ground to end the play by rule he is a ball carrier. The thing is the people on the sideline were told the correct advice about this and then argued about it and totally disregarded the official's advice. So why try and teach you this?

So what is the point in teaching people the rules of the game if we continue to have our comments disregarded and rules interpretations from the blog not passed on to participants of the game? I would say none. So why waste the time of typing this up to improve the standard of play on the field and continue a game in a speedy manner so that we do not have to stop and answer queries on rulings? I would say a waste of time for both anyhow.

I sent out notes to coaching staff in 2004/05 season and put in articles to the Crunchtime. Nothing changed. I stopped sending out notes for the next few years but returned to write ups for 2007/08. SAGOA has used modern technology this season to inform all tech savvy participants of GASA about rulings and interpretations. What has changed? Nothing.

I thank the captains who have worked out they need to control some of their players when making comments and I thank the captains who have worked out how to approach an official in a smart and respectful manner. These teams will have a much lower penalty yardage for sportsmanship and their games have been the best to officiate and concentrate on knowing the captains are in there stopping and preventing players continually verbally challenging the official's call.

If this trend continues I can see a few more ejections for flagrant fouls and players even accumulating 2 or more USC penalties before the season breaks into the finals series. As to the player of one team threatening to punch other opposition players after a game he is lucky not to have been ejected on the spot and only asked to sit out a few plays. Such behaviour should never occur on the field and captains must stamp out such behaviour when they hear it on the field.

I wonder if this message reaches the personnel that need to know and read and understand? Probably not. But hey you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. I make no apologies in saying this the way it needs to be and calling a spade a spade.

Grant Martin
SAGOA Training Officer