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08-11-2006, 11:07 AM
Updated: Aug. 9, 2006, 4:08 PM ET
Preseason clinic tests ACC football officialsBy Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
ATLANTA -- Ten groups of eight men each -- men who supposedly can't see or count -- huddle around conference room tables, helping each other solve one of the most mind-numbing exams they've seen.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0809/ncf_jh_accoff06_275.jpg
Jamie Howell for ESPN.com
Jack Childress reviews the practice exam with a group of officials.The questions are about the rules of football, a sport most of these men have immersed themselves in for the past 15 to 20 years -- some more. Yet the answers still don't come easy. They aren't supposed to. This is the 2006 ACC football officials' clinic exam, a series of 35 head scratchers designed to prepare the conference's 72 varsity and eight supplemental officials for the upcoming 2006 season.
Yet it reads more like something you'd find at a Mensa convention.
Consider question No. 35: "Try on B's 3. B96 intercepts A17's legal forward pass and advances to A's 48 where he is downed. During B96's run, B78 clips A55 on B's 40. A22 was illegally in motion. B63 was offside. Down and distance? Clock?"
Answer: A retry of a point-after attempt on B's 3-yard line.
"I thought I understood the game of football," said ACC umpire Jim Hyson, who played in high school, college and coached as a graduate assistant. "But when I started getting into the rulebook as an official, it was like reading Chinese."
The test is not pass/fail, keep your job/lose your job. In fact, these brain busters never will be graded or even looked at by ACC officiating coordinator Tommy Hunt. Instead, it's just one of the tactics he uses to instigate dialogue between his crews at the ACC's annual preseason clinic.
Each summer, about the time the first national college football poll is released, nearly every conference brings together its officials to make sure everyone is ready for the season. In the ACC, it means lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, dentists, pharmacists, firemen, salesmen, financial advisors and FBI agents -- from as far north as Boston and as far south as Key West -- gathering to discuss everything from intentional grounding to unsportsmanlike conduct.
"Fans think that we pop out of the ground on Saturday afternoon, officiate our game and then go back underground with all the other varmints," said Ted Jackson, a retired ACC official who now works on the conference's instant-replay team. "They have no idea how much work goes into what we do."
In the average ACC game, Hunt said, there are roughly 150 plays. On each play, countless decisions need to be made. Instantly. And with big-money BCS bowl bids on the line, not to mention the livelihood of millionaire coaches and the donations from multi-millionaire boosters, perfection is the only standard by which these men are judged.
Each season, the quest for that lofty goal -- the perfect game -- begins here.
'If you can't run … we have a problem'
Before any critical analysis of rule 3-2-5 (when the ball is free-kicked, the game clock shall be started) can begin, Hunt must ensure his officials are in shape. Or at least injury-free. So as the clock strikes noon on this sticky 95-degree day, he instructs the group of middle-aged men to run four laps around Georgia Tech's Grant Field.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0809/ncf_jh_accoff01_275.jpg
Jamie Howell for ESPN.com
Camp starts with a run to weed out any injured or out of shape officials.The heat and humidity are so exhausting that Hunt, who officiated in the conference for 26 years before becoming coordinator in 1999, watches from a shady spot in the stadium's tunnel.
"If you feel tired, just slow down or stop," Hunt says. "And then come see me because we'll stop something else, too. If you can't run four laps around this field, we have a problem."
Before they show up here, every official has been cleared medically by his physician (eye exam included) to work the upcoming season. Hunt uses the run to make sure no one is hiding injuries and everyone is prepared for the rigors of a noon kickoff at Tallahassee in September.
On this day, everyone finishes the jog without complaint, which shouldn't come as a surprise. These guys are lucky to be here. Each year, Hunt receives about 300 applications from people wanting to work for him. Of those, maybe 50 have the experience and recommendations to be considered.
For this season, of the 300, four new officials were hired. The only time they'll get paid is when they work a game, with the average game check around $1,300, depending on travel expenses.
"It's a long, long road," says field judge Frank Overcash. "I meet a lot of people who want to become an ACC official and then when I ask how old they are they tell me 28. And then I tell them they're too old."
Preseason clinic tests ACC football officialsBy Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
ATLANTA -- Ten groups of eight men each -- men who supposedly can't see or count -- huddle around conference room tables, helping each other solve one of the most mind-numbing exams they've seen.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0809/ncf_jh_accoff06_275.jpg
Jamie Howell for ESPN.com
Jack Childress reviews the practice exam with a group of officials.The questions are about the rules of football, a sport most of these men have immersed themselves in for the past 15 to 20 years -- some more. Yet the answers still don't come easy. They aren't supposed to. This is the 2006 ACC football officials' clinic exam, a series of 35 head scratchers designed to prepare the conference's 72 varsity and eight supplemental officials for the upcoming 2006 season.
Yet it reads more like something you'd find at a Mensa convention.
Consider question No. 35: "Try on B's 3. B96 intercepts A17's legal forward pass and advances to A's 48 where he is downed. During B96's run, B78 clips A55 on B's 40. A22 was illegally in motion. B63 was offside. Down and distance? Clock?"
Answer: A retry of a point-after attempt on B's 3-yard line.
"I thought I understood the game of football," said ACC umpire Jim Hyson, who played in high school, college and coached as a graduate assistant. "But when I started getting into the rulebook as an official, it was like reading Chinese."
The test is not pass/fail, keep your job/lose your job. In fact, these brain busters never will be graded or even looked at by ACC officiating coordinator Tommy Hunt. Instead, it's just one of the tactics he uses to instigate dialogue between his crews at the ACC's annual preseason clinic.
Each summer, about the time the first national college football poll is released, nearly every conference brings together its officials to make sure everyone is ready for the season. In the ACC, it means lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, dentists, pharmacists, firemen, salesmen, financial advisors and FBI agents -- from as far north as Boston and as far south as Key West -- gathering to discuss everything from intentional grounding to unsportsmanlike conduct.
"Fans think that we pop out of the ground on Saturday afternoon, officiate our game and then go back underground with all the other varmints," said Ted Jackson, a retired ACC official who now works on the conference's instant-replay team. "They have no idea how much work goes into what we do."
In the average ACC game, Hunt said, there are roughly 150 plays. On each play, countless decisions need to be made. Instantly. And with big-money BCS bowl bids on the line, not to mention the livelihood of millionaire coaches and the donations from multi-millionaire boosters, perfection is the only standard by which these men are judged.
Each season, the quest for that lofty goal -- the perfect game -- begins here.
'If you can't run … we have a problem'
Before any critical analysis of rule 3-2-5 (when the ball is free-kicked, the game clock shall be started) can begin, Hunt must ensure his officials are in shape. Or at least injury-free. So as the clock strikes noon on this sticky 95-degree day, he instructs the group of middle-aged men to run four laps around Georgia Tech's Grant Field.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0809/ncf_jh_accoff01_275.jpg
Jamie Howell for ESPN.com
Camp starts with a run to weed out any injured or out of shape officials.The heat and humidity are so exhausting that Hunt, who officiated in the conference for 26 years before becoming coordinator in 1999, watches from a shady spot in the stadium's tunnel.
"If you feel tired, just slow down or stop," Hunt says. "And then come see me because we'll stop something else, too. If you can't run four laps around this field, we have a problem."
Before they show up here, every official has been cleared medically by his physician (eye exam included) to work the upcoming season. Hunt uses the run to make sure no one is hiding injuries and everyone is prepared for the rigors of a noon kickoff at Tallahassee in September.
On this day, everyone finishes the jog without complaint, which shouldn't come as a surprise. These guys are lucky to be here. Each year, Hunt receives about 300 applications from people wanting to work for him. Of those, maybe 50 have the experience and recommendations to be considered.
For this season, of the 300, four new officials were hired. The only time they'll get paid is when they work a game, with the average game check around $1,300, depending on travel expenses.
"It's a long, long road," says field judge Frank Overcash. "I meet a lot of people who want to become an ACC official and then when I ask how old they are they tell me 28. And then I tell them they're too old."