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.
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?
Monday, October 19, 2009
NFL gets call right during game, then wrong the day after
The NFL got this one wrong, after the referees got it right.
Dante Wesley of the Carolina Panthers is a gunner. The guy who runs down the sideline on a punt who becomes the first line of defense once the returner catches the football. The best thing a gunner can do? Lay a huge hit on the returner just after the ball gets there to try and cause a fumble.
What Dante Wesley did yesterday in the game against Tampa Bay, though, can only be called one thing: dirty.
It's true that the gunner cannot find the ball in the air while running full speed downfield and getting blocked by 1 or 2 guys. It's true the gunner has to rely on visual cues from the returner. But there are no visual cues from the returner. The returner hits the deck before the ball does. And Wesley didn't accidentally hit Clifton Smith, he launched himself into Smith with no reason to believe the ball would get there when he hit him. That's dirty, and that's dangerous.
The referees made the right call: personal foul penalty and an ejection for Wesley. There's no place in the game for that, and if they didn't do it, the Tampa Bay players would have rioted. The the NFL got to weigh in, and they suspended Wesley (good) for just 1 game (wait, WHAT???).
Let's compare this to an event from a couple years ago that resulted in an ejection and a 5-game suspension: the Albert Haynesworth stomping incident:
Haynesworth stepped on the face of a prone Andre Gurode, who didn't have a helmet on at the time. That was dangerous and dirty, and could have ended Gurode's career. All of those things are true of the Wesley hit as well.
I guess you can make the argument that Wesley just mistimed his hit, and at least it was a football play, whereas stepping on a helmetless player's head is never an okay play, but Wesley left his feet to take off Smith's head a full second before the ball got there against a defensless return man.
To suspend Wesley for only 1 game is to minimize the danger of concussions to Clifton Smith's health and his career. At a time where the NFL has commissioned a study on concussions, and stories like Ted Johnson's and Kyle Turley's, among many others, that is the last message the NFL should want to send.
With great speed and power has to come great responsibility, otherwise, as Carson Palmer said to SI's Peter King in a quarterback roundtable before the season started, "The truth of the matter is . . . somebody is going to die here in the NFL. It's going to happen." The NFL had a chance to take a stand on a clearly dirty play, and failed to do so.
Dante Wesley of the Carolina Panthers is a gunner. The guy who runs down the sideline on a punt who becomes the first line of defense once the returner catches the football. The best thing a gunner can do? Lay a huge hit on the returner just after the ball gets there to try and cause a fumble.
What Dante Wesley did yesterday in the game against Tampa Bay, though, can only be called one thing: dirty.
It's true that the gunner cannot find the ball in the air while running full speed downfield and getting blocked by 1 or 2 guys. It's true the gunner has to rely on visual cues from the returner. But there are no visual cues from the returner. The returner hits the deck before the ball does. And Wesley didn't accidentally hit Clifton Smith, he launched himself into Smith with no reason to believe the ball would get there when he hit him. That's dirty, and that's dangerous.
The referees made the right call: personal foul penalty and an ejection for Wesley. There's no place in the game for that, and if they didn't do it, the Tampa Bay players would have rioted. The the NFL got to weigh in, and they suspended Wesley (good) for just 1 game (wait, WHAT???).
Let's compare this to an event from a couple years ago that resulted in an ejection and a 5-game suspension: the Albert Haynesworth stomping incident:
Haynesworth stepped on the face of a prone Andre Gurode, who didn't have a helmet on at the time. That was dangerous and dirty, and could have ended Gurode's career. All of those things are true of the Wesley hit as well.
I guess you can make the argument that Wesley just mistimed his hit, and at least it was a football play, whereas stepping on a helmetless player's head is never an okay play, but Wesley left his feet to take off Smith's head a full second before the ball got there against a defensless return man.
To suspend Wesley for only 1 game is to minimize the danger of concussions to Clifton Smith's health and his career. At a time where the NFL has commissioned a study on concussions, and stories like Ted Johnson's and Kyle Turley's, among many others, that is the last message the NFL should want to send.
With great speed and power has to come great responsibility, otherwise, as Carson Palmer said to SI's Peter King in a quarterback roundtable before the season started, "The truth of the matter is . . . somebody is going to die here in the NFL. It's going to happen." The NFL had a chance to take a stand on a clearly dirty play, and failed to do so.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach bigger than the game
Usually I'd ignore NBA preseason, but this is too good to pass up.
The Maccabi coach recevied 2 technical fouls in an exhibition game against the Knicks. Rather than do the normal thing (leave the floor) or the Bobby Knight thing (throw a couple of chairs, swear a lot, then leave the floor), he just stayed there and kind of hung around. This caused an 8 minute delay as I imagine the referees tried to communicate to him that he had to leave.
Eventually, he left, but not before a rabbi tried to intervene on his behalf, saying the following (per ESPN):
I don't even know where to start with this. I don't think I've ever heard "Think of the children!!!!" in an NBA game before (maybe when Dennis Rodman was still playing). This rabbi certainly has never played organized sports before.
I shudder to think of how all those Israeli kids are going to go wrong because the NBA referees followed ther rules instead of "forgiving" this coach. Just think, we could have had peace in the Middle East but for these replacement referees putting the rulebook before the children. For shame.
The Maccabi coach recevied 2 technical fouls in an exhibition game against the Knicks. Rather than do the normal thing (leave the floor) or the Bobby Knight thing (throw a couple of chairs, swear a lot, then leave the floor), he just stayed there and kind of hung around. This caused an 8 minute delay as I imagine the referees tried to communicate to him that he had to leave.
Eventually, he left, but not before a rabbi tried to intervene on his behalf, saying the following (per ESPN):
"I explained that this is not a regular game and the kids are watching and [it's] important that there will be peace and forgive him," Rabbi Yitchak Dovid Grossman said of his discussions with the officials. "If you forgive him, I can speak to the children and say, 'You also forgive. If you have a fight, you forgive.' But he says this is the law, that you must obey."
I don't even know where to start with this. I don't think I've ever heard "Think of the children!!!!" in an NBA game before (maybe when Dennis Rodman was still playing). This rabbi certainly has never played organized sports before.
I shudder to think of how all those Israeli kids are going to go wrong because the NBA referees followed ther rules instead of "forgiving" this coach. Just think, we could have had peace in the Middle East but for these replacement referees putting the rulebook before the children. For shame.
NFL Quick Hits
- This is why Matt Schaub was getting talked up before the season, and why he's reached "Start unless on a bye" status on my team:
28-40, 392 yds, 4 TDs.
Of course, the fact that my backup is David Garrard and he just managed to lead his team to victory over the Rams in overtime doesn't hurt either.
- I'm already sick of Brett Favre's latest comeback and all the talk it's going to lead to. I'm wishing really bad things on the Ravens kicker for forcing that garbage down our throats by missing a 43 yard kick indoors.
- That's the Detroit we remember from 2008. Hurry back, Matt Stafford.
- The Giants are a good team, and I think they'll be near unbeatable at home in January, but New Orleans is a terrible matchup for them indoors. The Saints OL did a tremendous job keeping Drew Brees clean, and without pressure the Giants can't stop that attack. Of course almost no one can stop that attack in the dome.
- On a drive after recovering a fumble, the Browns had WR Josh Cribbs throw the ball twice and QB Derek Anderson throw the ball 0 times. And even though it ended in an INT, who could argue with the strategy? This is almost certainly what hell looks like for Brady Quinn.
And Anderson's final stats? 9-24 for 122 yds and 1 TD. Just about 1000% better than last week's effort.
- Jim Zorn has to be fired. Combine the abysmal showing today (6 points against the Chiefs), the lack of development by Jason Campbell (benched at halftime), and the owner (Daniel Snyder, good friend of Tom Cruise), and the bye week coming up for the Redskins (the usual time an in-season change would be made) and I just don't see how he survives.
- Was it really that hard to figure out you were playing Oakland, Philly? I know you let JaMarcus Russell throw a TD pass, and I can see how that would be confusing, but to go touchdown-less against the Raiders??? There is no excuse for that, and for at least this week, McNabb deserves all of the abuse Philly fans have given him since he was drafted. Oh, and the last Philly play? Fittingly, a pass thrown at DeSean Jackson's feet. Classic McNabb, missing only the on-field retching.
- The Seahawks both are almost historically unlucky with injuries (MLB Lofa Tatupu is now out for the year with a torn pectoral muscle), and embarassing to watch. Biggest game of the year, and they fail to show up against a divisional rival. Terrible effort on all 3 sides of the ball, and 6 games into the season, they're pretty much looking toward 2010.
- But if we're going to talk embarassing, I have to mention the Titans. Yes, it was snowing (I still don't understand that), and yes, you guys are down, but to give up 45 points in the first half??? And score nothing all game long? There's a word for that: Quitters.
- And Rex Ryan has to be feeling a little less comfortable now that his Jets have gone from 3-0 to 3-3. And this week's loss to the Bills was especially unnerving. Mark Sanchez had looked like he'd come out of the Matt Ryan/Joe Flacco mold over 4 of the first 5 games. But in the Buffalo wind, he threw 10 completions and 5 interceptions. That's terrible. My biggest fear back in April on draft day was that Seattle would draft Sachez at #4 overall. Over the first few weeks of the season I was worried that perhaps I was wrong and that would have been the smart choice. But now that the Jets have come back to earth (and the outstanding play of LB Aaron Curry), I feel much better about the decision.
28-40, 392 yds, 4 TDs.
Of course, the fact that my backup is David Garrard and he just managed to lead his team to victory over the Rams in overtime doesn't hurt either.
- I'm already sick of Brett Favre's latest comeback and all the talk it's going to lead to. I'm wishing really bad things on the Ravens kicker for forcing that garbage down our throats by missing a 43 yard kick indoors.
- That's the Detroit we remember from 2008. Hurry back, Matt Stafford.
- The Giants are a good team, and I think they'll be near unbeatable at home in January, but New Orleans is a terrible matchup for them indoors. The Saints OL did a tremendous job keeping Drew Brees clean, and without pressure the Giants can't stop that attack. Of course almost no one can stop that attack in the dome.
- On a drive after recovering a fumble, the Browns had WR Josh Cribbs throw the ball twice and QB Derek Anderson throw the ball 0 times. And even though it ended in an INT, who could argue with the strategy? This is almost certainly what hell looks like for Brady Quinn.
And Anderson's final stats? 9-24 for 122 yds and 1 TD. Just about 1000% better than last week's effort.
- Jim Zorn has to be fired. Combine the abysmal showing today (6 points against the Chiefs), the lack of development by Jason Campbell (benched at halftime), and the owner (Daniel Snyder, good friend of Tom Cruise), and the bye week coming up for the Redskins (the usual time an in-season change would be made) and I just don't see how he survives.
- Was it really that hard to figure out you were playing Oakland, Philly? I know you let JaMarcus Russell throw a TD pass, and I can see how that would be confusing, but to go touchdown-less against the Raiders??? There is no excuse for that, and for at least this week, McNabb deserves all of the abuse Philly fans have given him since he was drafted. Oh, and the last Philly play? Fittingly, a pass thrown at DeSean Jackson's feet. Classic McNabb, missing only the on-field retching.
- The Seahawks both are almost historically unlucky with injuries (MLB Lofa Tatupu is now out for the year with a torn pectoral muscle), and embarassing to watch. Biggest game of the year, and they fail to show up against a divisional rival. Terrible effort on all 3 sides of the ball, and 6 games into the season, they're pretty much looking toward 2010.
- But if we're going to talk embarassing, I have to mention the Titans. Yes, it was snowing (I still don't understand that), and yes, you guys are down, but to give up 45 points in the first half??? And score nothing all game long? There's a word for that: Quitters.
- And Rex Ryan has to be feeling a little less comfortable now that his Jets have gone from 3-0 to 3-3. And this week's loss to the Bills was especially unnerving. Mark Sanchez had looked like he'd come out of the Matt Ryan/Joe Flacco mold over 4 of the first 5 games. But in the Buffalo wind, he threw 10 completions and 5 interceptions. That's terrible. My biggest fear back in April on draft day was that Seattle would draft Sachez at #4 overall. Over the first few weeks of the season I was worried that perhaps I was wrong and that would have been the smart choice. But now that the Jets have come back to earth (and the outstanding play of LB Aaron Curry), I feel much better about the decision.
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