Posted on 11/17/2010 4:31:12 PM PST by llevrok
By now, you may be among the millions of people who've seen on YouTube the trick football play pulled off by the Driscoll Middle School of Corpus Christi, Texas.
If you've been watching President Obama abroad or otherwise wasting your time, here's what happens: Driscoll breaks out of the huddle, and the quarterback lines up over the ball. From the sideline, the assistant coach calls out that Driscoll deserves a five-yard penalty.
At this point, the Driscoll center casually hands the ball over his shoulder to the quarterback. This is perfectly acceptable, even though we know that the center invariably delivers the ball through his legs.
The quarterback then takes the ball and starts to walk off five yards himself, as the opponents look on, confused. Then, clear of the opposition, the quarterback suddenly breaks into a run and dashes 67 yards for a touchdown.
The play is legal, and just about everybody who has seen it gets a real hoot out of it. In one online poll, 92.1 percent of those who voted said the play was genius.
Well, it isn't funny, and it isn't right.
Sure, athletes often employ gamesmanship, and I will now give you a lecture on situational ethics.
Remember this summer, when Derek Jeter, the all-American boy, idol of millions, faked getting hit by a pitch and his acting was so good he was awarded first base?
Well, Jeter is a grown-up, playing other grown-ups, in a game umpired by grown-ups. So are wide receivers who pretend to catch a pass that really hit the ground first, and basketball players who flop back as if they were fouled.
Just like the Driscoll Middle School quarterback, it is perfectly legal to act in a game. But the players who do that in the pros are not embarrassing the opposition. They're just trying to con the umpire. It's a benign bit of hustle that would've made for some good Aesop's Fables if old Aesop were around writing a sports blog nowadays.
But the Driscoll team didn't act instinctively to try to put one over on a ref. The middle schoolers didn't even come up with the ruse. Their coach dreamed up the play, and even participated in it, hollering from the sideline. The referees weren't victimized. In fact, they had to play along.
No, it was only the other team's kids who were embarrassed and belittled by a children's coach being a wise guy, a bully of sorts. It wasn't genius at all; rather, it was a form of child abuse. Sure, it was legal, but it wasn't fair.
Laugh at kids being outslicked by a grown-up, and you're cruel. That isn't sport.
Franny, did you skip your Midol?
The rule wouldnt surprise me, especially seeing how intricate NFL off and def packages are. I imagine there is some lobbying because def coordinators tend to package their def based on personnel.
Id love to see the play get called dead and hear the ref. I usually dont like to see people screw up, but some of the ref’s give entertaining explanations. There was one this season (I think preseason) where on a KO, 2 cover guys and 1 return guy all had penalties. And it was number 57, 95, and 97. It took the ref about 5 minutes to get it right, because they all had similar numbers, and there is hardly ever a 3 penalty play. But he had the biggest grin n his face knowing that this was happening on tv. He was a good sport.
My favorite is when a ref threw an unsportsmanlike and said “15 yd penalty - Giving him the Business”
I'm a head baseball coach in high school but did 20 years in junior high football, we had some trick plays but I would not have run this one. Others can, its not child abuse, but in my personal code this exceeds what I would be comfortable doing.
Frank DeFord——Just another idiot liberal who should be locked away for its own protection. NO more tax dollars to NPR
There is a huge difference between misleading the referees and misleading the opposing players.
Its also illegal in many youth leagues for anyone on the sideline ( coach, players etc ) to be part of any trickery. With the coach yelling that there was a penalty this play would have been illegal in many youth leagues.
The rule wouldnt surprise me, especially seeing how intricate NFL off and def packages are. I imagine there is some lobbying because def coordinators tend to package their def based on personnel.
Good point. I wasn't even aware of the rule until I saw a penalty called on a play some years ago (I think it involved the Seattle Seahawks). There wasn't even a deliberate attempt to confuse anyone in that case. They simply lined up for a punt on fourth down, and someone on the sideline finally realized they only had ten players on the field. So the 11th player came running in from the sideline and got about three steps onto the field when the ball was snapped. The punter alertly realized what had happened, saw that the player from the sideline had come in behind the line of scrimmage and was completely onside when the ball was snapped, and tossed the ball out to him for an easy first down. That's when the flags flew, a penalty was called, and the announcer explained the ruling and the rationale behind it.
Please, let's leave the redefining of words to the liberals.
It wouldn’t be the first time Wikipedia was confused. Or maybe it’s DeFord who’s confused.
Actually, I was as disgusted with Benjamin’s association with the America-hating, Charles Manson-sympathizing (seriously!) Bryant Gumbel as with anything else. But then, those two pompous self-worshipers probably belong together.
I’d say “Lighten up, Francis”, but this guy may be light enough already....
In the olden days even the a HS middle linebacker would salivate at the prospect of the QB coming at him this way, and would “take care of business.”
I bet he always got picked last too
I wish the Gators would have tried that against South Carolina last Saturday, nothing else was working.
beat the ‘noles !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then I got tricked, too! I’ve been abused!
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