Hidden Ball Trick - Blatant Cheating

by **byualum** on Tue May 13, 2008 9:26 am

Check out this video from last weekend's CO high school quarterfinal game between Arapahoe and Ft. Collins.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v10234861BSdf82kb

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by **JaMoms** on Tue May 13, 2008 9:50 am

That is for sure blatant cheating, that is pretty brutal. I also know of a way to do the hidden ball trick that is along those lines. The players come together like this video and the one with the ball tosses it up out of his stick and pinches the ball between his wrsit and cuff. Really hard to see the ball and easy to pop in and out to and from the stick with out making it obvious.

by **Zamboni_Driver** on Tue May 13, 2008 9:53 am

Ok. Love the hidden ball trick. This however was cheating. They got away with it.

BUT...

How bad is their man up?? Not only did they have to use a trick play (hidden ball) they had to add the cheat while doing it just to score and they had more men on the field than the other team. Obviously not a talented offense.

by **byualum** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:00 am

Zamboni_Driver wrote:How bad is their man up?? Not only did they have to use a trick play (hidden ball) they had to add the cheat while doing it just to score and they had more men on the field than the other team. Obviously not a talented offense.

Funny...their attack is fantastic. The kid that scored is a DI talent and headed to Denver next fall. All-Americans haven't been announced yet, but I would think at least one of their attackmen will be AA and two of them will be all-state.

They ended up losing the game, 8-6. A lot of people are calling for the coaches job and other sanctions against the school.

by MF on Tue May 13, 2008 10:03 am

The Refs have to catch that one. I understand that you’re in the playoffs against one of the favorites but come on! Did they practice that?

by **byualum** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:10 am

MF wrote:The Refs have to catch that one. I understand that you’re in the playoffs against one of the favorites but come on! Did they practice that?

I know the head official on this game and he said he never saw it. I don't know that it's fair to expect officials to catch that.

The play came off so smoothly that the assumption is that it's been practiced. That's one reason that coach is taking so much heat.

by **StrykerFSU** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:17 am

byualum wrote:A lot of people are calling for the coaches job and other sanctions against the school.

I strongly disapprove of this kind of stuff but if the refs didn't call a penalty then I have a hard time justifying any retroactive punishment. I feel the same way about late hits in the NFL.

If the kid was instructed to cheat, then the coach was clearly wrong and should be reprimanded or perhaps should lose his job if he has a history of poor leadership. But sanctions against the school? That seems a bit much.

by **Ravaging Beast** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:18 am

Did they do anything illegal? Looks like he might have used his hand. If not, that's perfectly fine.

by **Zamboni_Driver** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:28 am

Ravaging Beast wrote:Did they do anything illegal? Looks like he might have used his hand. If not, that's perfectly fine.

He did use his hand and that is where they cheated. The hidden ball trick is not cheating, its just creative (or use to be when the Gaits did it).

And I still stand by it, if the offense is that good, no need for this. The 1 player might be talented, but if the rest had skills or if the coach had a good man-up strategy then they never would need to call this play (that involved using the hand).

by **CATLAX MAN** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:31 am

Even if they missed the ball in the hand, how did they miss the crease violation?

by **byualum** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:33 am

CATLAX MAN wrote:Even if they missed the ball in the hand, how did they miss the crease violation?

Had that same conversation with the lead official...he claims the ball was in the goal while #1 still had both feet on the ground outside the crease. Not sure I buy that one.

by **Beta** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:43 am

byualum wrote:I know the head official on this game and he said he never saw it. I don't know that it's fair to expect officials to catch that.

If refs can catch kids thumbing the ball...I am pretty sure it is relatively expected for them to be able to see a player using his hand to put the ball in his stick.

If I were coaching the other team...I would seriously have lost my mind on the sidelines for the refs missing that.

by **Zamboni_Driver** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:44 am

byualum wrote:
CATLAX MAN wrote:Even if they missed the ball in the hand, how did they miss the crease violation?

Had that same conversation with the lead official...he claims the ball was in the goal while #1 still had both feet on the ground outside the crease. Not sure I buy that one.

Someone check the kid's age and grades. He might be 32 and failing high school - which would add to the level of cheating.

...I'm kidding...just bored waiting around for 4pm...

by **byualum** on Tue May 13, 2008 10:47 am

Beta wrote:If refs can catch kids thumbing the ball...I am pretty sure it is relatively expected for them to be able to see a player using his hand to put the ball in his stick.

If I were coaching the other team...I would seriously have lost my mind on the sidelines for the refs missing that.

Ft. Collins coaching staff missed it to. No one brought it up until later on Saturday when a Ft. Collins parent was going through the video.

According to some FOCO parents over on laxpower (sorry Sonny), a parent showed the video to his son (a player) and the kid said he thought something was going on during the play, but were never sure what happened until they watched the video.

by **Beta** on Tue May 13, 2008 11:09 am

Now....

what if that exact play had instead been a game-winning OT goal in the playoffs and they noticed it until afterwards like so. What would they do then...