B
Bruzilla
Guest
Let me first say that I am a long time Florida Gators fan, who really hates the Seminoles, but my father-in-law, who's an FSU alumni and a hugh Seminoles fan, agrees with me after watching the game this past Saturday.
I think it's fair to expect one or two botched calls made during any football game. But when you have five bad calls, all going against one team, and all having an impact on the game's outcome, there's a problem. Add to this that the calls were not jut bad, but horrendously bad, and things get even worse. At issue are these calls:
1. An FSU player fumbles a kick-off return into the hands of a Gator, and the Gator runs into the end zone for a touchdown. Just then a flag appears at the line of scrimage and a call of offsides is made against the Gators. Who makes an offsides call well after a play is made? Either someone was lined up wrong or not, and if they were the flag would have been thrown at the time of the foul.
2. An FSU resceiver catches a pass, tucks the ball uder his arm, turns around, and starts running. After one step he is popped by a Gator and the ball comes loose, resulting in a fumble. But the officials rule the play as an incomplete pass, despite the fact that the FSU player clearly had control of the ball and had started running upfield before the hit.
3. An FSU running back hits some Gators and comes to a halt. His feet are still moving and he's in the process of slipping around the defenders when the ball gets knocked from his hands, resulting in a fumble that's recovered by the Gators. But the officials claim that the runner's forward progress had been stopped, despite the fact that the runner was still moving latterally when the ball was lost and the fact that no whistles had been blown.
4. An FSU receiver gets hit after a catch and run, and drops the ball. As the receiver falls to the ground his knee lands on the football, and a Gator grabs the football and runs with it. The officials whistle the play dead and say that the ball was fumbled, but that the receiver recovered his own fumble... this despite the fact that a Gator was the one running with the ball. Since when does someone falling on a ball with their knee, and making incidental contact with the ball, make for a recovery?
5. A Gator on the run gets tackled, and is laying flat out on the ground when a final hit knocks the ball lose from his hands. Both of his knees, his chest, arms, and most of his face are on the ground, but a FSU player grabs the ball and runs into the end zone for a touchdown. The sportscasters note that it looks like the ball is moving a bit in the guy's arms as he's falling, but the ball clearly does not leave the guy's hands until well after he's flat on the ground.
If there was ever a game that showed the need for instant replay for NCAA games, this was it. Even the sportscasters were calling for the heads of the officials and saying how bad a job they were doing. I only wish Ron Zook had taken the guys off the field after that fifth call.
I think it's fair to expect one or two botched calls made during any football game. But when you have five bad calls, all going against one team, and all having an impact on the game's outcome, there's a problem. Add to this that the calls were not jut bad, but horrendously bad, and things get even worse. At issue are these calls:
1. An FSU player fumbles a kick-off return into the hands of a Gator, and the Gator runs into the end zone for a touchdown. Just then a flag appears at the line of scrimage and a call of offsides is made against the Gators. Who makes an offsides call well after a play is made? Either someone was lined up wrong or not, and if they were the flag would have been thrown at the time of the foul.
2. An FSU resceiver catches a pass, tucks the ball uder his arm, turns around, and starts running. After one step he is popped by a Gator and the ball comes loose, resulting in a fumble. But the officials rule the play as an incomplete pass, despite the fact that the FSU player clearly had control of the ball and had started running upfield before the hit.
3. An FSU running back hits some Gators and comes to a halt. His feet are still moving and he's in the process of slipping around the defenders when the ball gets knocked from his hands, resulting in a fumble that's recovered by the Gators. But the officials claim that the runner's forward progress had been stopped, despite the fact that the runner was still moving latterally when the ball was lost and the fact that no whistles had been blown.
4. An FSU receiver gets hit after a catch and run, and drops the ball. As the receiver falls to the ground his knee lands on the football, and a Gator grabs the football and runs with it. The officials whistle the play dead and say that the ball was fumbled, but that the receiver recovered his own fumble... this despite the fact that a Gator was the one running with the ball. Since when does someone falling on a ball with their knee, and making incidental contact with the ball, make for a recovery?
5. A Gator on the run gets tackled, and is laying flat out on the ground when a final hit knocks the ball lose from his hands. Both of his knees, his chest, arms, and most of his face are on the ground, but a FSU player grabs the ball and runs into the end zone for a touchdown. The sportscasters note that it looks like the ball is moving a bit in the guy's arms as he's falling, but the ball clearly does not leave the guy's hands until well after he's flat on the ground.
If there was ever a game that showed the need for instant replay for NCAA games, this was it. Even the sportscasters were calling for the heads of the officials and saying how bad a job they were doing. I only wish Ron Zook had taken the guys off the field after that fifth call.
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