Libertarian Librarian

I reference, of course, the officiating in this past weekend's games. Should you care about other dreadful things, you must go elsewhere. Troy asks the following, "And why do the all-star ref teams end up being the worst ones of all?"

I do not know, Troy, but verily they are. Ye gods did the refs stink up the place this weekend-- on several occassions dramatically altering the games they were overseeing, and in at least two cases nearly costing a team victory. Here's a brief run down:

• The most obvious, and ridiculous, error was the Polamalu interception, which the refs got right on the field only to overturn the correct decision after replay review. Honestly, folks, what is the point of having instant replay if it sometimes causes correct calls to be overturned for incorrect calls? The whole purpose of the replay system is to try and ensure that the correct call is made, and that an incorrect call does not decide the outcome of a game-- especially in the playoffs! Lucky for the NFL that Pittsburgh won the game, because if they had lost after that perposterous error... well, the reaction in Pittsburgh and elsewhere would have been HUGE.
• But there were other errors, nearly as significant. For example, how exactly was there no penalty for either side when the Pittsburgh offensive line clearly moved and the Colts defensive line clearly crossed the line of scrimmage and contacted various Steelers? Either the refs saw the Steelers move and it's a penalty on Pittsburgh, or they didn't see the Steelers move, and it's offsides on Indy for crossing the line and making contact with the Steelers. Or, if neither side truly did anything wrong-- then why is the game being stopped? Let Pittsburgh hike the ball, or call a delay of game penalty, but there simply is no way that you can just ignore the whole thing and say "Do over." There was a penalty-- call it as you saw it, but don't just ignore it.
• And how about the non-pass interference call earlier in the game? Good grief, the defender simply ran over the receiver! Which is another pet peeve of mine-- why oh why is pass intereference not reviewable? And don't give me that "It's a judgement call" crap-- 95% of refereeing is judgement calls-- we allow judgements about whether someone was down or not to be reviewed, we allow judgements about whether the QBs arm was moving forward or not to be reviewed-- so why not interference? It's quite likely THE biggest penalty in the game in terms of changing an outcome-- the yardage is usually huge, since the ball is marked at the spot of the foul, and the offense gets an automatic first down. It is also relatively easy to review, since it almost always happens downfield, away from the scrum at the line of scrimmage.
• Oh, and that was a safety-- just like the Packers game. Manning may have been hit initially in the field of play, but if he had bounced off that hit and then thrown a completion, would the refs have called him down at the half-yard line. No chance, nada, zip, zero, zilch. Manning's butt landed in the endzone-- when Manning's butt landed in the endzone, the ball was also in the endzone. That's a safety.
• Okay, the Steelers/Colts game was the worst, but except for the Seahawks game, they were all pretty bad. Let's go to Denver/NE and... hey, a very dubious pass interference call that basically handed the Broncos a touchdown. But we shouldn't review pass interference calls-- just plays that 98.4562% of NFL fans, players and referees would call a clean interception and subsequent fumble.
• Oh, and can we stop patting Champ Bailey on the head and saying, "Great play, man!"? I mean, it was a great play right up to the point where Bailey started jogging at the 5 yard line, already thinking about his celebration dance. THEN it became a REALLY stupid play by an egotistical nitwit that nearly cost his team a touchdown and a LOT of momentum. You want a great play by a great player? How about rookie Ben Watson charging downfield full bore and pile driving Bailey out at the 1 and, possibly, causing him to fumble through the endzone (which would've made it NE ball on their 20)? THAT was a great, never give up, play. But I digress-- the refs ruled Bailey's fumble out at the half-yard line, and maybe there wasn't "conclusive" evidence to overrule that placement, but I have to say, it looked to me like the ball went over the pylon.
• And let's not forget the Bears/Panthers game, where Julius Peppers was jobbed out of a touchdown after yet another questionable review. Remember-- the ruling on the field stands unless the video evidence is indisputable that the wrong call was made. If there is doubt, the ruling on the field stands. The refs on the field ruled that Gage fumbled and Peppers return was a TD for Carolina. Upon review, the refs decided Gage's knee was down when he was hit, and thus it was a complete pass and no fumble. I'll grant you that I can see where the refs would tend to believe that his knee was down, but it was not conclusive because from the angles available you can't really tell when Carolina's Chris Gamble touches Gage, and thus you don't know exactly when, or if, the play was dead. So, the ruling on the field should stand. Except it didn't.

There were other, less impactful, mistakes, but those six (I discount the Bailey fumble call, as the reviews probably weren't conclusive, and thus the ruling on the field must take precedence-- even though I think it was wrong, and I am sick to my ears of hearing about how great Bailey's play was) are certainly sufficient to judge the quality of refing this weekend as dreadful. The only redeeming fact is that despite the referee blunders, two of the three teams that played better and deserved to win did-- with the exception of New England, who can make a pretty strong case that they would've won their game if not for the guys in the zebra uniforms.

At any rate, I am now a huge Carolina and Pittsburgh fan, as I greatly admire teams that can overcome great adversity and unfair treatment to persevere and win regardless.