BAFRA Newsflash 02/07

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ISSUE 02/07	15 January 2007

TRAINING DAY FOR NEW RECRUITS AND NEWER OFFICIALS

You should find the Programme for the Training Day attached to this issue of Newsflash. There may be a couple of changes made over the coming week, however they will be fairly minor and probably only to some of the times.

Tea and Coffee will be at 9:30am with the days programme starting at 9:45am. We will finish no later than 4:30pm

Last Call

As the Training Day takes place on the 27th January, this will be the last reminder of the event in Newsflash.

The Training Day will be held at The Coventry Hill Hotel, Rye Hill, Birmingham Road, Allesley, Coventry CV5 9PH, on Saturday 27th January 2007. This is the same venue we held the 2006 BAFRA Convention.
Hotel Website - Location Map

Registration: Just a note to remind everyone, if you intend coming along to the above event, please register by sending me an email at training@bafra.org

Davie Parsons
training@bafra.org

EDITORIAL

I'm bored! Not only that, the weight I put on at Christmas is still there despite watching what I eat - I need to do a game. I'm so bored I've been browsing the web reading about football.

I came across a discussion on hurdling on one of the chat sites. I have never seen hurdling - mind you some coaches say I never see any foul - although I had an umpire once call it. According to the NCAA rule book, the definition of hurdling is: Hurdling is an attempt by a player to jump with one or both feet or knees foremost over an opponent who is still on his feet (Exception: The runner) (Rule 9-1-2-i).

Here are some plays from youtube.com. Which of these are legal and which are illegal, if any?

Would anyone care to hazard a guess as to the signal for hurdling?"

Roger Stangroom
newsflash@bafra.org

GAME ASSIGNMENTS

Please see the website (http://www.bafra.org/members/assign/index.htm) for assignments for weeks 7 and 8.

I'm still waiting for one or two people to submit their availability forms before scheduling week 9 & 10. If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes to complete the form now on http://www.bafra.org/members/paperwork/availability.htm. If you are having difficulty accessing the members' area of the website, please contact Roger at secretary@bafra.org. If you prefer to fill in the Excel version of the availability form, please contact me at operations@bafra.org and I'll send it to you...

There are only a few games on week 7 but if you haven't been assigned to a game on week 8 and you are available, please let me know.

Pete Thom
operations@bafra.org

COMPETITIVE NFL IN LONDON

London will be the venue for the first competitive NFL game ever to be played outside North America, the National Football League announced today

The NFL will stage the first in its new series of international regular season games in the UK’s capital city in the fall of 2007. NFL owners voted in October to play up to two games outside the United States every year for the next five years, with the series kicking off with a single game in 2007.

"There is great interest in the NFL around the world," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "Playing a limited number of regular-season games outside the United States is the next step for us in serving that interest. This is what our international fans, media partners, and sponsors want. There is no better place to begin this initiative than London. It is one of the great cities of the world with an established and growing fan base for our game. We are thrilled to bring the excitement of the NFL regular season to the United Kingdom."

London’s effort to secure the game has been backed by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who visited Commissioner Goodell in New York to state the city’s case for staging an NFL game. He said: "London is proud to host the first ever competitive NFL game held outside the American continent. There are many NFL fans in London – both American and non-American – and this will be a spectacular sporting occasion.

"After its success in winning the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games we want to bring to Londoners the greatest of non-Olympic sports. Bringing the NFL to London, after also winning the right to stage the start of the Tour de France this year, is a great step forward in this.

"The Super Bowl is followed by almost five million people in the UK. Hosting an NFL game in London will bring more than 10,000 international visitors to the city. London will be working with the NFL to build on this success to ensure that Londoners, NFL fans, international visitors, and the tens of millions who will watch the game on television have a great day of sport and a thrilling experience of London."

The NFL recently concluded its 2006 regular season, with average attendance reaching a record 67,738 and more than 97 per cent of games sold out. The current playoffs will conclude on February 4 with Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, where more details about the London game are expected to be confirmed – including the participating teams – at the Commissioner’s traditional press conference on Friday, February 2.

Alistair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, explained: "This is tremendously exciting news for the sport of American football in this country. It is a chance for our fans to see, in their backyard, for the first time a game that counts in the race to the Super Bowl, and an opportunity to show the excitement and passion of the NFL to a whole new audience.

"We aim to create an event that will capture the imagination of the sporting public, establish the NFL more firmly in the structure of UK sport and accelerate the growth of our game and fan base. Our goal is to create a smooth and enjoyable experience for the participating teams and deliver a memorable event that will persuade the NFL that this is the first of many regular-season games played here.

"For London to be awarded this game is a great achievement for everyone connected with the sport here – fans, viewers, those involved in the grassroots of the game and, most especially, all of those people, such as the Mayor and Visit London, who have supported the efforts to bring the NFL to the UK."

London was selected based upon several factors, including general fan interest, current NFL visibility through existing media agreements, the range and quality of large, world-class stadia, including Wembley and Twickenham, the size and value of the overall sports and entertainment market and the potential to build year-round marketing, sponsorship and fan engagement.

Upon approval of the resolution to stage international regular-season games, the league identified four priority markets where the initiative was feasible from a logistical and broadcast perspective – the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Mexico, eliminating China and Japan. Toronto, Canada will host the Canadian Football League’s championship game in 2007, the Grey Cup, so the NFL eliminated it from consideration.

The NFL received interest from various venues in Germany in hosting an NFL regular-season game and having now selected London as the host city for 2007, the league will now focus on detailed stadium proposals in order to select the venue during Super Bowl week in South Florida next month.

The NFL staged its first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005 when 103,467 people saw the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City – the largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.

Jim Briggs
president@bafra.org

ROGER'S RHETORIC

Ruling: A's ball, 3rd and 18, on A's 45. The clock starts on the ready for play. A54 commits offensive pass interference when he drives B94 more than three yards beyond the neutral zone and is still in contact with B94 when the pass is thrown. A reported recent interpretation change appears to indicate that the foul is simply an ineligible receiver downfield if contact is lost before the pass is thrown. A54 does not commit an illegal touching foul since he did not intentionally touch the ball. The down ends with Team A in possession on B's 26. Team B will accept the 15-yard penalty that does not carry a loss of down. COMMENT: None. (CCA00112)

From last week	Play: A's ball, 3rd and 3, on B's 40. At the snap, A54 blocks B94 and drives him to B's 32, loses contact after the pass is thrown and remains stationary. QB A18's legal forward pass bounces off A54's shoulder on B's 32 and is caught by A83 while grounded on B's 26.
New this week	First extra period. The team that first puts the ball in play fails to score on the first series. Team A becomes Team B on the ready for play to start the second series. On the first down of the second series, B48 recovers a fumble on B's 4 and retreats into B's end zone (no momentum). B48 then advances to B's 24 where he is downed. B76 clips in B's end zone during B48's run. Ruling?