Questionable Calls Superbowl 43
 

Here are some of my questionable calls of the game, Im waiting on you guys to defend your boys like usual but oh well I know that game was a joke to most average fans who wanted to see a good game on this national holiday of sorts.

please explain to me why Harrison was flagged, and not thrown out of the game, when his actions were absolutely flagrant obviously the offical that threw the flag saw the activity.

So thats #1

#2 Roughing the passer on Arizona was within the normal tolerance, and there was no flagrant contact. Also roethlisberger appeared to be in the pocket and threw the ball away, intentional grounding was never considered and NBC never showed a replay but the ball landed and no players from either team were within 7 yards of it.

#3 Roughing the placeholder was uneccessary, you could see Wilson pull up and he barely made contact. Im sorry but you dont throw that flag in a superbowl game, maybe in the reg. season, maybe never.

#4 Block in the back on Colon on the 2nd Pittsburg drive which enabled Rothelisberger to convert on 3 and 10 to Heath Miller.

#5 Holding on the 100 yard return by #26 I dont think anyone saw it, but he grabbed Warners jersey sleeve and redirected him. Close!!

Bottom line I thought the officials had a below all-star performance, and I think this the NFL is rigged for ratings!!

The holder was flattened. You're a moron.

Yawn...time for the trolls to move off to the basketball forum now that March is approaching.

you could see Wilson pull up, his stumbling momentum took him into the holder, if it was flagrant he would have "layed the wood"

In 23 years of watching multiple NFL games per week, I have never seen that call

Why should he have been ejected? He did not throw a punch. The play was still live. And you do not eject someone because the commentator says so. I know John Madden might know a little football, but I have never seen a player ejected for what took place. There was a lot of pushing going on. If that was an ejection, so should have been Taylor during the play out of bounds.

These calls are not made on the basis whether the contact was flagrant or now. :rolleyes: I was not totally happy about the call either, but that is how the NFL wants unnecessary hits called on QBs.

And IG is not present when the passer gets outside of the tackle box. :rolleyes: All the ball has to do is get pass the LOS (even if that is out of bounds) and no receiver needs to be present.

That was about as obvious a call as there was tonight. It is like roughing the kicker, pulling up does not absorb you from the penalty. Sorry, not sure what rulebook you have ever read.

I do not remember the play. Hitting someone in the back is not a foul just because it took place. Sorry, not sure what rulebook you have read.

Maybe if you are working a Junior High game. Not in high school and above where Warner was clearly blocked. Warner was pushed out of the way, the tugging on the jersey did not prevent Warner from making a play. Do you actually officiate?

We did not ask for your opinion.

Peace

That's cause NFL players don't hit the holder. Pulling up has nothing to do with it. The holder is completely vulnerable.

I think the answer is quite obvious :D

How about we look at some of the close plays the officials got exactly right, including the catch by Holmes late in the game, and the good non-call for Intentional Grounding because Warner (I think? Maybe it was Roethlisburger) was out of the tackle box?

holmes powder toss
 

Ok explain the Lebron James impersonation, using the ball as a prop = 15 yards

I have no idea why this wasn't called. I mentioned it to my wife when it happened, saying "he's going to get flagged for this" and he didn't. You have a, IMO, valid point there.

[QUOTE=JRutledge;574617]Why should he have been ejected? He did not throw a punch. The play was still live. And you do not eject someone because the commentator says so. I know John Madden might know a little football, but I have never seen a player ejected for what took place. There was a lot of pushing going on. If that was an ejection, so should have been Taylor during the play out of bounds.



These calls are not made on the basis whether the contact was flagrant or now. :rolleyes: I was not totally happy about the call either, but that is how the NFL wants unnecessary hits called on QBs.

And IG is not present when the passer gets outside of the tackle box. :rolleyes: All the ball has to do is get pass the LOS (even if that is out of bounds) and no receiver needs to be present.



That was about as obvious a call as there was tonight. It is like roughing the kicker, pulling up does not absorb you from the penalty. Sorry, not sure what rulebook you have ever read.



I do not remember the play. Hitting someone in the back is not a foul just because it took place. Sorry, not sure what rulebook you have read.



Maybe if you are working a Junior High game. Not in high school and above where Warner was clearly blocked. Warner was pushed out of the way, the tugging on the jersey did not prevent Warner from making a play. Do you actually officiate?



We did not ask for your opinion.

Peace[/QUOTE


well dont comment on what youre not sure about and oh yeah

#6 The Santonio "lebron James" powder toss was probably not using the ball as a prop, which is generally strictly enforced.

Oh and I did not ask your opinion

You do not see it happen because players are usually smart enough to not run into a holder.

You do not have to hit someone in a flagrant way to have a penalty. Try again.

Peace

The worse no-call on the 100 yard return was the blatant block in the back at about the 10 or 15 yard line.

Oh yeah there was multiple issues with that play, I forgot to mention that, thanks

Im sure JRutledge will pick you apart as well, he comments on everything like he is some sort of god.

I will not respond further as JRut did a fine job of addressing and answering each of these.

Now give it up and go away, troll boy.

I watched the whole game. The run was replayed at least three times and I did not see an illegal block. I don't know how blatant something is if only two people here are making noise about it.

If you were looking for rules explanations of sports you don't officiate, you could do much worse than JRutledge. :)

The football guys stuffed your rules' arguments.

Here is the list of the top 26 TV markets in the country.


New York City, New York
Los Angeles, California
Chicago, Illinois
San Francisco, California
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Washington, District of Columbia
Boston, Massachusetts
Miami, Florida
Detroit, Michigan
Houston, Texas
Phoenix, Arizona
Seattle, Washington
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cleveland, Ohio
Sacramento, California
San Diego, California
Denver, Colorado
Tampa, Florida
St. Louis, Missouri
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
Orlando, Florida
Indianapolis, Indiana
Portland, Oregon
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

If the Super Bowl was "rigged for ratings" the NFL could have done a lot better than Phoenix and Pittsburgh.

Doesn't matter that he 'pulled up' as you put it. The holder is in a vulnerable position and can not be touched. Period.

This is about as dumb of a comment as you can make. Consistency is what everyone wants and deserves. A foul in the first game is still a foul in the last game.

whatever Im not a Cardinals or Steelers fan and I did not enjoy the game tonight as with the other 20 or so folks, due to the lopsided officiating, many were judgement calls but to average fans, and not trained officials the game was poorly officiated. We can argue about it all week but the bottom line is that the Cardinals got robbed.

If you can review the entire game film and still come to the same conclusion then you must be a Pittsburgh bandwagon fan, I guarantee that this crew will receive a less than perfect grade.

I had no rooting interest in the game.

I will agree, the crew will not receive a perfect score. Then again, I don't know many who have worked a perfect game. Saying that, I'll add, I bet they get very good marks but in the end it won't matter because you'll just say the NFL is covering up for them.

Feet In Bounds?
 

I have a question about the rule on a player landing inbounds after a legal catch...of course I am referring to Holmes catch at the end of the game. I have seen several still photo angles, and from the front, it looks like both feet hit the ground, while from the rear, it looks like the trail foot never hit the ground, and actually landed on the foot that was indeed on the ground. I am simply wanting to know what the definitive NFL rule for the play is...do both feet need to touch the ground, or is one on top of the other good enough. Not trying to start a controversy, because like many big plays, I think the only one who will truly ever know is Holmes himself...Thank you in advance for any replies

Sorry, but most here do not care what fans think. Just like you said they do not know anything about officiating.

And I do not understand how the Cardinals got robbed. They scored with 2 plus minutes to go. The Steelers were called for a holding penalty to not only resulted in a safety, but the first play of the drive after the Cardinals scored their last TD, the Steelers were called for a holding penalty that put them deeper in their own territory.

Actually I am a Rams fan and I have great respect for Kurt Warner that he brought the only Super Bowl title to my home team. I also have a lot of respect for Mike Tomlin and I really did not have much of a rooting interest in this game at all. Not all of us care who wins. I would have been satisfied with either team winning. But I have been officiating for over 10 years and I look at the game through the eyes of an official and look to see if plays would have been the same way I would have called them if in a similar situation.

Peace

Both feet have to touch the ground. I didn't think there was any doubt that this was a TD. The field judge was the first to go up with the hands and he had the best view of the play. He was right on the sideline looking at Homles' feet.

thanks
 

thanks, I am a Cardinal AND Steeler fan (born in Pitt, raised in AZ)...so I wanted to simply see a good game, and it certainly was...you'll see the photos probably over the next few days, but I also think he clearly had both feet on the ground and was in control of the ball...

one other comment though, on the Harrison personal foul penalty, he did punch the player at least once before they seperated and then he proceeded to flagrantly push the Cardinal player down. Whether that warrants an ejection is open for debate, but there was at least one punch thrown that was captured by NBC cameras and shown in the extended replay.

Exaclty. Mike Pereira has even said as much. He wants Week 1 and teh SB to be indistinguishable when it comes to the officiating. Otherwise, he said, how do the players know what is and what is not a foul?

The block was by #56 on #34, The intiial contact was on #34's right shoulder. He turned and the contact continued on the back. Since initial contact determines whether a block is legal or not, this block is legal.

You repeatedly show your ignorance regarding football officiating and football rules on this board. You should really stay on the basketball board where you not quite as clueless.

As for the original poster, he's a total idiot, so I'm not even going to respond to his stupidity.

Ditto to that. Hey Rut, when are you eligible to work another state final? ;)

LOL!!!

Peace

I know I am probably tilting at windmills here but I have to ask. Did it occur to you that Arizona had more fouls called on them because they committed more fouls? Before you mention it, I do not have a rooting interest in either team.

In high school, I can definitely see the blow being considered flagarant and the player disqualified. The push after that did not rise to the level of being flagarant, which by rule, requires an ejection.

thanks, I mis-typed, the push was not flagrant, the punch sure seemed to be, as it was done from a superior position to a player on the ground in a position where he looked like he was not defending himself...anyway, thanks for a response...I just joined tonight, am an umpire and HS admin...so football is not something I would comment on, just ask questions on...

I believe the specific penalty was called unnecessary roughness. I saw nothing that was deemed as flagrant.

Peace

Yeah. I thought the officials threw a bad pass in the end zone that was picked off and ran back 100 yards. Surely one those officials could have made the tackle if only they would have tried harder. I also thought Field Judge should have provided better defense on the game winning TD pass. How can the officials let a guy get in that position to make that catch. Clearly the officials handed them that.

Hold up fellas, we are in the presence of an expert. Show your respect.

The things I saw.

R should have not had a fumble on Warner in the third quarter I think. I understand letting the play play out but that wasn't a good call. Replay fixed that one but that was about the worst error all night. Arizona should not have had to depend on a replay to fix that one.

The roughing the holder was a great call. That is an odd call because nobody does it.

Perhaps Harrison did deserve to be ejected but not from the replays I saw. But I may not have seen the entire action.

All of the holds called, mostly against Arizona, were there and they were big. The hold in the end zone against Pittsburgh was a great call.

If the NFL wants to call USC for using the ball then it should have been called. I think it took so long for Holmes to do it that the officials may have moved off to get ready for the try and perhaps just didn't see it.

The block at about the 15 at the end of the long return at the end of the first half is never called a block in the back in the NFL. There is a block like that on a lot of long returns in the NFL and even in college and it is never called because it is legal.

So that is about it except for that great tackle the umpire made. He tried to move but didn't get away quickly enough. At least he didn't end up on the bottom.

I thought they were done after the last play of the first half. They actually defended that final touchdown pretty well, but it was a perfect pass and a perfect catch.

Try thinking your logic through for a second, Art Bell. Think the NFL would be able to rig this without even one disgruntled referee coming forward with proof? Not possible, a conspiracy of this level would require too many participants to stay hidden.

Most of the calls i thought were correct. The one call i didn't get a chance to see, was the roughing the passer call. On the radio, they thought the flag was for intentional grounding and couldn't believe the call. I did not see, so i have no comment.

The one place i was a little dissapointed, and thought the officials ( i consider the replay official a member of the group) was not reviewing the last fumble. Tho i thought the call was probably correct. I can't understand why they didn't take the 5 minutes to review it.

Please don't give me the BS that Pereira said about they checked in the booth, between plays. He is just doing a CYA, so his officials don't look bad. That guy is more about PR, than integrity of the game.

Overall, I thought the game officials did a good job, lots of penalties, but they were consistant.

I only question I had was the roughing the passer call. But, you have to remember the NFL's policy on their million dollar QBs.

Oops, my bad, I thought you were talking about Fitzgerald's block on Bolden's 45yd reception. Must have been similar blocks that did not get flagged.

Now define an expert:
an "ex" is a has been and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure:D

There were lots of flags but every replay showed they were right on the money as far as the advantage/disadvantage. The roughing call was the only one I questioned and only because I was rooting for the Cards but like others have said losing QB's in the NFL has a huge ripple effect across the league and the league has spoken loud and clear about it.

Hey fljet: You should contact your local high school and college associations and get yourself some games as referee. I'm not sure how football ever made it this far without you and it sure can't wait any longer. Don't delay, we need you.

emphasis on the "AVERAGE FANS"!

Will you put that guarantee in writing? And define perfect? ;)

This thread answers most of my questions.

I am a Cardinals fan, not a football official, but I do officiate other sports.

I was frustrated with the number of flags, but like the general concensus here, the only one I really would question is the roughing the passer penalty. It appeared to me to be one of those that could be flagged or not and somebody is going to be upset.

Even with the number of flags, I thought the game was well officiated from the little I know about football officiating. The officiating did not decide the game one way or the other, as usual.

I did hear an interesting comment today on the sports radio shows - McAuley's (?) crew threw more flags this season than any other crew. Just thought that was interesting and can use it to try to convince the average bonehead fanboy that just because you throw a lot of flags, it does not mean you are a bad official.

I thought the officials did an outstanding job. Like warren said, the one call they blew was the warner fumble that was overturned by replay. I agree with warren again that the santonio celebration was very late and the officials were probably setting up for another play. There were some CLOSE calls in BIG situations and they nailed all of them, IMO.

...it's always a screw job when the steelers win the superbowl. that's all that #2 talk. sheesh!

I agree with you Andy.....one really can't whine about the 50/50 calls in the game....those are judgment calls and how can you argue with an impartial opinion? You can't. So you attack the guys position by saying it was rigged.

Actually i thought the crew with the official with glasses (Winters?) threw the most flags. With that crew, i swore the flag was hot, they were afraid to keep it tucked away. :D

cardinals fans, if you're the ones that are crying about the officials:

http://maddox.xmission.com/crybaby.gif

Did you not see the TV replay with the 2 red lines draw back from the 2 tackles and Ben being clearly outside of the box?

I didn't even see the Holmes "Lebron" impersonation when it happened. How in the hell did they not nail him for 15? That is ALWAYS a penalty and they blew it. The whole "It was late and they had quit looking at him" is a lame excuse.

Not reviewing the final play when Warner's arm was going forward was a complete joke. I thought they've always said that the booth just decides if they play is worthy of review and the Referee actually looks at it and reviews it.

You guys can kiss rear end all you want, but the Cardinals got hosed just like the Seahawks.

Are you going to bother answering any of our questions regarding your conduct or? Perhaps you should hang up your basketball stripes, I'm not sure you have the ability to view things objectively.

Yeah, you're right. I'm not able to referee basketball because of the NFL. How silly of me.

My conduct? I'm not the one who got overwhelmed in the Super Bowl last night.

Never mind. Go away troll. :rolleyes:

Na, that's okay. Just because someone questions NFL referees, they're considered a "troll".

No, someone that claims they know more than officials, then cannot respond objectively.

From what I understand you are an official that does not work football. You of all people should know better. It is obvious you do not.

Peace

I never said I know more than they do. This is where the disconnect is I guess. I'm saying they screwed up. It doesn't take an NFL referee or even a football referee to figure out when NFL referees screw up.

If you are saying they screwed up you have to give more reasons than, "I just did not like that call." Or "They should have called this a foul."

If they screwed up, explain how. Or better yet, give us the rules or interpretations that show the officials did not do what they should of. You have to do better than, "I have been watching football for....years and I never have seen that called."

Do you think the "average fan" knows the sport you work better than you do, just because of what they have seen?

Peace

Now this is the smartest thing you've said in a long time.

Maybe, maybe not. But it sure helps.

Who wants to bet he's about 24 yrs old?

You are being very disingenuous now. You've accused NFL officials as a whole as being incompetent and blantantly biased. And you have done so on more than one ocassion.

So shouldn't you stop officiating basketball since I'm sure quite a few fans, coaches, and players have made the same statements about you after watching one of your games? (and don't say they haven't because it has happened to every official who has ever worn stripes.)

Warner's arm did move forward, WITHOUT THE BALL!!! If you're such a hotshot official you of all people would know that. My guess is that you're some flunky college kid who's just sobering up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRHvm52T_WE

Agreed about the arm. As much as I hated to admit it, it was a fumble. He waited too long to get rid of it. I was hoping it would be ruled incomplete, time put back on, and they'd get the 15 yards for the USC penalty for a better shot at the endzone. I really wanted Phoenix to win.

Helluva game, though.

That interpretation is called "Empty hands." Anyone that has done a college game or above should know that ruling. Then again, we are all not like zm1283. :)

Peace

He's also gone as far as to slam all football officials.

OK, I'm truely done now. As Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations." :rolleyes:

This is the same call Hochuli made & it was a fumble
 

I agree with the Officials in Super Bowl XLIII. They made the correct call on the play with Kurt Warner. It was a fumble!

Look @ this play on 6 Days to Sunday with Ed Hochuli.

This is the same kind of call Ed Hochuli made when Harrington was a QB for the Lions when they played the Cowboys a few years ago. This play is about 1 minute into the video.

You must have Real Player to view the video. This site will not allow me to post the video here, but you can go to NFL85.com & look under Pictures/Videos & go to the second page & about 3/4's of the way down click on 6 Days To Sunday Part 1.

Becky

Apparently two people here have an ally in Jason Whitlock, who wrote a Fox Sports column today discussing the terrible officiating. If a sportswriter says it, it must be true! :D

Amazing and sad that with everything going on in this game he uses most of his column to bash the officials. Not all that surprising, though.

I normally like Whitlock, too. Unfortunate.

Jason Whitlock is usually a dumbazz no matter what he is talking about. He went to HS with Jeff George and he thought he was the greatest QB ever. :rolleyes:

Always consider the source.

Peace

Yeah he is an idiot. Check out this quote from the article....."For the Cardinals, it was 11-on-17 for much of the evening." Either he doesn't know that there are 7 officials on the field or he thinks that 11+7=17.

And you wonder why athletes get a bad rap?

Peace

If you added fljet and zm1234's ages together, you wouldn't get 24.

they also missed the group celebration according to one of the Sirius nfl shows

the roughing the passer play was defintiely IG, they showed a replay on Nfl network that confirmed.

Even the ESPN crew was complaining about calling a roughing the holder,

Hey since Peirerra is retiring Im sure the NFL could get this bulletin board to be its new CYA VP of officiating!!!

just about every website in the country wrote an article about the lopsided calls, Yahoo had it as their main news topic last night. You should know since you live in Portland and live most of your live indoors or wearing a rain coat.

You are honestly quoting or referencing media people? The same people that think there should not be a roughing the holder call and a player that got run over?

Dude, do you have a girlfriend yet?

Peace

Probably too busy watching NFL games, trolling officiating forums and playing World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft is for losers. :D

Peace

Exactly. ;)

the media is the last place to cite for possible officiating errors. most of them have degrees (you hope, some of them i'm not so sure) in journalism, most probably didn't play sports past middle school and most of them have definitely never referee'd a game in any sport, and probably don't know half of the rules in said sports. they're writers who investigate and write a story for people to read. just because they cover a sport doesn't mean they necessarily understand the sport. how many journalists do you think covered the super bowl last night? how many of those journalists do you think have actually played a down of football in their life? i'll take a journalist's advice on whether or not a word is a verb or a noun, not if a call is a fumble or an incomplete pass.

Here ya go. These are facts:

AZ had to use 2 challenges to correct mistakes on the field. The first ruled fumble by Warner was obviously not. Not ruling it an incomplete pass was an error that had to be corrected by challenge. The other with the spot was tougher, but the first one ruled a fumble was a kicked call.

The final play, no matter if the end result was right or wrong, should have been reviewed. How they allowed Pitt to line up and take a knee without review is inexcusable. The impact was too great to let stand without review. Since it was less than 2 mins, it was up to the officials to decide to review. They blew it.

The no call on the celebration was a kicked call no matter what. That's 15 yards and a huge no call based on the resulting field position and the time remaining in the game.

The rest were judgement. The roughing on Ben was weak. Based on his scrambling, how could that be roughing. Still, was likely within the rules and a defendable call. The holding on Warner on the return was more than someone has said. The Pitt player grabbed Warner's jersey on the shoulder and pulled to take him out of the play. No other contact, just the reach out, grab, and jerk. To me that's holding but easy to miss in a play of that type. Not sure Kurt would have made a play anyway, so yes, either a missed call or another judgement call that went the other way. The PF on Harrison resulted in zero penalty. The punted ball was downed on the one without any penalty. Because they always start on a yardline, this resulted in zero penalty assessed to Pitt. I have no idea of when he hit the person he was blocking in relation to if the ball was kicked or not so whether it should have been an automatic first down or not is not clear. Don't think it was flagrant and defintiely should not have resulted in an ejection.

More than the officiating, what stood out to me most yesterday was that Pitt is not longer the team I remember or used to admire. I used to like Pitt. I met Lynn Swann at the Superstars competition in Florida back in the 70's as a kid and always rooted them as "my" afc team, until now that is. I always looked at them as "old school" type, expecially with Cowher as coach. After yesterday, they are just another bunch of it's "all about me" players. The celebrating (I thought it was shaking salt into the wound at the time, still don't know what the LeBron tribute is?), the cheap shot by Harrison hitting the guy on the ground, them not acknowledging the other team for putting up a great fight (nope not one of the 3 I saw, Tomlin, Ben, or Holmes) in their post game interviews. I guess I'm just getting to old and not a targeted audience anymore. Everyone else but me must like the celebrating. Why else would Chad OCHO Johnson be talked about on Sundays? Me, I miss the Barry Sanders who whenever he scored, he would celebrate by handing the ball to the umpire.

Too Old to Change,
Roger

More fuel for the fire!!!

Roger, the lebron impersonation is how at the start of every game he shakes a bunch of powder on his hands and then throws his hands up at the crowd near the officals table prior to the opening tip off. Its so well known that Sportscenter shows him do it quite often. Im sure youll see it someday.

here is a youtube video of both the real lebron and the nfls version

http://www.faniq.com/blog/Video-Sant...ion-Blog-18695

One other thing for the choir boys, Why was #62 not flagged for dragging Roethlisberger into the end zone, the play was eventually overturned, but correct me if Im wrong you are not allowed to drag a player into the endzone in NFL rules are You? Official that signaled had to have seen it as it was obvious and right in front of him.

heres some good evidence of missed holding calls as well as harrisons punch out of #47. since half of you probably were to busy drinking cosmopolitans to take notes

http://www.worstrefcalls.com/superbowl2009.html

Well for one he did not drag him into the end zone, he was short of the end zone. If you have to look at slow motion replay to know what happened, that would not be a good call to make. Players fall on each other all the time. If you want that called, I would love to see you make that call in a kiddy game. You probably would piss down your leg with all the crap you would get.

Then again, you are not an official.

Peace

No we actually know how to call the game and have done so for real, not from just our couch.

Get over it, the game is over. Arizona lost the game. They could have stopped the Steelers in the last two minutes and they would have won. I guess the officials did not tackle very well. :rolleyes:

All I saw today was Whitlock's column in the sports section of msn.com. Not a word about the officiating in today's Oregonian. Our columnist chose to write about how exciting the finish was. What a concept!

I know, I know. We don't have an NFL team, so what would he know about football, right?

It was mid-40s and partly cloudy yesterday. I went for a nice walk without my coat before the game.

I cannot understand why some people will not let the game go once it's over. Then again, most officials can put past games behind them.

Im not a cardinals fan, just sick of watching horrible calls in the biggest game.
I love watching your lame a@@ excuses, like it happened so fast, dude #62 had a hold of ben the whole way to the ground, we are talking multiple seconds, not just a tug

Honestly I do not care if you are a Cardinal fan or a Ram's fan.

You keep talking about lame excuses but you are coming to a gun fight with a knife. You are like talking to 1st grader about college stuff. You do not even understand the rules you are claiming were missed or not called. The best example is who tripped over someone as if that absolves someone from a foul (Oh Brother). :confused:

And holding is called based a couple of philosophies. Having a jersey is not holding and never is called that way at the pro level or the college level. If a player is getting beat and driven into the ground, that is not going to be called holding. And in the NFL they want a take down, not just a tug for some seconds. And the defender has to do something to try get away. It is called "stronger legs." If they called it the way you wanted, then you would not have a single play without a penalty. You have to do a little more than just have a jersey. But dope heads like you get mad at all the penalties, but have no idea when a penalty is committed by the standards of the rules and the interpretations the rules makers give them.

Peace

You just gotta love these nutless, done nothing, been nowhere types going on about "this call or that call was so flagrant or so obvious" BS.

There are those who can do and those who can do no more than complain. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

After watching the video, the roughing penalty on Dansby was WEAK. This is the freaking NFL, not tiddlywinks.

The holding call against Roderick Hood at the start of the 4th quarter was awful.

Nobody has explained why the final "fumble" by Warner wasn't reviewed on the field. You all keep claiming it was a fumble, but how would the officials on the field know without replay?

Keep up with the character attacks about age, etc. It makes you guys look more desperate.

If it was weak, change the rule. You cannot hit the holder ever on your own no matter when it happens or how it happens. He was not blocked into him and he had time to avoid any contact. That is the rule at all levels!!!!! (Maybe not the new A-11 Federation ;))

I do not remember the play and honestly do not care.

Why should anyone tell you, you already know the rules and understand the philosophies.

The official answer, the replay officials already reviewed the play and did not need to take a different look. It was a fumble, the ball was knocked out of his hand. His arm going forward has nothing to do with a pass when you lose control of the ball. It is called "empty hands." It is not only a common call, but not one that always needs a review. But you knew that right?

Then stop acting like a dumbazz. When you get an explanation you claim you know more than anyone here. And you have never officiated a mini mite game before. :p

I'm going to say this and be done with this foolishness. The crew did not have a perfect game. If you take the time to actually read some of the officiating forums, you will see this is discussed amongst officials.

You can even feel you had a lousy game, but as an official, to come onto a forum for a sport you do not officiate and to show a total lack of respect for your fellow officials is reprehensible. There are games I feel that NBA officials did not have a great game, I believe that game six of the 2002 Western Conference finals was a good example of such. I'm not about to jump on the basketball forum and start slamming the officials, calling them incompetent, etc. We should be above that and show some professional courtesey where it is due.

I doubt this will sink in, but I am hoping that somewhere it will eventually. We take enough garbage from fans, coaches and even players, we don't need to deal with it from each other. Hopefully as you grow as an official, you will come to realize this.

Wrong play. Dansby was called for roughing the passer when he knocked Ben down.

Ticky-tack defensive holding call when the DB made a great play.

Translation: The NFL looked at it and realized they might have to overturn the biggest call of the game, so they tell everyone they reviewed it upstairs and called it good.

Side note: Instant replay is a freaking joke.

You don't know that.

Fair enough. It may not even be the officials themselves, although I do think NFL officials are the most inconsistent of any in pro sports.

I'm even more upset with the NFL itself for what it has become. The roughing the passer rules are ridiculous. The celebration rules are ridiculous. That doesn't even scratch the surface. As I said in my last reply, instant replay is a joke.

Believe it or not, I'm not the only person who thinks the NFL favors certain teams over others.

I did not like the call either, but that does not mean it was not correct. The NFL does not want unnecessary hits on QBs and I saw that same call made multiple times all year. That is what the NFL wants, that is what the NFL gets. Defensive player should have known that. Everyone seems to know that (but you of course).

I do not know if it was or if it was not. You cannot grab, contact or push a receiver after 5 yards. I saw that call all year-round.

It really does not matter what you think the translation was, it was the right call. You do not need to review something that is correct in the first place. And you have to have control of the ball to be considered a pass. The ball cannot be on your arm, it must be in your hand.

And if you did, what qualifications does that give you?

Peace

Wow, you admit that you are apart of a bunch of idiots.

• I guess the NFL told Kurt Warner to throw an interception on the goal line?
  
• I guess the NFL was favoring a team they took a TD away from (they only got 3)?
  
• I guess the NFL told Samari Rolle (on the sideline and in the 3 yard belt) to run into Larry Fitzgerald so he could not make a tackle on the Harrison before he got to the goal line?
  
• I bet the NFL decided to give the eventual winning team a holding call that not only gave the losing team 2 points, but they gave them a holding call the first play of the final drive (big penalty)?
  
• I guess the NFL told the Cardinals not to tackle and allowed the eventual MVP run 30-40 yards untouched before being tackled inside the 10?
  
• I guess the NFL told the MVP to catch the ball with 3 people guarding him?
  
• I guess the NFL told the Cardinals to have Fitzgerald score with over 2 minutes to go in the game?
  
• I guess the NFL told the Cardinals to miss tackles and not get a hand on Big Ben when he moved in the pocket and made big passes?
  
• I guess the NFL told the Cardinals not to block and allow their QB to make a throw without being hit?
  
• I bet the NFL is at fault for Warner not having the ability as Big Ben to get away from the rush?

I could mention about 10 other things. You are right, the fix was in?

Peace

What's your lame-a$$ excuse for not answering direct questions, not acknowleging factual contridictions of your assertions, and most importantly, what is your excuse for not being an official yourself?

Just wondering as I sit here drinking cosmopolitans and inspecting my raincoats for wear and tear.

Are you referring to the play where Hood grabbed Hines Ward by the back of the jersey at least 2 different times?

Hey! I urged you earlier to get ahold of your local high school and college associations and get yourself signed up to be an official. How's that going? Oh. What? You're too big a pussy to do that? We can tell.

What I don't understand is we have all these knuckleheads complaining about the officiating but not a single one is trying to be a solution to making anything better. Get off you lazy boy and go join an officiating group and work your way up to the NFL to improve what you think needs improving. As for sportswriters. In order to drive up their ratings they ALWAYS write about something they perceive to be controversial even if that means creating their own bogus rule in their mind and then write about how the officials missed it. You would never have near as many fans logging on to read about how the officials called a perfect game. Fans just don't care about the good calls an official makes, they really don't care. They'd much rather see officials make bad calls, because that's where our society has gone. We'd much rather have something to rumble about and have someone to point the finger at. But Lord knows the teams can never be blamed. They don't make mistakes right?

You realize you're accusing the officials of cheating here, right?

What I find funny is that there are a couple of posters here who are complaining about the calls in the game. They've already made up their mind that they're correct, despite any attempt by others to explain the correct rulings and interpretations to them. The antagonists then claim that we're all officials and will blindly defend our brethren.

The truth is that if you read through this and other threads you'll see where we can be critical of our brothers. Recent threads about Ed Hochuli and Don Cherry come to mind.