It is sad that I have to write this. I have been a part of this league since just about the beginning, the last 9 as an official.

There has been an increasing number of incidents with players not being able to control themselves. It was not like this 10 years ago when I was a player. We played hard without cheap shots and we would shake hands after the game. It was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday (drinking beer with friends afterwards was the best part). We all went to work the next day, sore, but satisfied that we were doing what we wanted to do. None of us has made it to the NFL. None of us thought we were going to. All this has changed, and not for the better.

As many of you have found out this past weekend, I have issued a directive to all the officials to adopt a "zero tolerance" stance when dealing with players who continue to act unsportsmanlike. Yes, we get paid to be there. However, we are not there for you to yell or swear at. We are there to officiate the game as best we can to keep the games as fair as possible. Believe it or not, we really could care less who wins and we do not keep score of how many penalties each team has. If you don't want a flag, don't break a rule. Pretty simple.

Rarely do we affect the outcome of a game....YOU DO, by your actions on the field. If you ask us to look at something, we will. There are 3 reasons why we MAY not throw a flag: 1. We didn't think the action affected the play and/or warranted a flag. 2. We didn't see the whole play; we don't guess. 3. We simply didn't see it. There are a lot of guys we have to watch and we WILL miss some things. College and NFL games have 7 officials on the field, and STILL have replay. We don't have that luxury.

So, to the 10% who continue to ruin this league: there are no more warnings, this is your warning. You WILL be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct if you continue to be unable to control yourself. We will continue to eject and suspend you until you either figure it out or end up being thrown out of the league. Period.

This is NOT a debate and I will not respond to any posts on here. If you have a legit question concerning the rules, I will, of course, answer you. I apologize to the 90% of the league who continue to act like men and play this game like it should be. You should not have to be concerned with this non-sense.

Stay healthy and good luck next week and through the play-offs.

Eric

i would like to say thank you to all the refs...i know i give them more **** then most people but never disgrace the league..people of the cdffl who have not been to a boston or long island tournament really dont understand just how good these terrible refs are...eric and greg are by far the worst ones but even they are decent haha...nah but as most people of this league will tell you they know these refs do an overall great job...are there some bad calls of course but how many times do i get blocked as a dlineman or miss a flag...it never comes down to the ref and anyone who thinks so should have played harder....except greg during that discipio tourney that was terrible hahaha jkjk thanks to all again have a great day!!!

Sadly it's more than 10% of the league. Although I can't really speak of the A division. I started playing in 97 and decided to stop this year because of the class of some of the players now. They wrap their whole life around this like it's the NFL. Every week there are fights,cheapshots,yelling at refs and fighting with your own team. It has gotten to the point where you can't bring your wife and kids to the game because of the nasty mouths of people and the fighting that goes on. A word to the wise. This is not the NFL. If you want to play there then go try out. The funny thing is that the ones that cause the trouble are some of the worst football players on the field and 7-8 years ago you wouldn't have been on the kickoff team on any team in the league. Just my 2 cents.

bump

just be glad we arent in long island i watched refs down there get manhandled for making calls or making bad calls

vin, i wouldn't call those guys in long island refs, more like warm bodies. To anyone who hasn't played in long island be glad we have the refs we have. Our refs are great compared to those clowns, and all the refs i've had over the years know all the rules. On a more serious note, am i the only one who has read this thread and can't beleive eric played in this league? lmao
Hayo

Actually Eric was pretty decent can't remember I think he played cb/lb on defence in the Troy C on all sports w/Pete Soroka & Co. I played with them for a few seasons.

As far as the other stuff goes I've been in the league now since '95' and I think back when I first started it seemed like more teams had 1 coach and now teams seem to have three or four guys that play coach which creates conflics accross the board. I think the league should look into forcing teams to have a non player coach on a team even if they're not there to give football advice but there as a mediator to keep players from blowing oof the handle. I know myself I've been on both types of teams w/w out coaches and it definatly seems to make a dif. I think Parrot from the Cheifs & Not sure of his name but the coach of the Soldiers are very respectable non player coaches. Most of the A teams as well seem to have players who are much older and have been playing together for a while now and can handle those types of situations better Cannoneers, Mean Machine to name a few. Let's just all try and make a conscious effort to make this league a family affair again!!! I know I haven't always been the best role model myself but let's get it done by looking at our own actions first. Looking forward to game time on Sunday let's make it a good week no bull!!!


WR #1

Delorey's