The line judge watched the hit, threw the flag and took off chasing the play all the way to the end zone.
He knew when he returned to the sideline he would have some explaining to do. He had just determined a hit on a defenseless player -- the kind of thumping that used be celebrated – negated what ended up being a punt return for a touchdown.
“No!” “That was a good hit.” “What?!!”
Those were some of the nicer things screamed on the sideline directly behind the official who had made the call.
“Oh yeah,” the man in the black pants and striped shirt wearing a pink whistle on a pink string around his neck said at halftime of Madison’s 53-7 victory over Pt.