Alvarez wasn't directly invloved in a conversation with a ref, as a high school official I would have dropped a flag on his behind for 15!
Not true. There is no rule stating such. Haden's fine from the conference is for the "conduct" and "behavior", not a violation of rules.
Yes and no. If you remember, USC took it up the ass for violations in part, due to poor compliance enforcement. Pardon me if USC is a little bit careful in that regard. Furthermore it is a rule violation for direct text/fax communication between the field and the press box during the game. The only "legal" way for Sark to engage Haden's assistance was via the compliance person. There is no penalty involved in the case of violating this rule....the NCAA says "It's an administration management thing. Technically it's not allowed, but the spirit of the rule is for coaches or coaching purposes." So now that we all know that some rules are about the "spirit" of the rule, why can't we discuss what started this whole thing to begin with? The Trojans had just been hit with 35 yards in penalties on three straight plays, with Sarkisian getting whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct and star linebacker Hayes Pullard getting ejected for targeting the head of Stanford’s Ty Montgomery on a punt return. Sarkisian was flagged for standing in the white during a play. A strict violation, yes. But during a field goal? So effing stupid. Who gets flagged for standing in the white during a field goal? And when he asked for clarification (because it was obviously stupid) he got hit with an additional 15 yards. So Stanford picked up 20 yards on the ensuing kickoff. No fix.....right.
It is what Scott referred to as a "clear violation of our Conference’s Standards of Conduct policy." I was referencing the concept that Haden's being on the field and arguing the call was a violation of NCAA rules. But again, both Sark and Haden have apologized, kissed scott's arse, paid the fine, and Haden self-imposed a 2-game suspension. An overreaction has been met with overreaction.
I'm not aware of a rule Haden broke. But what's going to happen the next time Sark needs his diaper changed, or his blankey fixed?
The referees will only take so much shit from a coach before they send him a message. It happens all the time. Sarkisian may have been trying to get ejected. We've seen that before with coaches, too. Nick blisters the SEC referees, openly screaming at them during a game. It made me cringe when he coached here, You can imagine how popular that makes him with the refs and sometimes Alabama pays for it. Most coaches will angrily challenge a call but they had better make their point and then drop it or they will get flagged for standing on the line or anything else, no matter how trivial. Les has protested many a call, but he's more respectful about it than Nick. And I am often amused to see Les chatting up a ref during breaks in the action. He tries to be likable to them and it pays off in few trivial penalties. I don't think that Les has ever been flagged personally.
