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We’re going to defer the full-blown explanation of the events of the final play of the Chargers-Steelers game and the provisions of the rule book that apply to the situation to the SportingNews.com Ten-Pack on which we’re currently laboring. (Writing words is hard work; please pity me.)
For now, though, the news is that referee Scott Green admitted after the game that the Steelers should have been given credit for the touchdown that safety Troy Polamalu scored as time expired.
Via a lengthy replay review and conference, Green givethed a touchdown to the Steelers, and then takethed it away, claiming that an illegal forward pass that happened during the play requiring the officials to kill the play then and there.
“The rule was misinterpreted,” Green said. “We should have let the play go through in the end, yes. It was misinterpreted that instead of killing the play we should have let the play go through.”
Bottom line? Anyone who took the Chargers and the points is very happy. And anyone who took the Steelers and gave the points is peee-issed.
Here’s the video.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Im happy with my bet!!!
- Mike Pereira
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Rating: 4.85 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
at least the blown call didn’t determine the outcome of the game.
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Rating: 3.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
it cost me 8 points in my fantasy league…
good thing Im winning by 150 points… lol
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
On ESPN, Chris Berman was saying the real reason there was no TD was because “you cannot advance a recovered lateral.” This is not mentioned by the referee.
Three huge mistakes by the officials on the play:
1. There was no illegal forward pass at all during the play.
2. There definitely was no illegal forward pass on the review.
3. The Steelers should have been able to decline the penalty.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Who cares? I didnt change a thing.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
They’re not changing the score either. What if there is a tie-breaker and the Steelers lose it because of points? The officials were horrible in that game and judging by the call at the end of the game that kept the score within the spread, one might think there were shady doings-a-foot.
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Rating: 3.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Why aren’t you screaming about a referee talking to the media and admitting he screwed up? You were railing against Hochuli for his screw up, answering emails and all that, but you’ve made two posts today about officials talking to the media, and no bitching and moaning from you guy(s)? Whats up?
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Dude, Old Testament references/language? Wtf!?
Anyway, methinks (Shakespeare’s Old English) that the gamblers of Las Vegas are going to sue the NFL sooner or later for faulty outcomes of games. That 5h!7′5 costing them millions!
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
The ref’s called 13 penalties against the the Steelers to the Chargers 2 penalties. Take 6 points away from the Steelers. Yeah, the ref’s have it in for the Steelers this year.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Reason #1 not to gamble on sports — the officials don’t know the rules.
Reason #2 is the previous post — the athletes don’t know the rules.
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Rating: 4.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Not to mention those of us who had the Steelers’ D in fantasy. How does the referee not know the rules? It’s not even an obscure rule, laterals happen all the time. Does the league need to supply them with a rulebook that they can consult on the sideline?
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Rating: 4.15 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
If team employees aren’t allowed to criticize the officials and must use internal channels to express their concerns without being fined, why are the officials allowed to talk to the media at all, much less admit they screwed up?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
The refs sure do like to steal stuff from Polamalu.
Ah, it’s not a big deal really though. The point tie breaker is for extreme conditions right?
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Florio could you comment on the last time a team was flagged for more than 100 yards of penalties and the other only 1 flag for 5 yards? And the unlikeliness that that is a true reflection of the gameplay….
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
does the ref print out receipts of mistakes for me to hand to my bookie?
Im still waiting for my refund from them for the donaghy refd spurs games.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I guess the NFL might want to go a little farther than their post Donaghie “Have you manipulated games to affect the point spread outcome?” honor system investigation of their officials. I mean really. He watched the replay and decided no TD was the way to go, despite the replay showing obvious TD. The perfect opportunity since it won’t affect the outcome, only the spread.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
how does he see an illegal forward pass in that play after a review?
this kind of crap is making a mockery of the nfl officiating. At least it was not a game changer this time.
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
This game marked the 1st time that I honestly believe the refs were actively trying to fix the outcome.
The fumble/td at the end of regulation was just 1 of at least 6-8 calls that varied from dubious to downright horrendous, all of which were in favor of SD.
How many games have you seen where 1 team has 13 penalties and the other has just 2??
At the very least, very shoddy work. However I strongly suspect some refs had $$ on the outcome/spread
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Mike Pereia, you are an idiot.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I’m just glad we could get that 11-10 game in the books for the NFL.
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Rating: 4.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
@VikingAP: This is actually a good one to hear people’s comments on precisely because it didn’t affect the outcome of the game — nobody can claim sour grapes or any of the other dismissive arguments that usually go along with these discussions.
My take is: I thought the whole series of events was very odd, to say the least. I had no idea why they were reviewing it in the first place, since it didn’t matter whether or not the laterals were valid, given the outcome of the play.
Then, even more odd is that the first announcement after the review was that one of the laterals was forward, and the result of the play was a touchdown. This was the correct decision, but again, why bother reviewing it in the first place for that? Why would it be important to determine if a lateral was forward when it wouldn’t change anything?
Then, even odder still is an abrupt, completely incorrect reversal with no explanation. He obviously knew the rule, because he applied it correctly initially.
Doesn’t add up.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Time for the Refs to start being fined (not just the players and coaches).
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
He’s lucky it didn’t affect the outcome of the game, but it’s still suspicious.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
November 16th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
FAIL
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November 17th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Maybe they changed it so they wouldn’t have to kick the extra point!
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)