On a related note, one of my pet peeves in terms of officiating is the fact that spearing seems not to be called much these days. I usually see several incidents of spearing in every game I go to that are not called.
From the NCAA rulebook:
SECTION 24. Spearing
ARTICLE 1. Spearing is the use of the helmet (including the face mask) in
an attempt to punish an opponent.
The only "helmet penalty" that seems to be called these days is helmet-to-helmet contact. Spearing is much broader than that and used to be interpreted as any helmet-first contact with another player. Contrary to what you might think spearing was originally made a penalty to protect the spearer more than the spearee. Leading with your helmet can, and has, caused broken necks and paralysis. We need to make any helmet-first contact a point of emphasis, not just helmet-to-helmet contact. If we don't do it now, we'll do it after some poor soul becomes a paraplegic as a result of spearing another player. I hope we can be proactive!
Last Edited: 1/23/2013 9:48:40 PM by OhioCatFan