Robbery - Referee Style

Losing is one thing (as BC did today because of poor offensive play all around), but losing because the refs can't make correct calls in key situations is quite another.  In the span of about 30 minutes I have seen three teams fortunes changes due to poor officiating.

Wake Forest had a 27-21 lead against Ole Miss late in the game with Ole Miss driving.  On third down, Jevan Snead attempts to throw to the back of the end zone and gets drilled.  His arm is hit as he threw (not the ball exactly because that would count as a tip) and it lands toward the front of the end zone.  A receiver in the back of the end zone is hit to the ground and a flag is thrown...pass interference.  The receiver could not have caught the ball even if he had arms and hands as big as The Great Khali.  Yet it was pass interference.  Ole Miss goes on to score a touchdown on that drive and take the 28-27 lead with only 1:01 left to play.  Luckily for Wake Forest they were able to hit a 41-yard field goal to win the game 30-28.

Midway through the 4th quarter in South Bend, San Diego State was knocking on the door step, as an Aztec is entering the end zone he is hit by a Notre Dame defender and the ball comes loose and lands outside the end zone, is picked up by a Notre Dame player and once he is tackled the ref signals a touchback. The replay suggested that the SDSU player may have actually broken the plane but what it also showed was that the ball landed in the field of play.  It never got into the end zone.  As such, it never should have been a touchback.  It was picked up in the field of play and the Irish player was tackled.  They should have at best had the ball at the one yard line and at worst it should have been a touchdown for SDSU.  Instead Notre Dame got the ball at the 20 and promptly went down and scored a touchdown to take the 14-13 lead which would be all they would need to win.  But make no mistake, the refs call changed the course of that game.

Finally, the worst play happened to Washington.  They played a tight back and forth game with BYU and were trailing 28-21 with little time left on the clock.  Jake Locker engineered a terrific drive which culminated in his touchdown run with only 2 seconds to play.  Then the laundry came on the field.  In his excitement from driving the length of the field and scoring the game tying touchdown as time expired, Jake Locker threw his hands in the air and in doing so tossed the ball toward the back of the end zone.  Excessive celebration.  15-yard penalty making them kick the extra point from the 18, and it was blocked.  BYU wins 28-27.  As one announcer said, "This loss rests squarely on the shoulders of the referees."

The NCAA has tried to cut down on celebrations for the past few years.  You can't spike the ball.  You can't do pre-planned celebration.  You can't do anything that would single you out and draw attention to you as an individual.  You can get excited as long as you don't get too excited.

Jake Locker did not spike the ball.  He did not do a pre-planned celebration.  He did not try to single himself out.  In fact, when he jumped up, the first thing he did was look for his fellow Huskies and start chest-bumping and helmet slapping.  One could say that he did everything that the NCAA is looking for.  Not rubbing it in.  Not over celebrating.  Yet he was flagged for excessive celebration.  It was truly sad to see Washington's hard work and excellent play get penalized by flag-happy stripes.

The pattern is alarming.  The amount of game changing bad calls seems to be expanding.  Maybe its because of the exposure that games get now.  With the introduction of things like ESPN360.com and the Big Ten Network there are record numbers of college football games on television.  Refs know that everything they do is being scrutinized and diagnosed and I think sometimes they get the jitters as much as a true freshman quarterback stepping into the Big House for the first time as a visitor.  Maybe more training has to be done.  Maybe these guys just aren't really trying.  I don't know.  But when even the replay officials can't get it right (see Notre Dame), something needs to be changed.  The guys in the stripes are there to make sure that the game is played within the rules so that the better team wins the game. They are referees not judges, they are not supposed to decide the outcome.

Finally the U has Come!

Ok, despite the title of the blog this has nothing to do with the University of Miami (affectionately called "The U" by its alum)...well, maybe it is slightly related. But it has more to do with a discovery that I made last night while channel surfing at home.

Being a regular Wednesday night before the fall TV season has started and the fact that the Red Sox had played a day game meant that I had nothing to watch last night. While laying in bed looking around for something worthwhile I happened upon ESPNU.

Let me let that settle in a little.

I happened upon ESPNU.

On my TV.

In my home and not at the local watering hole.

That's right boys and girls...ESPNU. The bane of my existence which has been known as RCN and their inability to provide ESPNU to me (see "Summer Musings" just a few short days ago) has been lifted.

The strange part about this is that no one seems to know that it was actually added. If you go to the ESPNU.com site and search for the local RCN channel in my area it still, as of this morning, says that RCN does not carry ESPNU at this time. I checked my past bills (where they tend to announce changes in channel line up) and there is no mention of the addition of ESPNU. There was no fan fare. It is not located anywhere near the other ESPN channels on the dial (it isn't even near to CSTV) so there was no reason for me to have noticed it where it was placed. And yet there it is all the same.

There is a happy Cam knowing there is one more channel I can flip to come Saturday. And a slightly less happy Mrs. Pike...knowing there is one more channel I can flip to come Saturday. But the best part will come next March, when I can watch the full college hockey playoffs.

Make up your mind (Part II)

Back in February, the Rant brought you musings no Peter Forsberg holding the league hostage while he decided what to do for the season. I knew that if the league continued to allow this type of behavior that it would set a terrible precedent for the years to come. And I was right.

After Teemu Selanne, Scott Neidermeyer, and Forsberg last year, Mats Sundin has decided to do the exact same thing this year (which is to say that he has decided on absolutely nothing). Originally he was supposed to make up his mind on whether or not he wanted to play by the end of July. Both Vancouver and Toronto were reportedly offering him contracts to come and finish is stellar career with them. But he never made up his mind. Some felt he had decided to hang it up because he was not engaging in the same per-season work out activities has he had in the past. But there was no word and his decision kept getting pushed from one week to the next.

Now, Sundin is quoted as saying that he is definitely not going to decide by the beginning of the season. He said, "Others have started playing in the middle of the season. If I would feel like retiring, I would say it." Please note that he is using the horrible tactics of Selanne, et al last year to justify this decision. A bad precedent has been set here. Mr. Bettman, time to start actually acting like a commissioner and fixing a problem brewing in your league.

Word from the Rant to those who are looking to sign Sundin, last year's late signees did not turn their teams into champions. I would not count on Sundin being able to do it either.

Cuts & Eliminations

- Jo-Lon Dunbar did not make the cut with New Orleans Saints. Jamie Silva and Dejuan Tribble survived the cuts for now. Go Eagles!

- The first team to be mathematically eliminated from MLB postseason - the Seattle Mariners. Thank you Seattle for another year of dreadful baseball. Pittsburgh Pirates (the AAA club of the National League) your next.

Week One is Done

The first week of college football has come to a close and it was filled with excitement right to the end (thank you UCLA-Tennessee for a great finish to the first weekend).

We've learned a couple of things early. Fresno State, Utah, and East Carolina have entered themselves into the BCS-buster conversation with BYU. Big first week wins by all three have opened the door for them to be considered as this year's Hawaii. All face great tests in the near future (Wisconsin, Oregon State, & West Virginia respectively) but for now they are all 1-0 and the sky is the limit.

There were no jaw-dropping upsets like last year (Appy State was obliterated by LSU) but let's not downplay the Sun Belt getting a big victory as Arkansas State beat Texas A&M this weekend. I know A&M was supposed to be down a little this year but...Arkansas State? Seriously?? The Sun Belt conference hasn't even one step above I-AA (I refuse the FBS/FCS distinction....it's always been I-AA and to me it will remain I-AA), they have been I-AA teams playing division one football. Maybe this win is a sign for the future. Florida Atlantic certainly made some waves last year with their level of play.

As has been suggested by many in the past, perhaps this is a sign that reduced scholarships and stricter academic guidelines are leading to a levelly of the playing field. Athletes in the past who no one would ever classify as "students" are not allowed to get away with as much as they used to because if teams don't maintain certain academic standards they lose scholarships. The big time programs can only afford to take so many borderline "students" without doing serious damage to the program. The trickle down effect is starting to be felt. It seems to me that we will see at least one non-BCS school in the BCS every year. We have 4 teams with legitimate shots at pulling it off this year (three above and BYU, who is everyone's darling this year).

Another thing we learned this weekend, signs point to another rough season for the ACC. I'm not ready to say that the sky is falling as many have but it doesn't look good. Only BC & Wake Forest really looked like they have something to offer. It's hard to judge Miami and Georgia Tech who pounded some I-AA teams. People have made a lot of Alabama destruction of Clemson. Granted Clemson should be better than that offensively considering the amount of returning talent they have but perhaps Alabama is better than people are giving them credit for. It's only week one and if 5 weeks from now, Bama is 5-0 and Clemson is 4-1 having rolled over their next 4 opponents people may take a very different view of this game. Last season, Virginia Tech was destroyed by eventual national champion LSU very early in the season yet they still won the ACC and made it to the BCS.

Looks like another fun filled season of college football. As always I will be watching.