Signal
To signal a holding the ball decision, the umpire first blows his whistle. Then, he crosses both arms in front of this stomach with his hands open. He leans forward, and in a smooth motion, simultaneously swings both arms around in front of himself until they are outstretched to his sides.
The action is slow, takes a second or two to signal, and has a certain dramatic aura about it. Cries of "Ball! Yeah!" are amongst the most intense in a game and fans will cheer the holding the ball free kick more boisterously than anything except for a goal, win, or specky.
Read more about this topic: Holding The Ball
Famous quotes containing the word signal:
“Perhaps having built a barricade when you’re sixteen provides you with a sort of safety rail. If you’ve once taken part in building one, even inadvertently, doesn’t its usually latent image reappear like a warning signal whenever you’re tempted to join the police, or support any manifestation of Law and Order?”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“Certainly the effort to remain unchanged, young, when the body gives so impressive a signal of change as the menopause, is gallant; but it is a stupid, self-sacrificial gallantry, better befitting a boy of twenty than a woman of forty-five or fifty. Let the athletes die young and laurel-crowned. Let the soldiers earn the Purple Hearts. Let women die old, white-crowned, with human hearts.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)
“By day thy warning ringing bell to sound its notes,
By night thy silent signal lamps to swing.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)