Officials do not like one-sided games.

I guess if we had our choice, all games — all sports would be close enough to make it interesting but not so close that one missed call would cost a team the game.

First, (and it shouldn’t happen, but it does) officials tend to relax in a one-sided game and get a bit casual. It is not fair to the players or the fans. Calls get missed and that just adds to the problems. Second, one-sided games often have the team that is way behind lose their tempers and cause issues. The adoption of “mercy rules” by the MHSAA years ago has done much to alleviate the problems.

Incidentally, in Texas softball, they call it a “run rule.” I think that is kinder than “mercy rule.”

In football, you have an additional problem. The weaker team might take some cheap shots causing issues. Often, too, the poorer team is physically weaker and can take a beating causing injuries. Nobody wins in a one-sided football game. Even the good team learns nothing from playing the weak team. Certainly, the officials don’t win either.

Here is a “mercy rule” game that had an interesting twist.

It was JV football. The home team was really weak and the visitors were quite good. Now the mercy rule in football doesn’t start until the second half. Then, when a team is ahead by 35 points, the game clock only stops for TIPS: Time outs, Injuries, Penalties, and Scores. It was near the end of the first half. The “good” team is about to score a touchdown and go ahead by over 35 points which would mean the second half would start with the running clock;

They ran a play with a pitchout to a halfback and the pitch was wild and didn’t come close to the back. A defensive player picked up the loose ball and ran about 75 yards for a touchdown. The second half started with the good team getting the ball and immediately scoring. Now they were, again, a few points short of 35. They quickly stopped the ensuing series and are about to score again and start the running clock. Amazingly, we have another wild pitch out allowing the losing team to recover the ball.

Three downs later they punt the ball back and the winning team starts to drive toward another score that will start the running clock. They neared the end zone and guess what??? Another wild pitch out, this time the offense did recover it. I was the referee. I called time out, went to the captain of the “good” team, and said, “I know those were intentional wild pitchouts. Your team is making a joke of this game. If I see one more wild pitch out, I am stopping the game and forfeiting it to your opponents.”

Of course, I had no authority to forfeit the game on those grounds, but the captain had no clue. Three plays later they scored a touchdown, and we had a running clock for the remainder of the game. Sometimes officials need to be creative.

Changing gears….Did I ever lose my composure in a football game? Yes. I need to set the stage. It was a series of events that caused it.

We arrived as a crew to find no school personnel to greet us and show us where to change. We ended up finding an open room, the custodial break room. No lockers, no shower, just a dirty room with a table and some chairs. During the first half of the game, I was on the home sideline and getting a lot of verbal abuse from the coaches (the visiting team was putting a pretty good beating on them). We went into our “dressing room” at halftime and found the custodians on break eating lunch and smoking cigarettes. We went out into the hall to find another spot and there were the home coaches. We explained our situation and while the head coach was finding another room for us, several of the assistant coaches were continuing with the snide comments about us playing favorites and the like. So, I was not really a happy camper when we started the second half.

In the second half, the home team continued to get dominated and the abuse of the officials at my back did not stop. I don’t remember the call — or the words I heard — but I lost it. I threw my flag and called a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the coaching staff. Now one of the assistant coaches was a fellow baseball umpire and sometimes an umpiring partner. As I was calling the penalty, he came running up to me and said, “I didn’t say it, Les, you know I wouldn’t do that.”

In retrospect, I probably should have just issued a “sideline warning” which doesn’t involve a yardage penalty. But, as I said, I lost my composure. I seldom allowed coaches and fans to get into my head, but they did on this occasion.