Election Day 2004. Please go vote because our country and its future depend on today’s election results.

Unlike the national news media, I will freely admit the occasional mistake I make when discussing game rules. In last week’s column, I stated a crew of high school football officials had probably erred in allowing a team to line up its wingbacks too close to the line of scrimmage because there was no daylight between the wingbacks and the closest interior lineman.

I referred to the NCAA football rule which states, under Rule 2, Section 27, Article 4b (which rule is in &uot;definitions&uot;): &uot;A back is any Team A player (except the snapper) whose head or body does not break the plane of the line drawn through the rear-most part, other than the legs or feet, of the nearest Team A player (except the snapper) on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.&uot;

A reader called to my attention that the high school rule apparently differs from the NCAA rule as the back must remain behind the numbers of the offensive linemen rather than behind everything but his legs or feet as in the college rule.

College rules require a player be either completely in the backfield or completely on the line of scrimmage. Occasionally in a college game you will see a back or backs line up too close to the line of scrimmage but not completely on the line, bringing on an official’s call of illegal formation, resulting in a 5-yard penalty.

The infraction usually happens during a punt formation, with the up backs moving up between the guards and center.

I owe my clarification of the high school rule to Frank Bluntson. Frank is a longtime high school football official who attended the Southwest Coaches and Officials Conference in Natchez for many years.

I heard about a call in the Mississippi State-Kentucky game that many, including the announcers, believed the officials missed. Kentucky’s quarterback, scrambling toward the goal line, appeared to have slipped with his knee touching the ground at the State 5.

The officials, after conferring for several seconds, ruled the score would stand. I have no idea if the wing official (linesman or line judge) covering the play might have been screened out or if any other official had a clear view, but if they did, they did not rule the play dead.

Several years ago a Memphis player returning a Tennessee kickoff was allowed to continue running for the winning touchdown after his knee had clearly touched the ground. Apparently none of the officials saw the action as none blew a whistle&045; for whatever reason.

In any case, the loss cost Tennessee a BCS Bowl spot and cost the SEC and its member schools about $12 million, and then-commissioner Roy Kramer punished the whole officiating crew by docking them a couple of game assignments.

Fair? Who is to say.

What I can say is that instant replay, like it or not, is coming quickly to the college game. The Big 10 is experimenting with it, and I have heard few major complaints. Like any sort of system, it depends on the quality of those operating the system.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. Reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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