Did I cross the line?

High school football game Friday night, and I'm on the sidelines taking notes and shooting photos. Team A has the ball on Team B's 28 yd. line, first down. First down pass fell incomplete. Second and 10. One of the refs spots the ball on the 29 yard line, effectively bringing up second and 11. The ref in front of me is straddling the 28 yard line, and the sticks on the other side of the field are on the 28 naturally, and the damned ball is spotted a yard from them. I said to the ref, "Are you going to let that spot stand?" Without hesitating he said, "Oh, thanks," blew his whistle and corrected the problem.

Should I have not intervened? Go ahead. I will take my lumps.

 

Yeesh...it seems innocuous enough, but I generally try to act like a fly on the wall at these things and not get involved.

 

That's making the news, IMO, not covering it.

 

That was you, you bastard? I had $100 on Team B.

I think you're OK to point it out ahead of time. If it was more controversial, I'd sit it out, though.

 

Some refs would have tossed you. At least you found a decent guy. It's a slippery slope.

 

Of course you crossed the line.

 

I don't see any particularly slippery slope. You asked a fair question. That's all. You're there. You're covering the game. There's a legitimate question to be asked and you happen to be in the position to ask it. Good work.

Media questions influence behavior all the time. Hell, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Utah) plead guilty to something he says he didn't do based on questions from the media. Right?

Bush didn't know there were people stranded in New Orleans until he saw it on CNN. Should they have blacked out their coverage to "let it play out"?

 

I think you're OK. It's not as though you questioned the initial ball spot. Don't know that I would have done it -- but that has nothing to do with my ethics; it's because I'm a coward.

 

Only you can answer if you stepped onto the playing field. We don't know where your feet were.

 

But if you did, you can't take come back and take notes on that play.

 

Had a sort of similar situation in a preps basketball game, although it affected the outcome of the game. A scoreboard error in the final moments gave Team A a two-point lead, when they should have been up by 3. The refs even huddled at the table and talked about it with the coaches for several minutes. Team A coach knew it should be a three-point lead. But not only had the scoreboard guy screwed up, but the official scorer had it wrong in the book. I was sitting in the front row and the people around me asked what I had the score as, and I had it as a two-point game. Didn't bring my scorebook over or anything, though.

Of course, nearly inevitably, Team B hits a three-pointer at the buzzer to give them the victory, when it should have actually only tied the game.

The losing coach (and it was a home game for him so he didn't want to ream out the scorer) was apoplectic afterward. I didn't interfere, but did have a hell of a story for what would have been a really boring January game. And, yes, when they watched the tape afterward it confirmed the scoring mistake. That girl was not the scorer at the next home game.

 

Tell the guy they fucked up the spot so they can get it right.

If a player was ejected and switched jerseys with someone, and you knew it, would you stay mum about that or let someone know? Or write about it?

What if you were covering a minor league baseball game and the official scorer sneezed and missed a pitch, or had to go pee and missed the first batter's sacrifice or advancement by error? Would you remain silent -- "Hey, sorry, can't cross that line here" -- or let him know what happened?