Dein erstes Forum » to assist the on-field refs in making the toughest

DAVIE, Fla. -- In the stadium program sold at the Miami Dolphins game on Halloween, Richie Incognito was asked whos the easiest teammate to scare. His answer: Jonathan Martin. The troubled, troubling relationship between the two offensive linemen took an ominous turn Monday with fresh revelations: Incognito sent text messages to his teammate that were racist and threatening, two people familiar with the situation said. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Dolphins and NFL havent disclosed the nature of the misconduct that led to Sundays suspension of Incognito, a veteran with a reputation for dirty play. Martin, a tackle, remained absent from practice Monday one week after he suddenly left the team because of emotional issues. Also missing was Incognito, a guard suspended indefinitely late Sunday by coach Joe Philbin for his treatment of Martin. Agents for the two players didnt respond to requests for comment. Martin is with his family in Los Angeles for counselling. The 319-pound Incognito, a ninth-year pro, is white. The 312-pound Martin, who is in his second NFL season, is black. For much of the season, theyve played side by side. The team and NFL continued their investigation into allegations by Martins representatives that he was bullied, and Philbin said Dolphins owner Stephen Ross asked Commissioner Roger Goodell for assistance. The NFL Players Association also planned to look into the matter. "Every decision Ive made, everything weve done in this facility has been done with one thing in mind," Philbin said. "Thats to help our players and our organization reach their full potential. Any type of conduct (or) behaviour that detracts from that objective is not acceptable and is not tolerated." Its unclear whether coaches or management had any inkling of harassment between the players before Martin left the team, and Philbin declined to answer a question about the locker-room culture. Recent rumblings of dissension have also included complaints by young players that theyre pressured to pay more than their share when team members socialize together. After beating Cincinnati in overtime Thursday, the Dolphins had three days off while the Martin story mushroomed. They returned to practice Monday and afterward found nearly 100 reporters and cameramen in their locker room. Teammates praised both Incognito and Martin and expressed regret regarding their absences, but said it was time to get on with business. "The only thing affecting us is we cant even get dressed," said receiver Mike Wallace as he surveyed the media throng. Wallace said he found Incognito to be intense but a good teammate. Newcomer Bryant McKinnie agreed. "When I got here, he was a guy who had everybody laughing and told jokes," said McKinnie, a tackle who joined the team two weeks ago. "I didnt really see the side being portrayed right now." Hazing of young players has a long history in sports, but Incognitos treatment of Martin raised questions about whether coaches or teammates should have intervened. "Its not a thin line. Its pretty obvious stuff that shouldnt be crossed," Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty said. "You would hope if stuff was getting out of hands, there were guys in the locker room who would step up and maybe nip it in the bud before it got out of control." Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said he was glad the Dolphins took action against Incognito. "Especially when you try to bully a guy. Thats so classless," Dockett said. "His whole makeup is to play dirty and hurt guys. Everybody knows that. I just dont understand how he got away with it for so long. I think the NFL really needs to buckle down on it now, because its bigger than trying to hurt other guys. Youre trying to hurt guys on your team mentally, which sometimes can actually be worse than hurting someone physically." Philbin said he was unaware of hazing incidents that involved Incognito -- such as hacking into a teammates Facebook page -- shown on the HBO series "Hard Knocks," which chronicled the Dolphins training camp in 2012. Philbin said he never watched the program. "If the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere, I will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that it is," Philbin said. "I have that obligation to the players that I coach on a daily basis, and I will do that." Before being suspended, Incognito posted several tweets saying he wanted his name cleared. "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth," Incognito tweeted, quoting Buddha. Incognito, whos in the final year of a $13 million, three-year contract, has long had a reputation of being among the NFLs dirtiest players. During his first four years, he led the league in penalties for unnecessary roughness, and the St. Louis Rams got fed up with his undisciplined play and released him during the 2009 season. "Theres certain people out there who are just punks, and he wants to be that kind of guy," former Seahawks and Lions defensive end Lawrence Jackson said Monday. "But because hes a lineman, he gets away with a lot of stuff that people dont see. ... Incognito is way worse than anybody I ever played against." However, there have been fewer such complaints since Incognito joined the Dolphins in 2010. Last year he was voted by the leagues players into the Pro Bowl for the first time. He was the co-winner of the Dolphins Good Guy Award, given to the teams most co-operative player by the local media. He also won frequent praise from Dolphins coaches for his leadership, and this year he was voted by teammates to serve as a member of the Dolphins player council. At Nebraska, Incognitos career was cut short when he was suspended in 2004 before his junior season following a locker room altercation with a teammate. He also ran into problems with the law while with the Cornhuskers, and they said he repeatedly violated team rules. Martin protected Andrew Lucks blind side at Stanford before joining Miami as a second-round draft pick in 2012. He has been a starter since the beginning of his rookie season, but has struggled while dividing his time between left and right tackle. Stanford coach David Shaw said people at the school had been in touch with Martin. "Im a Jonathan Martin fan, so my interest is just in him getting back to the point where he gets a chance to play this game that he loves again," Shaw said. "By all accounts hes doing well. Not sure if hes going to rejoin the team this year, or when he is, but I know hes going to get himself back ready to play the game." For the first six games this year, Incognito and Martin were the two players protecting Ryan Tannehills blind side. Their troubled relationship may help explain his NFL-high 35 sacks. Cheap Vans Shoes . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Vans Old Skool White Sale . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/ . The third-ranked Buckeyes were down eight points to Notre Dame with less than 2 minutes to play and their offence was nowhere to be found. Vans Sk8 Hi Clearance . - A retired Indiana school principal who was NASCAR star Jeff Gordons drivers education teacher was killed with his wife in a Tennessee crash while returning from watching Gordon race. Vans Shoes Wholesale . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale.Since last Thursday night when the CFL rules committee passed the proposal to make defensive pass interference the first judgment penalty subject to video review by coaches challenge, there have been many that have opposed the idea and the debate on sports talk radio has been heated. It should be noted that the rules committee passing the proposal does not necessarily mean it will happen. The final approval has to come from the CFL Board of Governors, who will vote in about a month. However, it is time to do something about improving the consistency when it comes pass interference in football, and this rule proposal is a strong step in that direction. Defensive pass interference is the most controversial and game changing penalty in the sport. It is a point-of-foul penalty, meaning the ball is advanced to where the penalty occurred. In other words it is a game changer, and yet ask any football official and, if they are being honest, they will tell you it is the most difficult call to make on the field. A receiver and a defensive back are battling down the field at high speeds, and usually one, maybe two officials are trying to keep up and make what is the ultimate judgment call, while at times looking through and around other players in their line of vision. So for every issue raised by those opposed to this new rule proposal, let me make an argument as to why I think implementing this rule will make the game, and everyone involved in it, better. The following is a list of the concerns that I have heard with this new rule, and my opposing argument. 1. It will take too long and extend the game. Currently coaches have two challenges per game and if they are correct on both they get a third. That will not change with this new rule. The coaches do not get extra challenges with this rule proposal, and therefore, it will not extend the game. It may be a challenge that takes slightly longer than others. For instance, taking a second look as to whether or not a player has his foot inbounds will take less time than reviewing a DPI call but, we are talking about seconds here. And when you average out all the challenges in a game, again this new rule should not make any difference in the overall time it takes to complete a football game. Lets put it this way, if a DPI review is a longer review by a few seconds, there are lots of ways to save time in other areas. Perhaps an article for another time. 2. It opens a can of worms. Whats next, should they review holding, and offsides? It wont happen! Again back to the severity of the penalty. No other foul in football can advance the ball an unlimited amount of yards. This is also the reason that this rule change does not apply to offensive pass interference. OPI is a 10-yard penalty, not a point-of-foul penalty, so because of that, like any other 5-yard, 10-yard, or 15-yard penalty it will never be subject to video review. The worms can stay in that can. 3. The on-field official gets into the flow of the game. Sometimes the game is more physical and they let things go more, and a ref sitting in an office in the command centre will not understand that flow and see things in a different way. Herein lies the problem as to why pass interference is such a controversial, and inconsistent penalty call. The premise of this issue for those opposed to this rule change is that, sometimes an officiating crew calls a game differently from one week to the next based on the flow of the game. Sometimes a crew will call a game differently in the first quarter than they do in the fourth quarter. Sometimes the game will be called differently from one crew to another. So how is a guy in Toronto in the command centre going to understand that flow? Wow, so I ask you, what does a coach say to his defensive backs when it comes to pass interference? In order to find some common ground and consistency, this game-changing penalty can no longer be called based on the "flow of the game," or the quarter, or the crew. A standard has been set, and is currently in the rule book, and if that standard has to be tweaked then so be it. But once there is a consensus on what is and is not pass interference, than we can all move closer to that common ground. Some defensive backs are concerned about being under the microscope if this rule passes and I understand their concern. I learned all the tricks years ago as well, when it came to impeding the progress of a receiver without being detected by the officials. However, over time those defensive backs will understand that they cant get away with those tricks any longer or at least less often, and will train differently, and ultimately improve. Over time, there will be a better understanding as to what is pass interference and what isnt and, at that point coaches will coach better, players will play better, commentators will explain the rule better, and fans will better understand it. 4. This will embarrass the officials if too many calls are overturned. This rule change will actually empower the officiaals, not embarrass them.dddddddddddd First of all the men officiating our game today take great pride in what they do, and should be commended for their work, something that doesnt happen enough. This rule change will not expose them, it will help them become more consistent and bring them together. Again, once that standard is clear as to what is and isnt pass interference, they can have more confidence in throwing the flag when they see an infraction because everyone involved will no longer have to work into their judgment, the flow of the game, the quarter, or the crew they are working with that night. Also, due to the severity of the penalty, and its impact on the game, when a mistake is made on a PI call, the level of scrutiny goes through the roof. This new system will alleviate some of that scrutiny, and assist the officials that have to make this tough decision on the fly and, therefore, like the DBs, coaches and commentators that I mentioned in the last point, it will ultimately make them better. For the record, I predict that if this rule change goes through, there will be very few DPI calls overturned. This rule will be more commonly used for times when the refs vision was blocked and he couldnt see what was an obvious infraction. It will be the missed calls that this rule will most impact. 5. The game is played by human beings that arent perfect, so why are we trying to make the officials perfect? That fact will never change. Human error is, and will forever be, part of the game. Players, coaches, refs, GMs, Commissioners, and commentators will make mistakes, and for the players coaches and GMs it will cost them ball games. To me this rule doesnt look to try and make the officials perfect, it looks to assist them in correctly making what is the toughest call on the field, and to give clarity to the coaches and players as to what is an infraction and what is not. 6. You are taking this judgment call from one persons opinion and handing it to another person for his opinion. Why not just leave this call in the hands of one person? Yes, this will remain a call that is based on the judgment of an official, and adding a second opinion (the command centre) is technically bringing in the judgment of another ref. However, as stated earlier - by the officials own admission - that PI is the hardest call on the field to make, and the most impactful. So if in fact it is a difficult call to execute, why not assist the on-field ref in making it correctly? Also, as mentioned earlier my suspicion is that this rule change will impact missed calls more than overturning DPI calls. So adding the command centre is actually a chance to get more angles on the play than the on-field official had. In effect, this assists the on-field official, and doesnt simply throw in another opinion on the play. 7. Rather than change the game like this why dont we just make our officials better? The CFL head of officiating every year keeps track of every call made on the field, and also makes record of calls that were missed. I think most fans would be surprised at the percentage of correct calls that are made during the course of a football season. The officials are working hard at improving and dont get enough credit for their dedication to one of the most thankless jobs on the planet. To say, "well lets just get better refs, or lets just make our refs better is quite frankly disrespectful to a group of men who work hard at it, and are doing their very best. This reviewable DPI proposal is actually a practical way to help them improve. The technology in sports improves all the time, and this proposal is a way to use that technology to help refs and make the game better. Im sure there our other issues that those that are opposed to this rule change have, and I would welcome your input. I have yet to hear a real down side to this proposal, but maybe there is one out there that I have missed. Again, I think it is fair to say that all football fans would like to see more consistency when it comes to pass interference. No one is placing blame by this rule change proposal; it is simply an effort to improve the game. The goal is to assist the on-field refs in making the toughest call in the game correctly and more consistently to help the coaches be more clear and concise on how they instruct their players. Its to help players better understand what they can and cant get away with in a game, so that they can train accordingly. Its to help commentators better explain what has happened on the field and why, so they can relay that information to the fan watching at home. Back in the late 90s there was a large majority that hated the thought of video review in football games, and now we cant imagine the game without it. This is a bold move, but it is time to take that step to improve the application of this penalty. A coach once told me that if you are not improving you are regressing. It is time to find a way to improve on this rule, and find more consistency. Lets give this proposal a shot. ' ' '