The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-09-20
FOOTBALL GAME NTELIcENILY
By JIMMY DoNAHUE NEA Service Sports Writer


 Who'll be the busiest man on the grldiron this fall when the pig skin commences its life of kicks and hard knocks? No, Gus, not the tackle; nor will the center, end, quarterback or fullback be toiiing hardest for his daily bread. The busiest in- dividual will be the referee.
 Not only Is 1t the refereo's duty to "have general oversight and control of the game" and "be sole authority for the score, sole judge of forfeitafe," diving into piles of kicking, biting and gcuging football players, but he must make known to the audience just what's wrong when 0 team Is penalized.
 Wig.Wags
 All football referees must have been Boy Scouts in hteir youth, for they have compiled c set of signals that only the initiated can trans- lato. These signals are intended to convey to the befuddled fan tho cause for the various penalties in- hlcted.
 The signs are transmitted in semaphore fashion with the hands, either directly to the fans, or to m assistant on the sldelines who rec lays them to the audience.
 There are 10 signals, which foi- low:
 Placing hands on hips indicates an offslde play, for which q pen- alty of Ave yards is given, provid- Ing only one team was offside. If both teams were offside, no penalty results.
 A military salute by tho referee tells the fan that unnecessary rouRhness was going on down un- der that pile of players. The pen- alty for this ungentlemanly ac- ton is 15 yards.
 By grasping ope wrist with the other hand, the audience, even that giddy co-ed back there in row 10, is supposed to know that the fellow who tried to hold his opponent didn't escape the eagle eye of the referee, and for that action the offenders team has q penalty of five yards coming.
 A sweeping horizontal arc with the right arm conveys the infor- nation that player on the of- fense was illegally in motion, and that the offense will have to start its operations 15 yards back from tho last toe-hold.
 When the master of the field stands out there proudly, arms folded over what is often q well- rounded tummy. he Is telling you that someone used flying block or tackle and Is about to be fined five yards.
 Hands Behind
 Waving of the hands behind the back shows the use of m Illegal forward pass. Penalty for this in- fraction of the rules ranges from loss of down to 15 yards.
 Pushing the arms and hands vertically is tho sign which indi- eatos crawling, pushing or help ing q runner. Now, that isn't al. lowed. and the offender gets five-yard fine.
 Shifting hands horizontally- incomplete pass, missed goal, or play to be replayed.
 Pushing hands and arms from the shoulders shows that interfer- ence with pass has Just been made, or that the pass touched a player. A penalty of 1b yards is levied if the foul is made by tho team making the pass. or. If by the defensive team, the ball goes to the spot where the foul was made.
 When the referee stands out there dramatically with his arms raised above his head, the crowd Isn't cheering him, Gussie, they're cheering for dead old Pa ducah. which has just scored, and tho referee is merely trying to drive home this fact by the uso of that raised hands signal.