Whitlock: Throw a flag on the officials

tk13 · 02-06-2006, 02:11 AM

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/13801320.htm

Throw a flag on the officials
JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star

DETROIT — What crime-ridden, boarded-building, automotive-industry-ravaged, snowy Detroit couldn’t do, an NFL officiating crew pulled off with relative ease in front of plenty of bored-silly football fans inside beautiful Ford Field.

Sports’ and television’s most indestructible beast — the Super Bowl — met its match in the 40th playing of the game the world stops to watch.

The inevitable finally happened. A group of middle-aged executives trying to keep pace with a group of highly trained 20-something athletes destroyed America’s sports holiday.

Pittsburgh’s one-for-the-thumb Super Bowl will be remembered as the game when physically overmatched referees and heads-buried NFL executives flipped non-Steelers fans an XL middle finger.

The Steelers shook off a terrible first quarter and whipped the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL.

Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher, after a 14-year pursuit, secured his long-overdue first title. Receiver Hines Ward won the MVP award with a five-catch, 123-yard, one-TD performance. The Bus, Jerome Bettis, contributed a couple of big plays in his Super Bowl homecoming. And Ben Roethlisberger, the boy-wonder QB, overcame a couple of critical mistakes with a few all-heart runs and throws.

The Seahawks did what they could to help the Steelers, too. Jerramy Stevens, called out by Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter during pregame hype, dropped enough Matt Hasselbeck passes that FBI investigators would be negligent for failing to interrogate Stevens today. His third-quarter TD catch has to be considered a smokescreen, clutched with two hands to fool people suspicious of a point-shaving scandal.

Seattle coach Mike Holmgren’s end-of-the-first-half play-calling and clock management also contributed to Pittsburgh’s victory. Trailing 7-3 and having moved the ball to the Pittsburgh 40 with 48 seconds on the clock, the Seahawks wasted a good 30 seconds as Hasselbeck flapped his arms, shouted directions and impersonated Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage. If not for a Pittsburgh timeout, it appeared the Seahawks were going to take a delay-of-game penalty or try to run out the entire clock.

Eventually, Holmgren sent Josh Brown out to attempt a 54-yard field goal — which Brown missed — and walked into the Seattle locker room with one timeout in his pocket.

But make no mistake about Super Bowl XL, the performance of referee Bill Leavy and his crew overshadowed Pittsburgh’s heroics and Seattle’s blunders.

Paul Tagliabue’s league has an officiating crisis. Bogus, inconsistent flag-throwing and rule-interpreting is making the national pastime difficult to take seriously. So far, only Joey Porter has demonstrated the necessary courage to address what we all see.

Many of these part-time, 50-year-old referees don’t know what they’re doing and can’t keep up with the action.

Porter fumed when the refs nearly stole Pittsburgh’s playoff victory over Indianapolis by overturning a Troy Polamalu interception.

Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown.

The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown.

Seattle was victimized by two other questionable first-half calls — including the 1-yard TD run the refs awarded Roethlisberger when he seemed a few inches short of the goal line — but the final backbreaking call helped set up Pittsburgh’s game-icing, reverse, wide-receiver-pass-to-Ward touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Ike Taylor intercepted Hasselbeck deep in Pittsburgh territory. Hasselbeck stopped Taylor at the Pittsburgh 29 with a perfectly executed form tackle across Taylor’s knees. The refs flagged Hasselbeck for illegally “blocking” Taylor across his knees and gave the Steelers 15 additional yards.

The Seahawks justifiably can complain that Sunday’s one-sided officiating disrupted their offensive rhythm and undermined their focus. The officiating had to creep inside their head.

And NFL fans need to acknowledge that there’s something terribly wrong with professional football. This year’s playoffs were horrible. Sunday’s Super Bowl stands as an appropriate symbol of the 2006 playoffs — boring and poorly officiated.

We are too technologically advanced, and the NFL is overrun with too much money to put up with the kind of officiating errors that are ruining the pro game. The league needs younger, full-time referees on the field and a three-man officiating team sitting in the press box supervising what is called on the field. All calls — including ones like the offensive pass-interference call that killed Seattle — should be subject to quick review and overturning.

You don’t need an official on the field to stick his head underneath a blanket draped over a camera to review calls. Those decisions can be made in a press-box suite. Instead of stopping the game for commercial timeouts on nearly every change of possession or when a coach just wants to stop the clock, the game should go to a commercial timeout whenever a critical penalty needs to be reviewed in the booth.

Also, the officiating crew should be forced to address the media and defend their decisions. It’s ridiculous that the media are allowed to confront players, coaches, executives and owners, but the guys who can easily change the course of a game with one questionable decision are pretty much off limits.

Bill Leavy and his crew ruined Super Bowl XL. Am I the only one who would like to hear them defend their incompetence?

greg63 · 02-06-2006, 02:13 AM

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=135247

dtebbe · 02-06-2006, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tk13

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/13801320.htm

Throw a flag on the officials
JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star

DETROIT —
We are too technologically advanced, and the NFL is overrun with too much money to put up with the kind of officiating errors that are ruining the pro game. The league needs younger, full-time referees on the field and a three-man officiating team sitting in the press box supervising what is called on the field. All calls — including ones like the offensive pass-interference call that killed Seattle — should be subject to quick review and overturning.

I agree 100% with this statement. Right now the NFL is like a Ferrari F1 race car with studded snow tires on it. There is technology available (embedded IR in the ball with overhead IR careras) that would show with certainty if a ball breaks the plane on scoring situations. Not really that expensive either, hell the NHL used it just for fun. Same with the box review, the NHL does it every game, very rarely does it slow the game down.

It is so reeruned that a league with the revenues of the NFL has some part-time clown waddling over to the sidelines to look at a 19" monitor with a hood, having to give someone else directions on how to operate the replay... Just reeruned. It's called replay officials, and the NFL needs them in the worst way.

DT

Chiefs Pantalones · 02-06-2006, 11:20 AM

Whitlock must've bet big money on Seattle...

go bo · 02-06-2006, 11:43 AM

i enjoyed the game, twitless...

TEX · 02-06-2006, 12:10 PM

"Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown.

The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown."

So totally NOT true. My stance is that Darrell clearly pushed off at the last second to gain separation. It was evident the first time and it's evident now. It was a violation of the rules. It should have been called and it was - the SAME way that Randy Moss got called for it week 2 in Oakland against the Chiefs, only that was more questioanble. The same way that Tony G. gets called for it at least a couple of times a season. Now should it have been called in the biggest game of the year? Yes. Now move on to the legitimate blown calls.

I also thought that Ben did indeed break the plane of the goal line right before he got hit. However, I did not agree with Hassleback's 15 yard penality for blocking below the knees because he was indeed trying to make a tackle.

jjjayb · 02-06-2006, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

So totally NOT true. My stance is that Darrell clearly pushed off at the last second to gain separation. It was evident the first time and it's evident now. It was a violation of the rules. It should have been called and it was - the SAME way that Randy Moss got called for it week 2 in Oakland against the Chiefs, only that was more questioanble. The same way that Tony G. gets called for it at least a couple of times a season. Now should it have been called in the biggest game of the year? Yes. Now move on to the legitimate blown calls.

If thats the case it should have been called even more last night. On one of Hines Wards catches he also pushed off the defender. Even worse he pushed off of the defenders face mask to get position. Wasn't called. Am I surprised? No. The calls were going all one way. The way that let the cinderella story be complete.

Mecca · 02-06-2006, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

"Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown.

The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown."

So totally NOT true. My stance is that Darrell clearly pushed off at the last second to gain separation. It was evident the first time and it's evident now. It was a violation of the rules. It should have been called and it was - the SAME way that Randy Moss got called for it week 2 in Oakland against the Chiefs, only that was more questioanble. The same way that Tony G. gets called for it at least a couple of times a season. Now should it have been called in the biggest game of the year? Yes. Now move on to the legitimate blown calls.

I also thought that Ben did indeed break the plane of the goal line right before he got hit. However, I did not agree with Hassleback's 15 yard penality for blocking below the knees because he was indeed trying to make a tackle.

That's really not a good comparison, the league sent a letter to the Raiders apologizing for the bad call...........

bogie · 02-06-2006, 06:06 PM

Can I e-mail the officials and get the money back that I lost?

KCWolfman · 02-06-2006, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

So totally NOT true. My stance is that Darrell clearly pushed off at the last second to gain separation. It was evident the first time and it's evident now. It was a violation of the rules. It should have been called and it was - the SAME way that Randy Moss got called for it week 2 in Oakland against the Chiefs, only that was more questioanble. The same way that Tony G. gets called for it at least a couple of times a season. Now should it have been called in the biggest game of the year? Yes. Now move on to the legitimate blown calls.

I also thought that Ben did indeed break the plane of the goal line right before he got hit. However, I did not agree with Hassleback's 15 yard penality for blocking below the knees because he was indeed trying to make a tackle.

Yup, yup, and yup.

The refs didn't throw the game. Stevens ham hands at WR and the Seahawks inability to move the ball down the field with a mere 4 point deficit is what lost the game.

KCWolfman · 02-06-2006, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjayb

If thats the case it should have been called even more last night. On one of Hines Wards catches he also pushed off the defender. Even worse he pushed off of the defenders face mask to get position. Wasn't called. Am I surprised? No. The calls were going all one way. The way that let the cinderella story be complete.

The same people were saying the real story would be Indy winning it all only 4 weeks ago as Manning was the golden child.

The nice thing about conspiracy theories is that they can always be amended even after the fact as they are only theories.

**Bob Dole** · 02-06-2006, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitlock

Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown.

It's pretty clear that the NFL needs to either genetically engineer 3-armed officials or change the touchdown hand signal to a one-armed gesture.

It sure looked to Bob Dole like the hesitation was due to the inability to simultaneously throw a yellow flag and signal for a TD.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 02-06-2006, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Yup, yup, and yup.

The refs didn't throw the game. Stevens ham hands at WR and the Seahawks inability to move the ball down the field with a mere 4 point deficit is what lost the game.

Add to that Alexander only having 20 carries, while Hasselbeck threw the ball almost 50 times.......

Can we blame the refs for that too?

KCWolfman · 02-06-2006, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Add to that Alexander only having 20 carries, while Hasselbeck threw the ball almost 50 times.......

Can we blame the refs for that too?

Hell we still solely blame Lin Elliot for the loss to Indy when Marcus Allen had as good an average per carry and Marty decided to pass as well.

bogie · 02-06-2006, 06:21 PM

No matter who you were routing for, the officiating clearly sucked and that shouldn't happen. There needs to be a remedy to this problem.

02-06-2006, 02:11 AM
tk13 ... Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $-1677500	Whitlock: Throw a flag on the officials http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/13801320.htm Throw a flag on the officials JASON WHITLOCK Kansas City Star DETROIT — What crime-ridden, boarded-building, automotive-industry-ravaged, snowy Detroit couldn’t do, an NFL officiating crew pulled off with relative ease in front of plenty of bored-silly football fans inside beautiful Ford Field. Sports’ and television’s most indestructible beast — the Super Bowl — met its match in the 40th playing of the game the world stops to watch. The inevitable finally happened. A group of middle-aged executives trying to keep pace with a group of highly trained 20-something athletes destroyed America’s sports holiday. Pittsburgh’s one-for-the-thumb Super Bowl will be remembered as the game when physically overmatched referees and heads-buried NFL executives flipped non-Steelers fans an XL middle finger. The Steelers shook off a terrible first quarter and whipped the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL. Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher, after a 14-year pursuit, secured his long-overdue first title. Receiver Hines Ward won the MVP award with a five-catch, 123-yard, one-TD performance. The Bus, Jerome Bettis, contributed a couple of big plays in his Super Bowl homecoming. And Ben Roethlisberger, the boy-wonder QB, overcame a couple of critical mistakes with a few all-heart runs and throws. The Seahawks did what they could to help the Steelers, too. Jerramy Stevens, called out by Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter during pregame hype, dropped enough Matt Hasselbeck passes that FBI investigators would be negligent for failing to interrogate Stevens today. His third-quarter TD catch has to be considered a smokescreen, clutched with two hands to fool people suspicious of a point-shaving scandal. Seattle coach Mike Holmgren’s end-of-the-first-half play-calling and clock management also contributed to Pittsburgh’s victory. Trailing 7-3 and having moved the ball to the Pittsburgh 40 with 48 seconds on the clock, the Seahawks wasted a good 30 seconds as Hasselbeck flapped his arms, shouted directions and impersonated Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage. If not for a Pittsburgh timeout, it appeared the Seahawks were going to take a delay-of-game penalty or try to run out the entire clock. Eventually, Holmgren sent Josh Brown out to attempt a 54-yard field goal — which Brown missed — and walked into the Seattle locker room with one timeout in his pocket. But make no mistake about Super Bowl XL, the performance of referee Bill Leavy and his crew overshadowed Pittsburgh’s heroics and Seattle’s blunders. Paul Tagliabue’s league has an officiating crisis. Bogus, inconsistent flag-throwing and rule-interpreting is making the national pastime difficult to take seriously. So far, only Joey Porter has demonstrated the necessary courage to address what we all see. Many of these part-time, 50-year-old referees don’t know what they’re doing and can’t keep up with the action. Porter fumed when the refs nearly stole Pittsburgh’s playoff victory over Indianapolis by overturning a Troy Polamalu interception. Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown. The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown. Seattle was victimized by two other questionable first-half calls — including the 1-yard TD run the refs awarded Roethlisberger when he seemed a few inches short of the goal line — but the final backbreaking call helped set up Pittsburgh’s game-icing, reverse, wide-receiver-pass-to-Ward touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Ike Taylor intercepted Hasselbeck deep in Pittsburgh territory. Hasselbeck stopped Taylor at the Pittsburgh 29 with a perfectly executed form tackle across Taylor’s knees. The refs flagged Hasselbeck for illegally “blocking” Taylor across his knees and gave the Steelers 15 additional yards. The Seahawks justifiably can complain that Sunday’s one-sided officiating disrupted their offensive rhythm and undermined their focus. The officiating had to creep inside their head. And NFL fans need to acknowledge that there’s something terribly wrong with professional football. This year’s playoffs were horrible. Sunday’s Super Bowl stands as an appropriate symbol of the 2006 playoffs — boring and poorly officiated. We are too technologically advanced, and the NFL is overrun with too much money to put up with the kind of officiating errors that are ruining the pro game. The league needs younger, full-time referees on the field and a three-man officiating team sitting in the press box supervising what is called on the field. All calls — including ones like the offensive pass-interference call that killed Seattle — should be subject to quick review and overturning. You don’t need an official on the field to stick his head underneath a blanket draped over a camera to review calls. Those decisions can be made in a press-box suite. Instead of stopping the game for commercial timeouts on nearly every change of possession or when a coach just wants to stop the clock, the game should go to a commercial timeout whenever a critical penalty needs to be reviewed in the booth. Also, the officiating crew should be forced to address the media and defend their decisions. It’s ridiculous that the media are allowed to confront players, coaches, executives and owners, but the guys who can easily change the course of a game with one questionable decision are pretty much off limits. Bill Leavy and his crew ruined Super Bowl XL. Am I the only one who would like to hear them defend their incompetence?
Posts: 56,600

02-06-2006, 02:13 AM	#2
greg63 Homer go crazy!!! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: SE Kansas Casino cash: $6604990	http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=135247 __________________
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02-06-2006, 11:20 AM	#4
Chiefs Pantalones GO CHIEFS!!!!!! Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $6888717	Whitlock must've bet big money on Seattle... __________________ Don't be fooled by my username, I'm white.
Posts: 26,653

02-06-2006, 11:43 AM	#5
go bo Flop = Man of Steel!! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: independence Casino cash: $10006405	i enjoyed the game, twitless...
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02-06-2006, 12:10 PM	#6
TEX Out Gunning CP's Fandom Police Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Galveston, TX Casino cash: $-1226873	"Porter probably won’t address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday’s referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle’s hard-earned touchdown. The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown." So totally NOT true. My stance is that Darrell clearly pushed off at the last second to gain separation. It was evident the first time and it's evident now. It was a violation of the rules. It should have been called and it was - the SAME way that Randy Moss got called for it week 2 in Oakland against the Chiefs, only that was more questioanble. The same way that Tony G. gets called for it at least a couple of times a season. Now should it have been called in the biggest game of the year? Yes. Now move on to the legitimate blown calls. I also thought that Ben did indeed break the plane of the goal line right before he got hit. However, I did not agree with Hassleback's 15 yard penality for blocking below the knees because he was indeed trying to make a tackle. __________________ "Do we have time to run WASP?"
Posts: 37,057

02-06-2006, 06:06 PM	#9
bogie West Coast Chief Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: california Casino cash: $10004900	Can I e-mail the officials and get the money back that I lost?
Posts: 3,562

02-06-2006, 06:21 PM	#15
bogie West Coast Chief Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: california Casino cash: $10004900	No matter who you were routing for, the officiating clearly sucked and that shouldn't happen. There needs to be a remedy to this problem.
Posts: 3,562