Whistle Blowing WheatWhackers

What a deal - some idiot amusing himself blows a whistle AND a TD for us....why is there no penalty for the hometeam in this instance? Oh well, we'll give them that one, didn't need it anyhow.

I will be blowing my whistle everytime Winnipeg huddles in BC Place. It's the new white towel. Not during the play, mind you...I have more class than that. But damn straight they won't be hearing anything before they line up....anyone care to join me??

(This is my first time posting on something like this...hope I did it right??!)

If security catches you, then you’ll probably get the boot.

The officials correctly replayed the down like they are supposed to.

Good thing was, it didn’t effect the outcome of the game.

probably not a good idea, as sporty has already pointed out, but I like the title of the post, WBWW, too funny.

I’m with ya bro, lets make some noise. Piss me off I tell ya. At least it wasn’t a really close game, but still.

If thats the correct call, then this rule needs some looking at. I find this very similar to the NHL rule of home fans littering the ice with debris (Florida Panthers fans throwing plastic rats on the ice after goals, etc…)

The league imposed a rule that penalizes the home team if the fans throw stuff on the ice, which discourages the behavior. If you know your team is gonna get hurt by your actions…you don’t do it.

maybe it should be 15 yds…maybe more/ less, but BC should have had an option to decline since they scored on the play.

my $.02

According to Section 7, Article 6 - "Ball in Play": The ball shall be considered in play until an official stops the game by sounding the whistle". I don't think the officials blew the whistle until AFTER the TD, which would mean the ball was in play and it should've counted. A drunk in the stands can't whistle play down. So the question is did the officials "blow the play down" before or after the TD was scored?....I think it was after (not sure though).

Luckily, as we've stated, it didn't impact the outcome of the game - if it had, I would've been steamed (just like Wally).

Can you direct me to where the rules state "replaying the down"? I was unable to find that. Thanks.

(If this somehow repeats, because I've tried to submit it previously, disregard it)

There is also provision in "Crowd Noise" for penalizing a team if the game is delayed by electronic devices/loudspeakers. Although this refers to before the snap, I definitely think inclusion should be made for things of this nature that occur during (and disrupting) play.

It is a bit of a gray area that needs reviewing/revising.

I would agree with you, Id love to see 17, 000 whistles show up on October 28th, even in the pre-game just to make a point, but I have to agree, the prison happy security of BC Place would probably boot yah from the game.

Might as well show up with a sign saying "Id blow my whislte, but I'm not in inbred from Winnipeg" but I'm sure that would never make it on TSN.

Funny things is Im sure if this happened to the ARGO's on a live TSN game, more would be made of it.

I agree with you on the Argos comment. Ain't it the truth?

They'd have a hard time throwing 17,000 of us out, right? Anyhow, they sell/allow those bloody plastic horns that annoy us all game...are they gonna' throw them out too?

In all honesty, it's done for me. I'd never do anything to disrupt a game, let alone be thrown out of one (hell, I won't even leave before it's over, like many fans did Aug. 4...shame on you - show some appreciation for a great effort from your team).

You have given me an idea, though. For the purpose of letting me "vent", I'll be having a shirt made like this:

BACK: Blow a whistle, blow the game - any way you look at it...

FRONT: BOMBERS BLOW!!!

In orange, of course. Have one made for the 28th. It's the official fanwear of the game. Make it yourself, with permanent marker, if necessary.

The bottom line for me is this...if the play was whistled down after the fake whistle and play was stopped, fine. But the play wasn't stopped, it continued on. Why? Allowing the play to develop/continue indicates it wasn't "whistled down" - the officials can't claim "after the fact" because of some confusion. Clermont wasn't affected by the fake whistle, he made the play. So, can we call off TD's because some idiot created confusion on the field, disrupting the play? I think not. For me it's black and white - either the officials whistled the play down or they didn't. If they didn't, the play stands. If they did, it was a "delay of game" and required a penalty. That's just my thinking on it.

This is what I was looking for...straight out of the rule book:

Article 7: Delay of Game
The game shall not be delayed except by permission of the Referee. Any unauthorized delay shall be subject to penalty.

So why didn't that apply then?

The play was in progress so it can’t be a delay.

There really appears to be no applicable section in the rulebook for this. One option may be Interference by Other Personnel. But, the penalty applies to the team that BENEFITS from the interference. How do you interpret that? In any case, that rule is meant to apply to other personnel (not spectators) on or around the field-of-play. There really needs to be a specific set of rules on spectator interference but you can really imagine how that could in itself by a real problem to define adequately.

There was a caller (or e-mail) to Team 1040 that was from an amateur official that works on the stick crew. He pointed out to Brooke Ward that the officials had no option because the whistle came from a fan. If one of the officials had blown the whistle in error, then there are several options. (Replaying down, taking ball at spot where whistle blew and I think one more.)

I still don't see why the down was replayed when the fan whistle blew after Claremont caught the ball.

The correct call, IMO, would have been to kill the TD, but give the Leos the catch since the confusion didn't occur until after the reception.