And this has to be one of the dumbest statements in the entire article by one Hugh Freeze:
"Why make such a radical change?" he asked. "It's like basketball. If a three-second rule is missed five or six times, you don't go changing the rule to one second in the lane. You just enforce it better. Every one of these plays that people are talking about last year should have been flags. We all agree on that. Throw the flag and we're not even having this discussion."
Wrong...dummy. Rules have been changed for years and across sports because of difficulty in interpretation or enforcement. Simply look at the arc rule and changes in clarifying the block/charge call in basketball recently. Those changes happened because there was so much controversy over interpretation of the rule. And it has made for a cleaner game. Not perfect, but cleaner.
This is NO different. It is simple logic to change to the NFL standard of one yard. It is much easier for officials to make a definitive call in a one (or more like two) yard area than in an area three (or more like five) yards.
These guys want to talk about defensive coaches whining? Here is the deal IMO. The advantage is gained in many cases by the offenses by operating in the "gray area" concerning rules. They all talk about getting "match up advantages" against defenses, but it is much about gaining those advantages in rule interpretation and enforcement. I want see 22 players determine the outcome of a game based on how successful they can be. I don't want it determined by watching 7 others in striped shirts being placed in positions to fail.
"Why make such a radical change?" he asked. "It's like basketball. If a three-second rule is missed five or six times, you don't go changing the rule to one second in the lane. You just enforce it better. Every one of these plays that people are talking about last year should have been flags. We all agree on that. Throw the flag and we're not even having this discussion."
Wrong...dummy. Rules have been changed for years and across sports because of difficulty in interpretation or enforcement. Simply look at the arc rule and changes in clarifying the block/charge call in basketball recently. Those changes happened because there was so much controversy over interpretation of the rule. And it has made for a cleaner game. Not perfect, but cleaner.
This is NO different. It is simple logic to change to the NFL standard of one yard. It is much easier for officials to make a definitive call in a one (or more like two) yard area than in an area three (or more like five) yards.
These guys want to talk about defensive coaches whining? Here is the deal IMO. The advantage is gained in many cases by the offenses by operating in the "gray area" concerning rules. They all talk about getting "match up advantages" against defenses, but it is much about gaining those advantages in rule interpretation and enforcement. I want see 22 players determine the outcome of a game based on how successful they can be. I don't want it determined by watching 7 others in striped shirts being placed in positions to fail.