Back to the main series of this blog. Let's go back once again (last time, I promise) to Super Bowl XL. This play is 4 plays into a promising Seattle drive in the first quarter with the score still 0-0. Matt Hasselbeck drops back to pass, rolls around to buy more time, then launches a pass down the deep middle of the field for #1 target Darrell Jackson. Jackson makes the catch in the end zone, seemingly giving Seattle a 6-0 lead, pending the PAT.
But then the referees would make their first large stamp on this game.
Jackson was called for offensive pass interference, which is traditionally called once every 3 years (unless the receiver is Plaxico Burress or Randy Moss). I have included a very brief clip of the play below:
Yeah, I wasn't kidding about the brief part. Anyway, I acknowledge that Jackson did push off and he did extend his arm, which is a red flag for the officials. However, I still have 2 major problems with this play:
1) As Jackson is moving around towards the end of this play, the Steeler defensive back is all over him, grabbing him and jostling him. This is normally an automatic illegal contact penalty, but because Hasselbeck left the pocket during his scarmbling around before the throw, the DB cannot be called for illegal contact. But, just because that jostling isn't illegal in that setting, doesn't mean he should be allowed to grab Jackson without Jackson being allowed to try and shed the DB. I also believe that the Steeler DB is still grabbing Jackson after the pass has left Hasselbeck's hand, which means it's defensive pass interference at that point. Unfortunately, there's no camera angle to show this.
2) If this is offensive pass interference, you are compelled to call the more egregious examples of offensive pass interference over the rest of the game. Number of other OPI calls over the rest of the game? 0. Curious. Especially when you consider at least once Hines Ward fully extended his arm and pushed off of Seattle cornerback Kelly Herndon's face mask to get open later in the game, but this was not called. If you're going to set the precedent, then you have to follow it. This is too big of a game to try and make a bigger statement. Call it both ways, or let the players dictate the outcome of the game.
Seattle would subsequently face 1st and 20 at the Steeler 26, and turn that into a field goal, instead of a touchdown.
Anti-Quality of call: (4/10 at first, 10/10 once I realized they weren't actually going to call this ever again)
Effect on game situation: 5/10
Effect on my mood: 9/10
And now please excuse me while I go take a shower to wash off the filth of watching all of those highlights.
Showing posts with label Bad Calls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad Calls. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Criticism gets to MLB, Shift in Umpiring Assignments for World Series
Apparently, the bad press the umpires have generated for MLB has actually gotten a response.
From espn.com:
and
So, in the end, baseball does a good thing, but for entirely the wrong reasons.
This is at least the third year that I have heard references made to the fact that CB Bucknor is one of the least respected umpires in MLB. He then proceded to blow 2 calls at first base in the first game of the Angels-Red Sox series. Taking Bucknnor out of a World Series assignment is the right thing to do.
However, it's not the right thing to do because Bucknor is inexperienced. It's the right thing to do because he's not a good umpire. And this is MLB's problem. It categorizes umpires as experienced or inexperienced, instead of good or bad.
Other leagues give championship game assignments based on merit. They grade officials and give the ones with the highest marks postseason games. Not MLB. They give out these assignments based on experience instead of merit.
Is it really a shock that all of these calls are being blown in the playoffs, when all that matters to MLB is how much experience an umpire has?
From espn.com:
Stung by a rash of blown calls in the playoffs, Major League Baseball is breaking tradition and sticking with only experienced umpires for the World Series.
and
CB Bucknor was in line to work the World Series for the first time this year. But he missed two calls in Game 1 of the division series between the Red Sox and Angels, damaging his chance to get picked, one of the three people said.
So, in the end, baseball does a good thing, but for entirely the wrong reasons.
This is at least the third year that I have heard references made to the fact that CB Bucknor is one of the least respected umpires in MLB. He then proceded to blow 2 calls at first base in the first game of the Angels-Red Sox series. Taking Bucknnor out of a World Series assignment is the right thing to do.
However, it's not the right thing to do because Bucknor is inexperienced. It's the right thing to do because he's not a good umpire. And this is MLB's problem. It categorizes umpires as experienced or inexperienced, instead of good or bad.
Other leagues give championship game assignments based on merit. They grade officials and give the ones with the highest marks postseason games. Not MLB. They give out these assignments based on experience instead of merit.
Is it really a shock that all of these calls are being blown in the playoffs, when all that matters to MLB is how much experience an umpire has?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Bad calls of the weekend: BC-FSU
Maybe I'll tackle week 4 of the NFL season at some point, but right now, all I've got is, the Seahawks got blasted, the Broncos (Seattle has their 1st round pick in 2010) improved to 4-0 (thanks Tony Romo), and Pittsburgh is currently winning 7-0. I hate my NFL fan life.
Instead, I'd rather talk about a couple of atrocious calls I witnessed during yesterday's college football action. The first such call happened during the Florida State vs Boston College game and came early in the 4th quarter.
BC had jumped out to a surprising 21-3 lead in the first half, but Florida State had chipped away at this lead, getting back to 21-13 at the start of the 4th quarter. BC drove out to their own 37 yard line, where they faced 3rd and 1.
This snapshot gives you a good idea of just how far they have to go to get the first down at the start of the play (the yellow line signifying the first down).
BC (wisely, given the distance needed) calls for a QB sneak to try and get the first down. Their QB takes the snap, the line gets good push, and he pushes his way forward to about half a yard beyond the first down marker. But, don't take my word for it, see for yourself. I took the liberty of circling BC QB Dave Shinskie.
Then, the defense does what defenses always do in this situation: they stop his momentum and then push him backwards as far as they can, hoping to influence the official spot of the ball. Thanks to the general pile up of bodies, the FSU defense manages to shove Dave Shinskie back behind the first down marker, as seen below (again, Shinskie is circled).
Now comes the interesting part. One of the linesman on the officiating crew runs in at the spot where Shinskie's forward progress was stopped. By rule, this is where the ball should be spotted. Notice how the circled linesman runs in ahead of the yellow first down line.
Now, it's true that the yellow line isn't official (it's put there by ABC, who's broadcasting the game) but at this stage of the yellow line's development, you will never see a ball spotted entirely past the yellow line that is not actually a first down.
Okay, so 1 linesman believes the ball shouls be spotted ahead of the first down marker. Maybe the other linesman had a better view, and maybe he has money on FSU, and he believes the ball should be spotted behind the marker.
Hmmm, this doesn't seem to be the case. The circled linesman in the image above clearly believes Shinskie reached a good half yard further than the first down marker (as displayed by the much cruder but incredibly accurate yellow line). However, linesman #1 (not circled in this image) has moved about a yard backwards for seemingly no reason at all.
The official marking the spot should NEVER move off of that spot, even if it's to get the ball. There are 7 officials on the field, and this is one of the reasons why. Another official should hand the linesman the ball so that his spot can be as accurate as possible. Did he think his buddy was going to keep track of the spot while he got the ball from the pile? Did he magically change his mind? We'll never know. What we do know, is that linesman #1 influenced linesman #2's opinion of the proper spot, as seen below.
Now both linesmen are setup behind the first down marker as something caused them to change their minds regarding the spot. After many hours of consideration, I have decided that either they were sneakily abducted briefly by aliens on their way in from the sidelines, or Bobby Bowden broke down into a blubbering mess at some point and begged the officials for help getting back in the game. Whatever it was, the end result was the terrible spot seen below.
In case all of this evidence isn't enough for you, let me add the following:
- The spot was so bad, Matt Millen immediately noticed it and called out the officials for a bad job. This is the same Matt Millen who spent the last 6 years demonstraitng who little he knew about successful football (and carving the heart out of the city of Detroit, but that's another matter), and he saw it right away.
- Every college football play is reviewed by a separate replay official. They have the option to signal down to the referee on the field to stop play and give the replay official more time to review the play and render a decision. The replay official (wisely) sent this signal down to ask for more time. Inexplicably, the replay official then decided there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the spot. I have an image of poor resolution screen-grabbed from a standard definition replay of the game that clearly shows the call was blatantly wrong. The replay official had a high definition video of the same thing, and he gutlessly shrunk from his obligation to right the on-field wrong.
This was a total failure by both linesmen and the replay official, all 3 of whom should be suspended for at least the next game for gross incompetence. I very much doubt this will happen, so God help whatever ACC team draws this crew next week.
The real issue is that this wasn't a pass interference call gone bad. This wasn't a holding call that later didn't hold up to video scrutiny. At least those are jugdment calls, and with jugdment calls there will be some variation from official to official. This was a simple spot of the ball call where both linesmen showed the correct initial instincts, then inexplicably went away from those instincts. The mistake was compounded when the replay official, with plenty of evidence to the contrary, upheld the initial call. It's a call that should never have been allowed to stand, but stood.
Luckily for BC (and this officiating crew), even after FSU tied the game at 21 on their ensuing possession, BC managed to win the game 28-21. I have a feeling the next team to be wronged by this crew won't be so lucky.
Instead, I'd rather talk about a couple of atrocious calls I witnessed during yesterday's college football action. The first such call happened during the Florida State vs Boston College game and came early in the 4th quarter.
BC had jumped out to a surprising 21-3 lead in the first half, but Florida State had chipped away at this lead, getting back to 21-13 at the start of the 4th quarter. BC drove out to their own 37 yard line, where they faced 3rd and 1.
This snapshot gives you a good idea of just how far they have to go to get the first down at the start of the play (the yellow line signifying the first down).
BC (wisely, given the distance needed) calls for a QB sneak to try and get the first down. Their QB takes the snap, the line gets good push, and he pushes his way forward to about half a yard beyond the first down marker. But, don't take my word for it, see for yourself. I took the liberty of circling BC QB Dave Shinskie.
Then, the defense does what defenses always do in this situation: they stop his momentum and then push him backwards as far as they can, hoping to influence the official spot of the ball. Thanks to the general pile up of bodies, the FSU defense manages to shove Dave Shinskie back behind the first down marker, as seen below (again, Shinskie is circled).
Now comes the interesting part. One of the linesman on the officiating crew runs in at the spot where Shinskie's forward progress was stopped. By rule, this is where the ball should be spotted. Notice how the circled linesman runs in ahead of the yellow first down line.
Now, it's true that the yellow line isn't official (it's put there by ABC, who's broadcasting the game) but at this stage of the yellow line's development, you will never see a ball spotted entirely past the yellow line that is not actually a first down.
Okay, so 1 linesman believes the ball shouls be spotted ahead of the first down marker. Maybe the other linesman had a better view, and maybe he has money on FSU, and he believes the ball should be spotted behind the marker.
Hmmm, this doesn't seem to be the case. The circled linesman in the image above clearly believes Shinskie reached a good half yard further than the first down marker (as displayed by the much cruder but incredibly accurate yellow line). However, linesman #1 (not circled in this image) has moved about a yard backwards for seemingly no reason at all.
The official marking the spot should NEVER move off of that spot, even if it's to get the ball. There are 7 officials on the field, and this is one of the reasons why. Another official should hand the linesman the ball so that his spot can be as accurate as possible. Did he think his buddy was going to keep track of the spot while he got the ball from the pile? Did he magically change his mind? We'll never know. What we do know, is that linesman #1 influenced linesman #2's opinion of the proper spot, as seen below.
Now both linesmen are setup behind the first down marker as something caused them to change their minds regarding the spot. After many hours of consideration, I have decided that either they were sneakily abducted briefly by aliens on their way in from the sidelines, or Bobby Bowden broke down into a blubbering mess at some point and begged the officials for help getting back in the game. Whatever it was, the end result was the terrible spot seen below.
In case all of this evidence isn't enough for you, let me add the following:
- The spot was so bad, Matt Millen immediately noticed it and called out the officials for a bad job. This is the same Matt Millen who spent the last 6 years demonstraitng who little he knew about successful football (and carving the heart out of the city of Detroit, but that's another matter), and he saw it right away.
- Every college football play is reviewed by a separate replay official. They have the option to signal down to the referee on the field to stop play and give the replay official more time to review the play and render a decision. The replay official (wisely) sent this signal down to ask for more time. Inexplicably, the replay official then decided there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the spot. I have an image of poor resolution screen-grabbed from a standard definition replay of the game that clearly shows the call was blatantly wrong. The replay official had a high definition video of the same thing, and he gutlessly shrunk from his obligation to right the on-field wrong.
This was a total failure by both linesmen and the replay official, all 3 of whom should be suspended for at least the next game for gross incompetence. I very much doubt this will happen, so God help whatever ACC team draws this crew next week.
The real issue is that this wasn't a pass interference call gone bad. This wasn't a holding call that later didn't hold up to video scrutiny. At least those are jugdment calls, and with jugdment calls there will be some variation from official to official. This was a simple spot of the ball call where both linesmen showed the correct initial instincts, then inexplicably went away from those instincts. The mistake was compounded when the replay official, with plenty of evidence to the contrary, upheld the initial call. It's a call that should never have been allowed to stand, but stood.
Luckily for BC (and this officiating crew), even after FSU tied the game at 21 on their ensuing possession, BC managed to win the game 28-21. I have a feeling the next team to be wronged by this crew won't be so lucky.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Top 7 Calls that made me want to put a fist through the television set (luckily I created this blog instead), #4: Monday Night Microcosm Meltdown
The next call in this series takes us back to the 2004 season. The Seahawks came into this season fresh off of a 2003 season that could be boiled down to 2 things: A complete and total inability to win on the road (They were 10-6 despite an 8-0 home record), and of course, "We want the ball, and we're going to score!" The close playoff loss at Green Bay (back when Lambeau was hallowed and Brett Favre was endearing) led to much hype surrounding the Seahawks going into the 2004 season.
While Seattle started the season 3-0, they never fully justified the hype. They blew a 17 point lead with 6 minutes to play against the Rams, turned the ball over 4 times in a loss to the lowly Cardinals, and their wide receivers dropped about 147 passes over the course of the season. If the casual fan were to describe the 2004 Seahawks, I believe he would call them entertainingly inconsistent.
Week 13 of the 2004 season featured a Monday Night Football matchup between the Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys. The Seahawks jumped out to a 14-3 lead, then gave up 26 unanswered points to fall behind 29-14...only to score 25 straight points themselves, capped by a 32 yard TD run for Shaun Alexander on 4th and short with 2:46 remaining.
3 offensive plays later, Dallas is at the Seattle 34, trailing 39-29. Cowboys QB Vinny Testaverde (hey, that name sounds familiar...) takes the snap, shuffles around in the pocket, and launches a throw into the rear of the end zone for Keyshawn Johnson. Johnson is covered on the play by Terreal Bierria, who may be the worst safety in coverage in the history of the NFL*. Despite there being less than 2 minutes left and Seattle having a 10 point lead, AND despite the fact that Keyshawn Johnson runs only slightly better the end zone pylon, Bierria allows Johnson to get 5 yards BEHIND HIM in the end zone.
Anyway, the ball reaches Johnson just as the scrambling Bierria does.
Johnson makes a tough catch and gets his right foot down (notice his left foot in the air):
And here comes the...ahh, interesting part; before Johnson's left foot touches the ground, Johnson's left HAND touches the ground...about a yard out of bounds.
This is a problem considering the NFL rules state the offensive player must have both feet or 1 knee touch in bounds before any part of the player's body touches out of bounds for it to be a completion. As evidenced by these photos, Keyshawn neglected to meet either of these criteria. The pass should have been incomplete and it should have been 1st and 10 at the Seattle 29 (due to a penalty).
There is one other possibility. If the official determined Johnson had been forced out by the defender before he could get both feet down, the official could rule the pass complete. As this is a judgment call, once the official decides to invoke the force-out rule, the decision is final and unreviewable. However, the official actually has to invoke the force-out rule for it to apply. usually this is done with a visual signal. On this play the official made no such signal, instead he simply raised his arms in the air to signal touchdown.
To be fair to the official, he was standing about 3 whole yards away from the play. I guess it's also possible that he confused the "force-out" signal with the "do nothing" signal.
In case you wish to see the play to draw your own conclusions, you can find the highlights here. The play in question begins at 1:37 of the clip.
Now, you may ask why this call is so upsetting as Seattle still had a 3-point lead and was getting the ball back. The only way Dallas was going to have a chance was to recover an onside kick and surely a playoff calliber team liek the Seahawks would expect this, be ready for it, and thwart the attempt. Well, they did see it coming, and were lined up to prevent it...but they failed to actually go to the ball and secure it (you can see this in the clip too). Dallas took over at their own 43, and a few plays later, average running back Julius Jones capped off his 198-yard, 3 TD performance with a 17 yard TD run right up the middle.
Like this game, the 2004 season was a veritable roller coaster ride for Seatte, with many ups and downs. Also like this game, the season ended on a very sour note (a playoff loss to the Rams at home). Seattle did plenty on their own to lose this game (and to torch their season), and this poor call should not have made a difference. But at the same time, the Seahawks were put in a needlessly difficult position because the back judge failed to appreciate what Keyshawn's left arm was doing 2-3 yards in front of him.
Anti-Quality of call: 8/10
Effect on game situation: 8/10
Effect on my mood: 7/10
*Note: About 2 years later there was an article about Bierria, who left the Seahawks before the 2005 season to help rebuild his old neighborhood after a natural disaster. The article was written with the tone questioning why Bierria didn't get a roster invite afterwards, insinuating it was because coaches didn't appreciate that he wasn't 100% focused on football. That wasn't it. It was because he couldn't cover an NFL blocking sled. Believe me, I watched him butcher multiple games that season.
While Seattle started the season 3-0, they never fully justified the hype. They blew a 17 point lead with 6 minutes to play against the Rams, turned the ball over 4 times in a loss to the lowly Cardinals, and their wide receivers dropped about 147 passes over the course of the season. If the casual fan were to describe the 2004 Seahawks, I believe he would call them entertainingly inconsistent.
Week 13 of the 2004 season featured a Monday Night Football matchup between the Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys. The Seahawks jumped out to a 14-3 lead, then gave up 26 unanswered points to fall behind 29-14...only to score 25 straight points themselves, capped by a 32 yard TD run for Shaun Alexander on 4th and short with 2:46 remaining.
3 offensive plays later, Dallas is at the Seattle 34, trailing 39-29. Cowboys QB Vinny Testaverde (hey, that name sounds familiar...) takes the snap, shuffles around in the pocket, and launches a throw into the rear of the end zone for Keyshawn Johnson. Johnson is covered on the play by Terreal Bierria, who may be the worst safety in coverage in the history of the NFL*. Despite there being less than 2 minutes left and Seattle having a 10 point lead, AND despite the fact that Keyshawn Johnson runs only slightly better the end zone pylon, Bierria allows Johnson to get 5 yards BEHIND HIM in the end zone.
Anyway, the ball reaches Johnson just as the scrambling Bierria does.
Johnson makes a tough catch and gets his right foot down (notice his left foot in the air):
And here comes the...ahh, interesting part; before Johnson's left foot touches the ground, Johnson's left HAND touches the ground...about a yard out of bounds.
This is a problem considering the NFL rules state the offensive player must have both feet or 1 knee touch in bounds before any part of the player's body touches out of bounds for it to be a completion. As evidenced by these photos, Keyshawn neglected to meet either of these criteria. The pass should have been incomplete and it should have been 1st and 10 at the Seattle 29 (due to a penalty).
There is one other possibility. If the official determined Johnson had been forced out by the defender before he could get both feet down, the official could rule the pass complete. As this is a judgment call, once the official decides to invoke the force-out rule, the decision is final and unreviewable. However, the official actually has to invoke the force-out rule for it to apply. usually this is done with a visual signal. On this play the official made no such signal, instead he simply raised his arms in the air to signal touchdown.
To be fair to the official, he was standing about 3 whole yards away from the play. I guess it's also possible that he confused the "force-out" signal with the "do nothing" signal.
In case you wish to see the play to draw your own conclusions, you can find the highlights here. The play in question begins at 1:37 of the clip.
Now, you may ask why this call is so upsetting as Seattle still had a 3-point lead and was getting the ball back. The only way Dallas was going to have a chance was to recover an onside kick and surely a playoff calliber team liek the Seahawks would expect this, be ready for it, and thwart the attempt. Well, they did see it coming, and were lined up to prevent it...but they failed to actually go to the ball and secure it (you can see this in the clip too). Dallas took over at their own 43, and a few plays later, average running back Julius Jones capped off his 198-yard, 3 TD performance with a 17 yard TD run right up the middle.
Like this game, the 2004 season was a veritable roller coaster ride for Seatte, with many ups and downs. Also like this game, the season ended on a very sour note (a playoff loss to the Rams at home). Seattle did plenty on their own to lose this game (and to torch their season), and this poor call should not have made a difference. But at the same time, the Seahawks were put in a needlessly difficult position because the back judge failed to appreciate what Keyshawn's left arm was doing 2-3 yards in front of him.
Anti-Quality of call: 8/10
Effect on game situation: 8/10
Effect on my mood: 7/10
*Note: About 2 years later there was an article about Bierria, who left the Seahawks before the 2005 season to help rebuild his old neighborhood after a natural disaster. The article was written with the tone questioning why Bierria didn't get a roster invite afterwards, insinuating it was because coaches didn't appreciate that he wasn't 100% focused on football. That wasn't it. It was because he couldn't cover an NFL blocking sled. Believe me, I watched him butcher multiple games that season.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Top 7 Calls that made me want to put a fist through the television set (luckily I created this blog instead), #5: She Got Interfered With
I realized it's probably about time I got back on this particular horse. #5 actually doesn't involve the Seattle Seahawks...well, at least not directly.
Let's go back to November 29, 1998, in Foxboro, MA. Doug Flutie has made his return to Foxboro Stadium after years in Canada, but this time he's playing for the visiting team, the Buffalo Bills. Flutie had what looked to be a triumphant return, passing for 339 yards and rushing for 30 more, and staking his team to a 21-17 lead with just over a minute remaining.
Then Drew Bledsoe went to work (this was Drew Bledsoe before years of bad decisions and hard hits from holding on to the football for too long turned him into Zombie Drew Bledsoe), with a broken finger no less. He drove the Patriots into Bills territory, where the drive stalled a bit. Facing 4th down, Drew completed a pass to Shawn Jefferson at the Bill 26, and Jefferson got out of bounds with time for just one more play. The Bills were not happy, as they felt Jefferson was out of bounds BEFORE he caught the ball on the play, which should have negated the catch and won the game for the Bills. The referees disagreed, and the Bills (the year being 1998) had no recourse (this would be dramatic foreshadowing).
Anyway, one play left, from the Bill 26 yard line. Bledsoe drops back, waits, then launches a pass for Terry Glenn in the back left corner of the end zone. There is some jostling, maybe a shove, but the pass falls incomplete as time expires. Bills win! Flutie is successful, and strikes a blow for short, Heisman-winning quarterbacks everywhe...what?
There's a flag on the field?
Oh, okay, I'm sure it was back by Bledsoe and was offensive holding or something, so let's get back to the celebra...wait...it's in the END ZONE? Are you sure? I mean, officials NEVER call a foul on a hail mary type pass unless the defense rips off the wide receiver's leg or stabs him through the heart, or something like that. (Note: Given the long career of Terry Glenn, highlights including being suspended for basically all of the Pats' Super Bowl winning 2001 season and fumbling away a ball for a safety in one of my favorite playoff games of all time, despite a lack of video evidence, I feel safe declaring Glenn's leg is still attached and thus, was not ripped off on this play; nor was he killed wth a knife through the heart.) Besides, the receiver in question is Terry Glenn. As a rookie, when asked how he was rehabbing from a bad hammy, his own coach Bill Parcells responded, "She's doing fine." Clearly, if you breathe on Terry Glenn, he's going to fall over. This clearly isn't a flag for defensive pass interference.
Yes, the flag was for defensive pass interference. It's at this point I'd normally embed a video of this outrageous decision, but I cannot find one, which is part of the reason this post took so long to write. Anyway, this call gave New England one untimed down at the 1 yard line. The play was a play action pass which ended with Bledose hitting tight end Ben Coates for the touchdown.
The Bills were so incensed with this turn of events, and so disgusted with the officials over the Jefferson catch and the phantom PI call, that their coach (disclaimer, it was Wade Phillips) declined to put out 11 players to defend the point after this touchdown. In fact, he neglected to put 1 defender on the field for the PAT. The Patriots' reaction? Instead of having kicker Adam Vinatieri kick the PAT for a 24-21 win, the holder handed him the ball and Vinatieri ran the ball in to the end zone, for a 25-21 win.
Now, to be honest, I cannot comment on whether Jefferson was in or out. But I can safely say the PI call was horrid. When I first saw this game, I thought the call was terrible, but it benefitted the Patriots and most of my friends were Pats fans, so I wasn't too upset. It did hurt Doug Flutie, who I pulled for, so that stunk. But overall, there were plenty of worse things that could have happened.
Anti-Quality of call: 8/10
Effect on game situation: 9/10
Effect on my mood: 2/10
It was only later, after a far more catastrophic set of circumstances occurred, that this game would take it's place on this list. For the rest of the story, well, you'll just have to wait till we get a little higher on this list.
Let's go back to November 29, 1998, in Foxboro, MA. Doug Flutie has made his return to Foxboro Stadium after years in Canada, but this time he's playing for the visiting team, the Buffalo Bills. Flutie had what looked to be a triumphant return, passing for 339 yards and rushing for 30 more, and staking his team to a 21-17 lead with just over a minute remaining.
Then Drew Bledsoe went to work (this was Drew Bledsoe before years of bad decisions and hard hits from holding on to the football for too long turned him into Zombie Drew Bledsoe), with a broken finger no less. He drove the Patriots into Bills territory, where the drive stalled a bit. Facing 4th down, Drew completed a pass to Shawn Jefferson at the Bill 26, and Jefferson got out of bounds with time for just one more play. The Bills were not happy, as they felt Jefferson was out of bounds BEFORE he caught the ball on the play, which should have negated the catch and won the game for the Bills. The referees disagreed, and the Bills (the year being 1998) had no recourse (this would be dramatic foreshadowing).
Anyway, one play left, from the Bill 26 yard line. Bledsoe drops back, waits, then launches a pass for Terry Glenn in the back left corner of the end zone. There is some jostling, maybe a shove, but the pass falls incomplete as time expires. Bills win! Flutie is successful, and strikes a blow for short, Heisman-winning quarterbacks everywhe...what?
There's a flag on the field?
Oh, okay, I'm sure it was back by Bledsoe and was offensive holding or something, so let's get back to the celebra...wait...it's in the END ZONE? Are you sure? I mean, officials NEVER call a foul on a hail mary type pass unless the defense rips off the wide receiver's leg or stabs him through the heart, or something like that. (Note: Given the long career of Terry Glenn, highlights including being suspended for basically all of the Pats' Super Bowl winning 2001 season and fumbling away a ball for a safety in one of my favorite playoff games of all time, despite a lack of video evidence, I feel safe declaring Glenn's leg is still attached and thus, was not ripped off on this play; nor was he killed wth a knife through the heart.) Besides, the receiver in question is Terry Glenn. As a rookie, when asked how he was rehabbing from a bad hammy, his own coach Bill Parcells responded, "She's doing fine." Clearly, if you breathe on Terry Glenn, he's going to fall over. This clearly isn't a flag for defensive pass interference.
Yes, the flag was for defensive pass interference. It's at this point I'd normally embed a video of this outrageous decision, but I cannot find one, which is part of the reason this post took so long to write. Anyway, this call gave New England one untimed down at the 1 yard line. The play was a play action pass which ended with Bledose hitting tight end Ben Coates for the touchdown.
The Bills were so incensed with this turn of events, and so disgusted with the officials over the Jefferson catch and the phantom PI call, that their coach (disclaimer, it was Wade Phillips) declined to put out 11 players to defend the point after this touchdown. In fact, he neglected to put 1 defender on the field for the PAT. The Patriots' reaction? Instead of having kicker Adam Vinatieri kick the PAT for a 24-21 win, the holder handed him the ball and Vinatieri ran the ball in to the end zone, for a 25-21 win.
Now, to be honest, I cannot comment on whether Jefferson was in or out. But I can safely say the PI call was horrid. When I first saw this game, I thought the call was terrible, but it benefitted the Patriots and most of my friends were Pats fans, so I wasn't too upset. It did hurt Doug Flutie, who I pulled for, so that stunk. But overall, there were plenty of worse things that could have happened.
Anti-Quality of call: 8/10
Effect on game situation: 9/10
Effect on my mood: 2/10
It was only later, after a far more catastrophic set of circumstances occurred, that this game would take it's place on this list. For the rest of the story, well, you'll just have to wait till we get a little higher on this list.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Top 7 Calls that made me want to put a fist through the television set (luckily I created this blog instead), #6: Linesman Forgets Basic Training
Edit: I had to fix the link for the video, apparently the old link took you to a slideshow of the Super Bowl winning Steelers. That certainly wasn't my intent.
For part 2 in this series, we’re going to stay with Super Bowl XL, but backtrack to the second quarter. Three plays ago, Pittsburgh converted a 3rd and 28 into a 1st and goal situation. Seattle’s linebacker of a safety, Michael Boulware let the only receiving threat for Pittsburgh get open while Ben Roethlisberger scrambled around in the backfield, but that’s a story for another time. After 2 Jerome Bettis runs, Pittsburgh faced 3rd and goal from the 1 yard line at the 2 minute warning.
The play call was a fake handoff to Bettis, and Roethlisberger rolled left and dove for the end zone line, hit by Seattle’s linebacker D.D. Lewis right at the goal line. The call on the field was touchdown, and the play was reviewed and upheld, much to the chagrin of Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
Now, I do not believe Roethlisberger crossed the goal line, but having watched the replay countless times (I am a masochist), I honestly cannot tell whether he did or not. I do agree with the decision to not overturn the call after replay review, because I do not believe you can make a clear case either way. Whatever the call was on the field, it should have stood after the replay review. I should say, whatever the first call was on the field, because this is where I take issue.
Once again, I ask you to watch a short video. The first highlight shown is Roethlisberger’s TD run. I ask you not to watch Big Ben, though, but to watch Mark Hittner the top of your screen. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of him. He’s the head linesman official from Super Bowl XL, and he makes the call on this play.
Watch him come running in. He has one arm raised in the air running down the goal line towards the play. This is basic mechanics for a linesman, but it is basic mechanics when a player is down short of the end zone. One hand raised is the classic sign for “player is down, play is dead, short of the end zone.” See, if the official believes the play is dead and the player has crossed the goal line, he will run down with 2 arms raised. If you’re not sure (which happens sometimes, as a player on the ground near the goal line tends to end up the loser in a giant game of pig-pile) you are supposed to run in and give no signal until you determine where the ball should be spotted. If you’ve watched the video, you’ll notice that about 12 yards in from the sideline, good ol’ Mark’s second arm rises to signal touchdown, indicating he changed his mind as he was running toward Ben.
If you keep watching this video, you’ll see the video replay showing how close Ben got to the line. Maybe you think he got in, maybe you don’t. Either way, watch what he does once he hits the ground. He pushes the ball across the goal line after he is clearly down on the ground. Of course he did, this is Football 101, try to influence the referee’s spot of the ball any way you can. The thing is, a pop warner league official knows about this strategy, so they ignore it. And if a pop warner official is wise to this, you would expect an NFL official to be wise to it as well.
I'll never know what happened on this play, but I believe it to be one of two things:
1) Mark had a brain fart on his basic mechanics in the biggest game of the year. A game he was selected to officiate in because he was the best head linesman in the league that season, and he blew the basic mechanics of this call.
2) Mark was influenced by Ben’s shenanigans as to the spot of the ball. The best head linesman in the league fell for a trick a pop warner official would see coming and disregard.
Either way, it is a travesty that in the biggest game of the year, a head linesman forgot how to do his job.
When it happened, I knew that the replay wouldn’t bring a reversal, and I was pretty sure that my team, despite outplaying Pittsburgh for the entire first half, was going to go into halftime down 7-3. When I spoke to my friend Dave at halftime I said, “Either Seattle has just had the kitchen sink thrown at them and will come out firing in the 2nd half, or Pittsburgh is finally going to wake up and Seattle has blown their chance.” It ended up being the latter, as 2 plays into the 2nd half Willie Parker set the Super Bowl record for the longest rushing touchdown from scrimmage and Seattle never got closer than the 4 point deficit staring them in the face after the touchdown that wasn’t and then was.
Anti-Quality of call: 5/10
Effect on game situation: 6/10
Effect on my mood: 4/10
And 6 “bonus” points for the official forgetting how to do his job
Just to twist the knife a little more, in Super Bowl 43, Big Ben rolled to his right and dove for the goal line. This time, the linesman signaled touchdown right away. Again the play looked very close on replay. But this time? The referee overturned the play. And Holmgren was in the building for it, as a guest broadcaster for NBC. Unreal.
For part 2 in this series, we’re going to stay with Super Bowl XL, but backtrack to the second quarter. Three plays ago, Pittsburgh converted a 3rd and 28 into a 1st and goal situation. Seattle’s linebacker of a safety, Michael Boulware let the only receiving threat for Pittsburgh get open while Ben Roethlisberger scrambled around in the backfield, but that’s a story for another time. After 2 Jerome Bettis runs, Pittsburgh faced 3rd and goal from the 1 yard line at the 2 minute warning.
The play call was a fake handoff to Bettis, and Roethlisberger rolled left and dove for the end zone line, hit by Seattle’s linebacker D.D. Lewis right at the goal line. The call on the field was touchdown, and the play was reviewed and upheld, much to the chagrin of Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
Now, I do not believe Roethlisberger crossed the goal line, but having watched the replay countless times (I am a masochist), I honestly cannot tell whether he did or not. I do agree with the decision to not overturn the call after replay review, because I do not believe you can make a clear case either way. Whatever the call was on the field, it should have stood after the replay review. I should say, whatever the first call was on the field, because this is where I take issue.
Once again, I ask you to watch a short video. The first highlight shown is Roethlisberger’s TD run. I ask you not to watch Big Ben, though, but to watch Mark Hittner the top of your screen. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of him. He’s the head linesman official from Super Bowl XL, and he makes the call on this play.
Watch him come running in. He has one arm raised in the air running down the goal line towards the play. This is basic mechanics for a linesman, but it is basic mechanics when a player is down short of the end zone. One hand raised is the classic sign for “player is down, play is dead, short of the end zone.” See, if the official believes the play is dead and the player has crossed the goal line, he will run down with 2 arms raised. If you’re not sure (which happens sometimes, as a player on the ground near the goal line tends to end up the loser in a giant game of pig-pile) you are supposed to run in and give no signal until you determine where the ball should be spotted. If you’ve watched the video, you’ll notice that about 12 yards in from the sideline, good ol’ Mark’s second arm rises to signal touchdown, indicating he changed his mind as he was running toward Ben.
If you keep watching this video, you’ll see the video replay showing how close Ben got to the line. Maybe you think he got in, maybe you don’t. Either way, watch what he does once he hits the ground. He pushes the ball across the goal line after he is clearly down on the ground. Of course he did, this is Football 101, try to influence the referee’s spot of the ball any way you can. The thing is, a pop warner league official knows about this strategy, so they ignore it. And if a pop warner official is wise to this, you would expect an NFL official to be wise to it as well.
I'll never know what happened on this play, but I believe it to be one of two things:
1) Mark had a brain fart on his basic mechanics in the biggest game of the year. A game he was selected to officiate in because he was the best head linesman in the league that season, and he blew the basic mechanics of this call.
2) Mark was influenced by Ben’s shenanigans as to the spot of the ball. The best head linesman in the league fell for a trick a pop warner official would see coming and disregard.
Either way, it is a travesty that in the biggest game of the year, a head linesman forgot how to do his job.
When it happened, I knew that the replay wouldn’t bring a reversal, and I was pretty sure that my team, despite outplaying Pittsburgh for the entire first half, was going to go into halftime down 7-3. When I spoke to my friend Dave at halftime I said, “Either Seattle has just had the kitchen sink thrown at them and will come out firing in the 2nd half, or Pittsburgh is finally going to wake up and Seattle has blown their chance.” It ended up being the latter, as 2 plays into the 2nd half Willie Parker set the Super Bowl record for the longest rushing touchdown from scrimmage and Seattle never got closer than the 4 point deficit staring them in the face after the touchdown that wasn’t and then was.
Anti-Quality of call: 5/10
Effect on game situation: 6/10
Effect on my mood: 4/10
And 6 “bonus” points for the official forgetting how to do his job
Just to twist the knife a little more, in Super Bowl 43, Big Ben rolled to his right and dove for the goal line. This time, the linesman signaled touchdown right away. Again the play looked very close on replay. But this time? The referee overturned the play. And Holmgren was in the building for it, as a guest broadcaster for NBC. Unreal.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Top 7 Calls that made me want to put a fist through the television set - #7: Matt Hasselbeck not allowed to tackle Ike Taylor
As you might be able to tell from typing in the web address for this blog, I tend to remember bad calls. As a fan of teams that aren’t considered “marquee”, I’m used to the guys I pull for not getting the benefit of the doubt. It's not all bad though, as the number of these bad calls is partly responsible for getting this blog off the ground. But what goes into a bad call? What makes one call worse than another? First, we're going to look at how the call affects the fan. So I'm going to start with the top 7 poor calls that affected me.
We’ll start with a call from Super Bowl XL (which, admittedly, could provide me with material for every spot on this list). To set the scene: it’s 14-10 Pittsburgh, with 10:54 remaining in the game. After a holding penalty (more to come on this later) wiped out a 1st and goal at the Pittsburgh 1, Seattle was facing a 3rd and 18 at the Pittsburgh 27. Matt Hasselbeck dropped back to pass, didn’t see anyone open, and decided to channel his inner Brett Favre. Instead of checking down or throwing the ball away, Hasselbeck decided to try and force a pass to his favorite target, Darrell Jackson. Unfortunately, Hasselbeck missed Jackson. Badly. Brett himself would have been proud. Instead of Jackson, Hasselbeck deposited the ball in the breadbasket of Ike Taylor (Steeler cornerback).
Now’s where it gets interesting. Taylor catches the ball at the 5, and starts running up the sideline escorted by 2 teammates, 1 on each side. Enter Hasselbeck as Taylor crosses the Pittsburgh 25. He stutter steps, freezing the first blocker, then he dives for Taylor and makes a tackle that would make any defensive coach proud. The problem: Hasselbeck is called for an illegal block below the waist.
The rule is as follows: after a turnover, it is illegal for an offensive player (well, now a defensive player, but you get the picture) to take defensive players out of the play by blocking them below the waist. This differentiation has to be made because without any turnovers, this type of block is called a cut block and is a) legal and b) the easiest way to make defensive players angry, as they are sort of attached to their knees. This rule holds even if it’s done while tackling the ball carrier.
Here’s the problem: Hasselbeck never touches anyone but the ball carrier! It’s true. Want proof? Go here. Go ahead, watch the first 10 seconds. I’ll wait. As you’ll notice, #26 is so faked out by an immobile quarterback that he has to lean forward just to touch Hasselbeck with his hands. His hands! Now go back and watch those 10 seconds one more time. This time look in the top left corner of the screen. Notice the exotic zebra. Watch what he doesn’t do. He never reaches for the flag in his pants. The flag comes from off screen. This is a microcosm of why this game is controversial. The officials called what they assumed must have happened, not what they actually saw happen. On one hand, you can’t blame an official for assuming a geeky bald quarterback wasn’t able to cleanly tackle an athletic cornerback running with a buddy on each side of him. The problem is, these are the all star officials of the NFL that season. They’re supposed to be great at their job, which means they are in the proper position to see what happened. What actually happened. Instead, someone made an assumption, and well, you know what happens when someone assUMEs.
This call was so obviously wrong, the NFL actually admitted error after the game. So why isn’t it higher on my list? Because it didn’t affect me that much. I pretty much lost hope for this game the moment that pass was caught by the wrong team. The penalty was purely salt in the wound. When you've been knocked down by a body blow, you're numb to the kick that comes 5 seconds later.
Anti-Quality of call: 10/10
Effect on game situation: 3/10
Effect on my mood: 2/10
We’ll start with a call from Super Bowl XL (which, admittedly, could provide me with material for every spot on this list). To set the scene: it’s 14-10 Pittsburgh, with 10:54 remaining in the game. After a holding penalty (more to come on this later) wiped out a 1st and goal at the Pittsburgh 1, Seattle was facing a 3rd and 18 at the Pittsburgh 27. Matt Hasselbeck dropped back to pass, didn’t see anyone open, and decided to channel his inner Brett Favre. Instead of checking down or throwing the ball away, Hasselbeck decided to try and force a pass to his favorite target, Darrell Jackson. Unfortunately, Hasselbeck missed Jackson. Badly. Brett himself would have been proud. Instead of Jackson, Hasselbeck deposited the ball in the breadbasket of Ike Taylor (Steeler cornerback).
Now’s where it gets interesting. Taylor catches the ball at the 5, and starts running up the sideline escorted by 2 teammates, 1 on each side. Enter Hasselbeck as Taylor crosses the Pittsburgh 25. He stutter steps, freezing the first blocker, then he dives for Taylor and makes a tackle that would make any defensive coach proud. The problem: Hasselbeck is called for an illegal block below the waist.
The rule is as follows: after a turnover, it is illegal for an offensive player (well, now a defensive player, but you get the picture) to take defensive players out of the play by blocking them below the waist. This differentiation has to be made because without any turnovers, this type of block is called a cut block and is a) legal and b) the easiest way to make defensive players angry, as they are sort of attached to their knees. This rule holds even if it’s done while tackling the ball carrier.
Here’s the problem: Hasselbeck never touches anyone but the ball carrier! It’s true. Want proof? Go here. Go ahead, watch the first 10 seconds. I’ll wait. As you’ll notice, #26 is so faked out by an immobile quarterback that he has to lean forward just to touch Hasselbeck with his hands. His hands! Now go back and watch those 10 seconds one more time. This time look in the top left corner of the screen. Notice the exotic zebra. Watch what he doesn’t do. He never reaches for the flag in his pants. The flag comes from off screen. This is a microcosm of why this game is controversial. The officials called what they assumed must have happened, not what they actually saw happen. On one hand, you can’t blame an official for assuming a geeky bald quarterback wasn’t able to cleanly tackle an athletic cornerback running with a buddy on each side of him. The problem is, these are the all star officials of the NFL that season. They’re supposed to be great at their job, which means they are in the proper position to see what happened. What actually happened. Instead, someone made an assumption, and well, you know what happens when someone assUMEs.
This call was so obviously wrong, the NFL actually admitted error after the game. So why isn’t it higher on my list? Because it didn’t affect me that much. I pretty much lost hope for this game the moment that pass was caught by the wrong team. The penalty was purely salt in the wound. When you've been knocked down by a body blow, you're numb to the kick that comes 5 seconds later.
Anti-Quality of call: 10/10
Effect on game situation: 3/10
Effect on my mood: 2/10
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