Here's the story, from the officials' point of view: http://www.sportsnola.com/sports/prep-sp…

This is absolutely a miss by the crew chief, Walt Anderson. Two steps by the defender and planting his facemask into the chest of Locker, all after the ball is released. Should have been a roughing-the-passer foul, at the very least.

As long as the formation is still legal, 10 men isn't a penalty. (This is more of a consideration in high school football, where the rule states that a team must have at least seven men on the line of scrimmage, where in NCAA rules it states that a team can have no more than four players in the backfield.)

Even if he doesn't fully kneel, simulating a kneel down (which I think is closer to what he did, but that's splitting hairs) renders the play dead. Considering the confusion, I would not have flagged ASU for a delay-of-game foul, but would have stopped the clock until the ball was spotted and any confusion was…

I'm surprised that there wasn't an ejection on this play, especially with ensuing action. My guess is the officiating crew got together to discuss a possible ejection and decided against it, but then forgot that they have to enforce the offsetting penalties properly as dead-ball fouls (NOT as a live-ball foul and a…

It doesn't matter where the player is, it matters where the ball is when the player takes possession. The announcers (shockingly) are right in this case - the KR took possession of the ball while it was still in in the field of play (not in the end zone) and without the momentum exception applying here, this is a…

I don't think it's an issue with contrast, but an issue with the fact that Auburn did not agree to this in the game contract prior to the game. If the home team does not consent in writing, the visiting team must wear white jerseys or be assessed a 15-yard penalty at the beginning of each half. (Rule 1-5a, for those…

There's a repository of "Japandering" at the aptly named:

I honestly don't know if what's accepted in MLB is different (and I would guess it is), but I've been taught (from high school up through college ball) never to directly engage with a pitcher on the mound from behind the plate. I'll always use the catcher to send a message, usually along the lines of "shut the hell up…

You are of course correct - I was writing my reply while slightly bleary eyed and taking a break from a football rules exam, so it stands to reason that I'd completely botch a pretty basic baseball rule.

He did step off, so not a pitch, just a regular throw. Had it been a pitch, time would have been called, the pitch nullified, and all runners awarded one base. (Rule 5.09c)

As an umpire, I'm all in favor of anything that will help me do my job better. The only issue I see with replay (and I hope it is addressed properly) is when a play in the midst of continuing action is reviewed. I don't want to see umpires needing to place runners by judgment every time there is a review.

I looked at it again, and while I thought he was at third-base line extended, he actually was on the first base side of the third base line. That put him in a bad position, unfortunately.

Regarding the call: Jerry Meals started out in the right position, but it looks line he didn't recognize that the throw was coming in a little short. He needed to take a read step to his left to get a better look at Nava's leg coming in. To his credit, he recognized as much in his postgame quotes.

I've now had the opportunity to live on both coasts, as well as in the Midwest. Personally, I love and hate sports in the Pacific time zone - baseball is great, because I've got six hours of baseball from 4-10 nightly, and sometimes day games start as early as 10am (and as a software developer, nobody cares if you've…

+2 feet over the head of everyone trying to explain it to you /verywellplayed

Duck fat popcorn. That is the only way to go. I tried it once and will never go back old any other oil.

+1 for presentation, but Ted Allen still says you've been chopped

Re: leaving the field on a catch - this is colloquially called "catch and carry". A player can legally make a catch and leave the field of play, and as long as the player making the catch stays on his feet, he can (depending on ground rules) make the throw from dead-ball territory or return to live-ball territory and…

9/10. Missed the assisting the runner question - got it confused with the HS and college rule books and the rules on base coaches assisting the runner, which is a no-no. Most of these rules scenarios are pretty standard on preseason rules tests.