Start a new trend

[Heb 12:29]

In light of all of the unsportsmanlike events we have seen lately, I would like to propose an act of sportsmanship by the home coaches of small budget teams (like ours) which rely on home town volunteers to run the chains.

From now on, we will put the chain crew on our sideline for home games if we are using home town fans to run the chains. I realize that it is a pain to try and avoid the chain crew as a coach on the sideline, but is it not more annoying to have a chain crew standing right beside you that are very loyal fans of your opponent? Many times actually cheering your opponent on and occasionally even jeering at your team or making comments to coaches. Has anybody besides me ever wondered if the chain crew goes in at halftime and consults with the opposing coach? Even if none of this goes on, is it not a bad place to put your chain crew? Would it be easier to get volunteers if they get to hang out with their own team on the sideline instead of the opponent?

If you have a paid/impartial crew, then send them to the other side. If they are not impartial, you are asking for trouble. What if the next news story is a chain crew member that gets blindsided or a chain crew member that uses the down box as a weapon against an opposing coach or player? Hopefully these are far fetched thoughts, but a little sportsmanlike consideration from the start could go a long way to prevent this kind of stuff.

Who is willing to show some sportsmanship to the other team and start this as a new trend?

 

[Blue Bird]

Any visiting Coach can have the officials replace anyone on the chain crew at any time during the game. He can even request that one of his fans be on the chain crew before the game starts. This may not win him any popularity contests as the visiting Coach, but he has that power. Presuming you have a press box, you will put everyone in the press box at a disadvantage on seeing down and distance. This would include anyone with headphones giving those kind of helpful details to the the HC.

What you have suggested would be fine as long as everyone you play is willing to do the same thing. Any teams that are not willing to do this on a two year home and home basis, you have in effect given away part of your home field advantage.

Personally, I don't see the need for doing this. If you have problem with your own chain crew not acting pretty much imparial, maybe you should see about replacing them. As an act of sportsmanship, of course.

 

[Heb 12:29]

Thanks for the reply Blue Bird, I had not considered some of your points about the press box, and coaches with head phones in it. Probably because we have only 2 coaches, no press box at most games, no money for head phones, hence why I mentioned low budget. Those that can afford 4-5 coaches, a nice press box, and head phones on those coaches, should be able to afford to hire an impartial chain crew, they just do not for the most part. I do not see the huge advantage of the chains being on the other side of the field if you are in a press box as much of home field advantage, but everyone is entitled to his opinion.

As far as our chain crew, I do coach them on proper manner and sportsmanship as I do my players. I just thought I would throw this out there for those that are willing to demonstrate good will toward their opponent instead of the trash talking from fans(chain crews) and players that seems to be either tolerated or encouraged as being "part of the game," as I have heard some coaches say.

Obviously I am not going to change the opinions of those that do not see unsportsmanlike behavior as a problem. Only God can do that.

 

[tobyvann]

As a chain gang person my crew volunteers and has since our school started having football. It is hard to have to listen to some comments on the visitors side especially if you're loosing. The hardest is when coaches are in the way and give you the I don't care look. Most of the teams so far this year their coaches can be as much as 5 yards on the field at the snap of the ball. I take care of the box and had a coach complain to me after he stepped into the stick as I ran down the field but it was not intended and I shout to look out as I go. I understand they get into the game and loose track of where they're at. Heck I volunteer just to be closer to the action instead of 20 yds away. I'm cool with either side. 11 man big schools hire crews and run both sides of the field.

 

[Heb 12:29]

Good to hear the perspective of one of the "chain gang." We appreciate all those that volunteer for the job, and I am sorry that we coaches do frequently get in the way. There would probably be a little more cordiality and forgiveness between crew and coach if the chain crew were pulling(pun intended) for the same team as the coach. This just makes another big point for my case.

 

[Priceless]

In light of all of the unsportsmanlike events we have seen lately, I would like to propose an act of sportsmanship by the home coaches of small budget teams (like ours) which rely on home town volunteers to run the chains.

From now on, we will put the chain crew on our sideline for home games if we are using home town fans to run the chains. I realize that it is a pain to try and avoid the chain crew as a coach on the sideline, but is it not more annoying to have a chain crew standing right beside you that are very loyal fans of your opponent? Many times actually cheering your opponent on and occasionally even jeering at your team or making comments to coaches. Has anybody besides me ever wondered if the chain crew goes in at halftime and consults with the opposing coach? Even if none of this goes on, is it not a bad place to put your chain crew? Would it be easier to get volunteers if they get to hang out with their own team on the sideline instead of the opponent?

If you have a paid/impartial crew, then send them to the other side. If they are not impartial, you are asking for trouble. What if the next news story is a chain crew member that gets blindsided or a chain crew member that uses the down box as a weapon against an opposing coach or player? Hopefully these are far fetched thoughts, but a little sportsmanlike consideration from the start could go a long way to prevent this kind of stuff.

Who is willing to show some sportsmanship to the other team and start this as a new trend?

This is a good idea in theory, but sounds like an over reaction to a few incidents. A problem I see with this is that the last thing a coach wants in my opinion is for every time his player comes to the sideline you have a "daddy" telling his son how he is supposed to be doing it, also we all know that every town has an "arm chair quarterback" and the last thing you need is him and the daddy running the chains.

Another problem is that it is against the NCAA rule book to move the chains to the home side of the field, unless you want the visitors to be on the press box side of the field.
Rule 1 / The Game, Field, Players and Equipment ARTICLE 7.
"The official line-to-gain (yardage chain) and down indicators shall be operated approximately six feet outside the sideline except in stadiums where the total playing enclosure does not permit. These must be operated on the side of the field opposite the press box"

 

[smokeyjoe53]

...........and that settles that...........

 

[Heb 12:29]

You learn something new every day. I did not realize you had to have a press box in order to play football. Most of the fields we play on do not have a press box, so I guess we are not legally playing football according to the NCAA. Oh well, since we do not have a press box I guess we can do whatever we want since we cannot follow the NCAA rules.

 

[Priceless]

You learn something new every day. I did not realize you had to have a press box in order to play football. Most of the fields we play on do not have a press box, so I guess we are not legally playing football according to the NCAA. Oh well, since we do not have a press box I guess we can do whatever we want since we cannot follow the NCAA rules.

I am going to assume that your a private school coach since you don't have a real field with a press box. However don't you private school people do whatever you want anyways? I mean yall don't have to follow any UIL guidelines, you can openly recruit, you don't play with sanctioned TASO officals, and then you have a playoff system with 9 schools and at least 1 of them is going to be named Saint Mary School for the rich unathletic mommas boys so that a win for sure. So I guess what I am saying in the end is that you are 100% right you can do whatever you want because you don't have a press box so the rules of football don't apply to you.

 

[smokeyjoe53]

Ouch............

 

[Cochabol]

Recruiting is a banned practice in TAPPS. However, similar to public schools it sometimes happens and teams get away with it. With the current state of affairs in public and private school football, perhaps you shouldn't sound so high and mighty. As an aside, rich isn't a bad thing. I'm willing to wager that you would like to try it. I hope that your boy has a more respectful mother.

 

[Heb 12:29]

Ouch is right. I guess I touched a nerve. When I said "I guess we can do whatever we want" I was speaking in regards to the topic of this thread. That we can show concern for our fellow man by having the chain crew on our side of the field so as not to inconvenience our opponent or our chain crew with a potentially hostile environment. And if Priceless or his team happens to be my opponent, I sense there are some pent up hostilities.

To set the record straight, we are a home school team, probably far worse in some minds than even those "rich" private school kids. We are not bound by UIL rules because we are excluded by UIL and TAPPS. We do follow UIL rules as best we can, because those pesky TASO officials we use require us to sign a form each game saying our players are equipped according to UIL guidelines. We do not recruit, because we do not have anything to offer like all of those perks that tax payer money can buy such as nice press boxes and highly recruited and paid coaching staffs( I have nothing against you coaches, just pointing out that recruiting may not go on with athletes but winning coaches are highly recruited and rightly so). I would love to have more than 9 teams in our playoff system so we would not have to travel 500 miles to a first round playoff game,(which we pay for out of our own pocket) but again, when the "big boys" won't let us play, we do not have much choice if we want to play this great game of six man football.

I would love to be able to mend the fences and we all be one big happy six man football family, but until someone with a better plan than I have (chain crew on the home field side), comes up with something, I guess we will just be content with being the step child.

 

[freeagent]

Being in small school, private school 6-man, the option of paying a chain crew is sometimes just not feasible. I think the first year or two, I actually paid a clock operator and that was because we weren't smart enough to figure out the timing rules.

But for playoffs, I used to have a pretty good system. I would suggest that both teams provide 2 persons (adults) to be part of the chain crew. When the four people arrived, they could determine who would have what task. The extra guy could either do the clip on the chains or go back in the stands. Either way, you had folks from both schools on the chain crew.

 

[Priceless]

Recruiting is a banned practice in TAPPS. However, similar to public schools it sometimes happens and teams get away with it. With the current state of affairs in public and private school football, perhaps you shouldn't sound so high and mighty. As an aside, rich isn't a bad thing. I'm willing to wager that you would like to try it. I hope that your boy has a more respectful mother.

I'm assuming that since you joined a week ago Cochabol that you wrote this post on the new phone that your mother bought you? Also I was not being disrespectful at first because I merely telling people my opinion and noted that under NCAA rules that this idea was illegal. I became disrespectful when I was disrespected first. Kinda like your parents feel when you wake up and they notice that your 25 and still living at home.

 

[Heb 12:29]

Priceless, After looking at my response to your post about the NCAA rule, I can see how it might be seen as disrespectful and I apologize for that. I truly was glad to learn of this rule, hence "you learn something new every day," and not being sarcastic. I now better understand why this is standard practice and see why people with press boxes should adhere to this rule and not my suggestion. I do see the rule as a little presumptuous in assuming all teams will have the money for press boxes and nice stadiums. So if there is no press box how do you actually adhere to this rule? I would assume most people do not even know this is a rule and just assume it is traditional to put the chains on the visitors side. I will definitely respect this rule when we play as the home team in a field that has a press box. Makes me wonder what other rules are out there based on press boxes, concession stands, or restroom facilities(we see a lot of port-o-potties at our games).

 

[rainjacktx]

https://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4387 ... tions.aspx

There's a button you can click to download a free pdf version of the 2015 NCAA football rules and interpretations. Might be worth the trouble. I don't think there is any mention of concession stands or crappers.

 

[51eleven]

...........and that settles that...........

Ha! This thread reminds me of Jr High in the metromess. No press box, bathrooms were in the locker room or gym. Now day's I know Stephenville Jr High has a nice looking big press box, concession stand and restrooms. But they have no HS stadium as they play on the Tarleton field. I guess it's all Art Briles fault.