From: jecorbett4@gmail.com   
      
   I know this is supposed to be about college football, but I can't find a   
   similar   
   newsgroup for pro football and I saw someone else post about the NFL here,   
   so I will say this here too..   
      
   First of all, let me say I'm a Chiefs fan. That said, the offsides call on   
   Toney   
   that negated one of the greatest plays of the year was 100% the right call.   
   I don't blame the official. I blame Toney. The official did his job right.   
   Toney   
   did not. Chiefs nation is saying it was a ticky tack call and that Toney was   
   only a few inches offsides. No, he wasn't. He was at least two feet offside.   
   A lot fans don't realize there are actually two lines of scrimmage, on for   
   offense, and one for the defense. The O-line of scrimmage runs through the   
   back point of the ball and the D-line of scrimmage runs through the front   
   point of the ball. The area between those two lines is what is called the   
   neutral zone. Technically, only the center is allowed to be in the neutral zone   
   at the snap because he has to put his hands on the ball. From what I have   
   observed, officials don't flag wideouts for putting a foot in the neutral zone   
   and if a D-lineman has his head in the neutral zone, those fouls will   
   generally get a warning before a flag is thrown. It's when a player lines up   
   on the other team's side of the line of scrimmage a flag will be thrown   
   without warning. If one ignores the blue line CBS superimposed and looks   
   only at the position of the ball and Toney, he was clearly offside. The front   
   of the ball was a foot outside the 49 yard line and Toney's foot was on the   
   49 yard line. A defender in press coverage could have actually put his hands   
   on Toney before the snap without being offside. If that sort of alignment was   
   allowed at any point in the game, it would become chaotic. As much as it   
   hurt the Chiefs, it was the proper call.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)