You Make the Call - Sept. 18

Point is disallowed. 15 yrd unsportsman like conduct on kickoff.
kicker and holder ejected from game.

Unsportsmanlike call. Loss of points.

Point disallowed with no retry opportunity. 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty given on the following kickoff.

Coach is fined $500,000 and they lose a kicker in 2008.

Illegal Equipment
Penalty: 15 yards, and Unsportsmanlike Conduct charged to the head coach.
Re-try the extra point.

Holy placekick Batman! Where did you come up with this one? To be completely honest, I am not certain about this one but I'll take a shot.

Obviously, something is not right with this. The tee is illegal because it elevates the ball more than two inches above the ground and because it is not made of a pliable material. For a place kick to be a legal kick, it must be controlled on the ground or on a legal tee by a teammate. In this case, it was not controlled on a legal tee. I would think that it would be an illegal kick. 15 yards from the previous spot, replay the try (without the illegal tee).

I don't know if this actually happened in a game but if it did, my guess is that the referee got dinged for allowing the Panthers to use the illegal tee. If he had been in the proper position, he would have been able to see that the tee was not legal and he should have directed the kicker or holder to get it off of the field before the play started.

Nice question, Tidehawk. I'll wait a little while to see if anybody gets it right.

HINT: The enforcement is completely illogical.

Jref said:

Nice question, Tidehawk. I'll wait a little while to see if anybody gets it right.

HINT: The enforcement is completely illogical.

Click to expand...

If that's the case, then I have a better guess: The Panthers kicker gets an ice cream cone.

The team does not get the extra point.
The team is not allowed FGs or EPs for rest of season,
The team gets the death penelty the next year.

BAMA1979 said:

Coach is fined $500,000 and they lose a kicker in 2008.

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DT_Armataz_01_37:

Coming late to the fray as I just got back from a business trip:

I believe that the only way to penalize them for this is using the Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty. The problem, that penalty is one that can only be enforced on the next spot of the ball, so you can't make them retry the kick from 15 yards back.

IMO, the PAT counts and the penalty is enforced on the ensuing kickoff. And shame on the official for not noticing the illegal tee before the try...

NYBamaFan, I considered the same analysis that you described. You are correct that an unsportsmanlike foul is penalized from the succeeding spot. That would mean the point counts and the penalty is on the kcikoff. I looked for a way to erase the point and that is how I came up with the illegal kick penalty. That would be a live ball foul and could get us there. I am still not certain, however, that it is the proper call. I have an idea as to what Jref's "illogical" enforcement may be but I will wait to see.

NYBamaFan said:

Coming late to the fray as I just got back from a business trip:

I believe that the only way to penalize them for this is using the Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty. The problem, that penalty is one that can only be enforced on the next spot of the ball, so you can't make them retry the kick from 15 yards back.

IMO, the PAT counts and the penalty is enforced on the ensuing kickoff. And shame on the official for not noticing the illegal tee before the try...

Click to expand...

BINGO!!

The reason I said it is illogical is that we've allowed K to score points using illegal equipment. (NB: This same rule would be used if K were trying a FG.) Imagine what a brouhaha you'd have if that was the tying or go-ahead point(s).

I like bamajake's idea of calling it an illegal kick. IMO, we should negate the point, back 'em up 15 yds, and make them retry with a legal tee.

PS: If you enforce the USC penalty, it is charged to the head coach. If he gets one more during the game, he's history for the night.

As I said before, I agree with the unsportsmanlike conduct analysis. However, I still believe the kick is an illegal kick:

Rule 1-24, Article 9 says: "An illegal kick is any intentional striking of the ball with the knee, lower leg or foot which does not comply with Articles 3 and 4."

Rule 1-24, Article 4 says, "A scrimmage kick is any legal kick from in or behind the neutral zone. Either a place kick, punt, or drop kick may be used. For a place kick, the ball must be controlled on the ground or on a legal tee by a teammate."

When you read these articles, you have an intentional striking of the ball with the foot that does not comply with Article 4. For that reason, I believe that it is an illegal kick.

I think I have come up with the ultimate solution to this mess. If you agree with my analysis that it is an illegal kick, you have a live ball penalty. Penalize the Panthers 15 yards for the illegal kick and replay the down. I.e., take the point off of the board and they can try again. However, that is not all that you have. I agree that the use of the tee is unsportsmanlike conduct against the head coach for the Panthers. Remember, the unsportsmanlike conduct foul did not occur until the time that the illegal equipment was used. It is also a live ball foul. Normally, when a team commits two live ball fouls, the other team can only accept one of the penalties. However, if one of the fouls is an unsportsmanlike conduct foul, the other team may accept both penalties. That is to say, take the point off of the board and penalize the Panthers 15 yards for the illegal kick and then add on the 15 yards for the unsportsmanlike conduct foul by the coach. This way, you penalize the players for using the illegal tee and penalize the coach for cheating.

Of course ... if you take this course, you will most likely be adding an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejecting the coach when he has a meltdown after you mark off 30 yards and take the point away. That'll teach the coach not to come on my field and cheat!

Hey, I learned from Jref. What can I say?