Colorado Mammoth Message Board

Mr. Govett,

Obvious mistakes with goal calls in the 'Necks' game and I won't lead you down a road to getting a fine from the NLL for questioning the officiating but ...

What is the ruling on a shot that leaves the stick prior to the buzzer but hits the floor or the back wall or the opposing team prior to entering the goal. In other words when does a shot on goal, taken at the buzzer, become a dead ball and a 'no-goal'? I didn't see the game clock but it seemed to me the one disallowed goal hit the back wall after the buzzer than bounced off the goalie's stick and rolled onto the goal line.

Why was the hit from Prout called - I ask retorically. Can a player not bring up his elbow to the guys chest? It seems like you could lead with your shoulder but then you risk getting a holding call or being drafted into the NFL. I was taught to bring my arm(s) up just like Prout did. How can you make legal hit from the front if not in the manner that Prout did it: On his feet, to the front of the opponent on ball, with his shoulder/elbow and not directly against the wall? Not that I would want to stand there and take it but it looked clean to me.

Congrats to the team for a huge win over a worthy opponent. They never seemed to loose their composure in spite of the adversity they faced.

Last - better keep tabs on your daughter - she looks to have her eye's focused on stealing the stage from you! The interviews were awesome and show the character of the team and organization.

the ball becomes dead after the buzzer same as hockey

As the previous poster correctly pointed out, as soon as the buzzer expires play is whistled dead. The ball must have crossed the goal line entirely prior to the clock running out.

Here is something interesting that some people may not know, the game clock is directly tied to the goal judge's light. As soon as time expires on the game clock the goal judge light will flash green, the mechanism will not allow the goal light to flash red which is the signal for a good goal. The goal judge can flip the switch all they want but if time has expired it will only show green. The referees know this and can reasonably assume without replay that the ball went in after the time expires.

Also the goal in question was extremely difficult to tell if the ball actually, entirely crossed the goal line. It was at least 6 to 8 inches off the ground when the goaltender scooped it out and very much not visible from the front. The only view that would have determined fully if it had crossed the goal line would have been directly above the net and for this game it was not shown.

Either way, this one didn't count.

The Gavin Prout hit was called a minor penalty (2 minutes) for charging. The hit itself was very clean and was in no way high or "dirty". Gavin timed the hit very well and made a great "defensive" play on a ball carrier. Far be it for me to crawl into the mind of a referee in the NLL but I will assume that it was called for what we call in lacrosse, "distance travelled". Gavin took about 4 steps directly at Shawn Cable in an effort to hit him. I am not sure how he is supposed to get to him if he doesn't run at him to hit him but that is not my place to say.

Either way on that one, it fired our team up and served as a great turning point in the momentum of that game. You can bet the hit will be in highlight packages around the league and the Mammoth for many years to come. I found it funny that on the Altitude broadcast it took less than 25 seconds for it to become the hit of the game!!!

As for my daughter she is very talented and certainly not afraid of the spotlight, I am really not sure where she got that from!!

SG