Jim Joyce Feels Better About Himself Tonight

I already said enough on this in the live blog, so I won't re-iterate everything again, but in case you missed it, here is the controversial ending of today's Rutgers-St. John's game.



First of all, there is no doubt the refs erred here, but unfortunately, the Big East was correct in their statement. Once the refs let play continue, it is unreviewable because in order to have a review, you need to have a call, and there was no call. Even though it defies logic (and common sense), what the Big East said was right.

Secondly, and I have made constant fun of this announce team on the live blogs, but they were right on top of things. Pasch recognized it right away, as did Fraschilla and Doris Burke, so kudos to them there.

Unfortunately, Rutgers is not an NCAA Tournament team and this is how their season will end. Their last game of the 2010-2011 season will forever have 1.7 unplayed seconds left on it. The good news, is that their last game of this forgettable season will now be unforgettable.

And lastly, if Jim Burr, Tim Higgins, and Earl Walton referee another game this season, whether it be in the Big East Tourney or the Big Dance, it will be a shame.

The Egregious Officiating Blunder That Cost The Flyers An OT Game-winning Goal (A Complete Breakdown)

(Originally posted at Broad Street Hockey)

Let's get one thing straight: The Flyers did not deserve to beat the Flames today. They were outplayed and outworked by an inferior hockey team who is ranked 26th in the league in the overall standings.

Let's get another thing straight: The Flyers would have stolen a 2nd point from Calgary anyway, had the officials not made one of their biggest blunders of the season.

When Sean Avery instigated what is now known as the "Avery Rule" back in the 2008 playoffs, did anyone really think we would see it come up again? Maybe the lack of occurrence of the penalty caused the referees to forget what the penalty is for. It certainly is an explanation for calling it when they did.

Follow along with the jump for a complete breakdown of everything regarding this rule and this play.

A Rundown Of The Play Clock Controversy And Why The Officials Are Entirely At Fault

Here is in more detailed, precise, and clearer terms a run down of what happened with yesterday's end of 1st half play clock controversy between the Eagles and the Redskins and why the sole blame of what happened lies directly on the officials.

1. Shady McCoy is tackled at the proverbial 1 inch line.

2. Referee Alberto Riveron goes upstairs for a booth review to see if Shady McCoy got in.

3. Despite replays being at best inconclusive and at worst short of the goalline, the review takes upwards of 5 minutes.

4. Riveron comes back and rules, "play stands as called."

5. Riveron then goes back and spots the ball at the 1-yard line, something that should not be happening if the play really did stay as called, otherwise, the play would not stand as called.

6. Having heard "play stands," Andy Reid calls a QB sneak to run on 4th and goal from the proverbial 1-inch line.

7. Seeing that the ball had been moved to the 1-yard line, Andy Reid calls timeout, and calls the official over to talk about it because while a good play call from the initial spot, a QB sneak is not so good from a whole yard out and he needs to get things straightened out.

8. All the while Andy Reid is trying to figure out the referee's ruling and why the ball was moved back, Alberto Riveron and his crew inexplicably start running the play clock after the 30-second timeout, even though normal officiating practices dictate that you do not run the play clock while the coach is conversing with the official and trying to figure out a call.

9. Because Andy Reid is talking to the official, he can't relay a different play to Kevin Kolb in time.

10. The play clock inexplicably winds down and because the Eagles just called timeout, they cannot call another one before a play is run and are forced to take a delay of game penalty.

11. That moves the ball back to the 6-yard line and the Eagles have no choice but to kick a field goal before the half.

12. Had the ball been spotted as Alberto Riveron dictated it should have been, the Eagles would have run the planned QB sneak and in all likelihood Kevin Kolb would have found his way in for a touchdown.

As he always does when something goes wrong, Andy Reid claimed it was his fault, but as you can clearly see by the outline of the events above, absolutely none of it was his fault. It is on the referees to not only be honest when they are ruling that a play stands as called, but to not run the play clock without at least alerting someone while a head coach is trying to sort out the controversy, especially after he called a timeout.

All in all it is excuseless piss poor officiating that played a big role in the Eagles losing yesterday's game. Now I am not saying the officials are the only reason the Eagles lost, other factors such as the Eagles shooting themselves in the foot by missing tackles contributed, but to say the officials played no part in the outcome last night is to say that pigs have wings and can fly. It is said that if an official does a good job, no one will notice or talk about him. Well, here is a whole blog post on Alberto Riveron in addition to the mention he got in last night's recap where I outlined some of the other blunders of him and his crew.

A P.S. To Yesterday's Rant

Normally I would just add this as an update to yesterday's rant, but because I don't want to take away from the last paragraph, I will make a brief post on this because not only did the NHL Officials completely flub up the rules in yesterday's Flyers-Penguins game in their process of getting to the call (another screw up in that department was they looked at the jumbotron, something they can't do), but they screwed up the call. Here is photographic evidence that Marc-Andre Fleury was indeed out of the crease at the point of contact and photographic evidence that Ville Leino did his best to avoid contact.




From these pictures, you can see Ville Leino did his best to stop and avoid contact with Fleury (though the refs did rule incidental contact they did not enforce the play as such) by putting on his brakes and Marc-Andre Fleury was at least a foot out of his crease as you can clearly see from the overhead, thus Leino cannot be faulted for said incidental contact.

(Hat tip to Pro Hockey Talk and Broad Street Hockey)

The NHL Is A Fucking Joke

When a YouTube video comes up, I'll use that instead, but for now, fast forward to the 2:30 mark in this video. Just watch.



Now let me direct you to Rule 69.1 clearly stating the following: "Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact."

Isn't that what just happened? Ville Leino's contact with Marc-Andre Fleury was incidental (i.e. he did not intentionally plow into him) and Fleury was OUT OF THE CREASE when it happened. Simon Gagne then scored the goal, THE REFEREE RULED IT A GOAL, and then reversed it, citing incidental contact. INCIDENTAL CONTACT!!! HE CITED INCIDENTAL CONTACT!!! DID YOU HEAR ME? INCIDENTAL CONTACT!!!! INCIDENTAL CONTACT!!!!

What does rule 69.1 say about incidental contact, again?

"Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact."

Keep in mind, the initial rule was a goal and they overturned it citing incidental contact with a goalie, when that goalie was clearly outside of the crease when that happened. INCIDENTAL CONTACT!!!!!!!!

After that, it was all hopeless. The Flyers lost all their momentum. Backlund was taken out after the 2nd period for a groin injury, thus forcing Laviolette to play Boucher again. But this is not about whether or not the Flyers will or will not win. Do I believe the Flyers are a Stanley Cup contender this year? No. Do I think we are capable of winning a playoff series this year? No. Would I rather see us lose games ourselves rather than the refs losing them for us? Yeah, because at least that way I can honestly assess the Flyers and the opposition and say they were better. When the refs make the rules up as they go along, it affects the game, it affects momentum, it affects morale, and the game ceases to be a game and becomes a joke. 5-year olds playing a pick up game with no actual referee would call a better game than what these refs did today. As if this was a cake that really needed icing, it is illegal to disallow a goal like that if there are no penalties.

Do I expect perfection from the referees? No. Do I expect them to know and apply the basic rules of the league inside and out when it comes to judging whether or not a goal is a goal? Yes, I do. Is that a crazy expectation? Fuck no it's not. It's like I said a million times in the past few days. Do I think the Flyers are going to win it all? No. Do I think they are good enough to win it all, or even a playoff series? No. Do I think they at least deserve a fair shake from the refs and the league? Yes. Do I think that is asking too much? Apparently it is

And to think this does not even begin to touch upon the other atrocities in this hockey game joke. This does not even begin to touch upon a phantom penalty on Scott Hartnell for touching Sidney Crosby. No. Really. He touched him and got a penalty. This does not even begin to touch upon Matt Cooke's holding the stick of Ryan Parent going uncalled. A non-call that DIRECTLY LED to the Penguins getting their 3rd goal of the game, a goal that would further break the backs of the Flyers in this game.

But you know what, for all the rule citing, none of it matters. Take your copy of the NHL Rulebook and throw it away. Rip it up, tear it to shreds, take a bottle of gasoline, pour it on the remaining shreds of the rule book, and light it on fire. Throw the damn thing away and light set it ablaze in flames. You won't be the first one to have done it. That honor belongs to the NHL.

How Can Toronto Possibly Call This No Goal? And Other Officiating Atrocities From Tonight's Flyers Game

Click for larger. The puck is at least 1/8 an inch over the line! It should be clear from this picture and everyone that is not blind that this is a goal. The puck was knocked into the net by Kimmo Timonen for the Flyers goal to bring them within 1 in the 3rd period of what was before a 2-0 hockey game. Yet after looking at it for over 5 minutes, the league concluded that the puck was not over the line. Click for larger and clearer if you must.

Though that was not the only crime by NHL referees against the Flyers. Consider this incident, while ignoring the idiotic commentary of from Garry Galley who would not know textbook boarding if right above the boarding there was a huge neon sign saying "THIS IS WHAT BOARDING LOOKS LIKE, RECOGNIZE IT YOU DUMB TWIT"



Is there any intelligent hockey fan that can tell you that that was not boarding. And to Galley's point that you can't trust a guy not to hit you, well, you can't trust that, but you should be able to trust that someone is not going to send you flying 4 feet headfirst into the boards, that's for sure. And for the ignorant dingbats who think that Gagne may have embellished.......this is a man that has had 3 concussions in his career. Why would he send himself flying head first into the boards like that???

All in all, that was not called, but 5 minutes for fighting in Gagne were. Oh, and 2 minutes for Gagne for instigating. And another 2 for something about instigating with a face shield. And a 10-minute misconduct. What did Volchenkov get? 2 minutes for roughing for that scrum. And I am not even going to blame Gagne. The refs missed a blatant elbow call earlier in the game by Volchenkov on Carcillo. It had become quite clear that the referees were in no business to call penalties on dirty plays by Senators and seeing as they were not going to stand up for him, Gagne had no choice but to stand up for himself. And I don't even care that he got penalized, he absolutely did the right thing by going after Volchenkov. It resulted in a 7-minute PP for Ottawa (which Philly killed all of, by the way) but I could not be happier for him. It's about time someone on this team stuck up for themselves and it's about damn time we saw some damned emotion out of a team lacking it. They did not convert it, they did not win the game, but if the NHL and the referees are not going to stand up for Simon Gagne, then he had every right to go after Volchenkov like that. And I applaud him for it.

You can call me a whiny Flyers fan all day long and delusionaly discredit everything I am saying because of that, but does any of that change what is so painfully obvious? Can you see for yourselves that the puck was across the line in that picture? Can you see for yourselves the textbook boarding job that Volchenkov did on Gagne? And look, I am not even saying the Flyers would have won that game if not for the refs. They played an inconsistent game and failed to convert on the PP opportunities they did have, but were they given a fair shake in this game? Absolutely not. Do hockey fans in general deserve better than this? Yes they do.

In his game recap at Broad Street Hockey, Geoff Detwiler summed it up the best.

Any casual fan watching this game must have been left asking what is wrong with the NHL. The answer is that games like this are all too common. Before getting all "The NHL hates Philadelphia", know that these sorts of things happen everywhere. Detroit has had some of the most ridiculous calls go against them, and they've surely lost count. Matt Cooke goes unsuspended. Hell, Mike Richards didn't get suspended. Alex Ovechkin is constantly in the middle of these debates. It isn't anything against Philadelphia. It's the NHL.

Update: If you want to watch the highlights of the game which include what the waved off Timonen goal looked like, you can watch the highlights here. That play starts at the 6 minute and 48 second mark. For you curiousity seekers who want to know how Jim Jackson, Bill Clement, and Steve Coates reacted to the Gagne hit, fast forward go to the 4 minute, 25 second mark.

NHL To Investigate FSN Pittsburgh Incident (UPDATED WITH SUSPENSION ANNOUNCEMENT)

It took awhile, but the story of FSN Pittsburgh not giving the NHL adequate video replay to review a goal is finally picking up a head of steam. So much so that the NHL has decided to step in and investigate the incident itself. From Philly.com

The NHL is investigating Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh for not sending all available camera angles to league headquarters in Toronto for Simon Gagne’s apparent goal that was under review against the Penguins last Thursday, league spokesman Gary Meagher confirmed to the Daily News.

FSN Pittsburgh, who had the game’s only video feed, sent all of the camera angles of the replay except the one that clearly showed the puck over the goal line.

Comcast SportsNet elected to not use their own video feed during the game, one CSN employee said on Monday. CSN would have been able to send their own replays to the NHL's War Room in Toronto if they had used their own feed.

"Hockey Operations did not have a definitive replay that showed the puck in the net - and weren't aware that one existed - until after they made their ruling," said John Dellapina, another NHL spokesman. "Once the puck dropped, their ruling became permanent."

The NHL has given no indication as to length of the investigation or what penalties may come of it.

Said Meagher: "It's a matter between the League, the Penguins and FSN that will be handled internally."

Now the Flyers did comfortably win that game and while it then robbed Gagne of his 500th point, he would pick it up a few days later and on home ice, no less. So while that all worked out well, there is a bigger matter at stake here and that is the integrity of the game. Has FSN Pittsburgh been doing this for quite some time now? Was this an isolated coincidental oversight, or was this a deliberate act by the network to try to rob the opposing team of a goal? And maybe most compelling of all, have other networks deliberately tried and gotten away with the same thing? And before you jump at me for insinuating such a horrid thing, may I remind you of Tim Donaghy? Just because you are supposed to be impartial and do your job, does not mean it always happens and scandals do happen, as was the case with Donaghy.

Possibly very related or completely unrelated, but Paul Steigerwald (yes, the same guy who likes making bad Hobey Baker plane crash jokes) should really be careful what he says when the referee signals no goal.



"We saved that one." - Paul Steigerwald

Hmmmmmmm!

From being an awful announcer period to his Hobey Baker joke, if it turns out he was in on the cover up and that was not just a coincidental statement, then I think it might be time Steigerwald gets the old heave-ho out of the booth.

Update: We have a suspension! Thus far the only suspension is that of Lowell McDonald, Jr., a (most likely former) member of the telecast staff and son of former Pittsburgh Penguin Lowell McDonald. No more have been announced yet.

Both FSN Pittsburgh and the Penguins have released a statement.

FSN Pittsburgh: "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

The Pittsburgh Penguins organization: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

If there are any other announcements on this matter, I will be sure to pass them down to you.

Eagles 9, Raiders, Pigeon, And Refs 13

That. Was. Embarrassing.

Several things. First of all, what the hell kind of performance was that? You come into Oakland and you lay that kind of a turd??? Seriously? Where was the effort? Where was the passion? Where was the heart? The answer: there was none. The Eagles showed up expecting to walk all over the Raiders and that's the kind of team that showed up. They expected to win without trying. JaMarcus Russell even threw them 2 INTs and they still could not win.

Where was the wildcat this game? The Eagles' wildcat offense, when used, has been semi-effective and I have a feeling it would have worked in this game. McNabb had an off game and threw it on practically every play and even when it had gotten to the point that it was clearly visible that McNabb was struggling, Reid kept having him throw the ball. No wildcat, no change of pace, no Micheal Vick. I'm not saying it would have changed anything, but with the Raider D-line dominating like they were, it damn sure would not have hurt to try to change things up a bit.

But through it all, the Eagles really should have won that game. Even though Russell did make some plays (more so than normal at least) and Fargas was decently effective, the Raiders are a horrible football team and played like that horrible football team. David Akers missed 2 40+ yard field goals. That should have been a gimme. Make those 2 FGs then bam, the Eagles win.

And then there were the officials. Look, I can't blame the pigeon for one, that was just a freak occurance which would have been a little more mildly amusing had the game not been what it was, but the officials were in the back pocket of the Raiders or something because that was an abortion. Take for instance one of Akers' 5 FGs attempted. HE WAS BODYSLAMMED INTO THE GROUND!!!!!!! People have gotten penalized for innocently pushing the kicker. Akers gets bodyslammed, and there was NO FLAG! And maybe there was a running into the kicker, I did not see that, but the bottom line is is that when your kicker is fucking bodyslammed, that's a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down!!!!!!!! And chances are, a few plays later, your game-tying touchdown is scored and it's a brand new ball game. Complete incompetence on the part of Morelli and I would not mind the Eagles saying a few things that get themselves a $25,000 fine.

However, it should not have come to that. The Eagles should not have been so overly confident, Reid should not have gotten all pass heavy, and despite the injury to Peters, the Eagles should not have allowed 6 sacks to the Raiders. If the Eagles play like they can play, they win that game and they win it big. The defense was not great, but the bottom line is is that they held them to 13 points. If you can't score 13 points on the Raiders, then I guess despite all of the missed calls, you deserve to lose.

Update: To add salt to the wounds of the Eagles, the Phillies actually managed to outscore them tonight. Yep, the Phillies outscored a football team playing the Oakland Raiders. Phillies 11, Eagles 9.

And thanks to the Phillies, this night has been salvaged after all. What a win and what a performance by Clifton Phifer Lee on the mound. 11-0 Phillies won Game 2 and they now lead the NLCS 2-1.

More On Victorino And Rapuano

I already have a post on this, and while I don't have much more to say, MLB (shockingly, I might add) put up a whole long article and the video of which I originally wanted you to see on this. Again, because of MLB Nazism, I can't embed the video so you'll have to bare with me. Click on this link and hit the large play button in order to watch the video, and I missed this at first, but to all those who disagree with me, Chris Wheeler hits the nail right on the head in this vid.

Rapuano said that after he called a ball on Rodrigo Lopez's 0-2 offering to Marlins third baseman Wes Helms, he saw Victorino waving his arms in disapproval. The umpire then stepped toward the outfield and gestured as a warning.

Then he saw Victorino wave his arms a second time. So without hesitation, Rapuano pointed again at Victorino and this time delivered the ejection signal.

"I gave him the chance to not do it again," said Rapuano, who has 18 1/2 years of Major League service time. "He's right in the line of sight and he's out in front of everybody, waving his arms in disgust of a pitch that I called. It is very simple."

Victorino recalled only gesturing once.

"I've got to hold myself accountable," Victorino said following the Phillies' 12-3 loss. "It's not something that you should be doing, but I've done it 1,000 times this year. It's not the first time -- and I'm not trying to show anybody up. Just things got built up from the half-inning before that, and it's just one of those things I let my emotions get the best of me."

In the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and third, Ryan Howard was rung up on a close full-count fastball that Marlins starter Josh Johnson called the "pitch of the game." Howard -- and, evidently, some of his teammates -- felt it was low. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel also thought it was a ball, but one too close to take.

Victorino, after some initial confusion about the ejection, sprinted at full speed from center field to the area behind home plate. The 28-year-old waved off Howard and violently shoved catcher Paul Bako to get close to Rapuano before he was eventually restrained by Howard and Bako.

"I was like, 'OK, I might as well get my money's worth, I'm gone,'" Victorino said. "I definitely had no intention of touching [Rapuano] or anything like that."

Chris Wheeler 1, all those who doubt the call 0.

The point, for those who missed it, was why the fuck would be looking in centerfield at the time in the first place? It's because he knew he fucked up the call and was going to be out to get any Phillie who disagreed in an attempt to silence the naysayers (although he did not take into account 3 innings of merciless heckling from the Philly crowd afterwards). The article also goes on to state how Victorino was more hurt than anything that he would get his first career ejection from one of his favorite umpires, Rapuano, and that Charlie Manuel did not agree with the call, although the fact that Manuel did not blantantly argue the call tipped Rapuano off to the idea that Manuel agreed with him, when in fact, according to Manuel, he did not.

The Phillies need to forget about this mess (or use it as motivation, whatever works) and channel the energy for their upcoming series against the Cubs.

Fire Ed Rapuano Now! (Updated With Video.....Sort Of)

As with all sports, baseball umpires are going to make bad calls that people won't agree with. However, there is a difference between bad calls and the utterly ridiculous and absurd. Today at Citizens Bank Park there was perhaps the most absurd call that an umpire has ever made in all of baseball. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement (see Denkinger, Don), but Ed Rapuano, the home plate umpire of the game, most definitley has it out for Philly fans and while it's hard to say that an umpire cost you a game that ended up being 12-3 Florida, one could make an argument that Rapuano did that today. The fiasco started in the bottom of the 6th inning when the score was just 3-1 Florida with 2 outs, 2 men on, and Ryan Howard at the plate staring at a full count. The pitch by Josh Johnson was low around the knees, but Rapuano called it a strike, ending the inning and the Phillies rally. Now that was a bad call.

What happened in the next inning would venture into the utterly absurd and ridiculous. Rodrigo Lopez threw a pitch the same spot that Johnson did to Howard in the top of the 7th inning. Rapuano from home plate then pointed to Shane Victorino, who was in centerfield, and ejected him from the game! Victorino's crime: he threw his arms up in the air at the obvious contradiction from the umpire. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less (or at least nothing that anything indicated and I doubt Rapuano would have detected anything other than that; he was 200 feet away) The home plate umpire, from home plate, threw out the Phils centerfielder, who was in centerfield, for lifting his arms up at an obvious contradiction of ball-strike calls.

And that was just the start of it. Some Phillies started coming up and questioning Rapuano for his absurd and hasty decision to throw out Victorino daring to throw his arms over what he felt was bad umpiring, and then all of a sudden Victorino flies through that mob and started getting in the face of Rapuano. He had shoved Paul Bako out of the way and was in the face of Rapuano and may have literally been a half a second away from actually striking him (at which point, I think Victorino would have become the most popular Phillie of all time) until Bako and Howard were able to gain control of him before Victorino could land himself a suspension (although no one in Philly would have cared about that then). The rest of the inning was just a massacre as the Marlins hammered Rodrigo Lopez for 5-runs in that inning blowing the game open, something that the Marlins would continue to do for the rest of the game, hence the lobsided score. A score that does not indicate the decent performance put on by Jamie Moyer or the fantastic job that Tyler Walker did (Walker's actually been pretty solid for the Phillies) getting out of Moyer's mess which consisted of 2 men on and no one out in the top of the 6th and the inning ending still 3-1, the score of which it started.

And just reading the article on the game posted by MLB.com, the re-writing of history is already in progress. While it says that Shane Victorino was thrown out, no reason is given (I wonder why), but never does it say that Rapuano fucked up, things that would be apparent even to someone who has never watched baseball, and it does not say that Rapuano ejected him from behind home plate when Victorino was in centerfield, something that I don't think has ever happened before. I can't remember any other instance and Chris Wheeler, who celebrated a birthday today, could not recall any instance either of such a horrible, meaningless, immature ejection. Either Rapuano is a complete moron who does not know anything about baseball, or he knew he fucked up and decided that the best way to forget about the whole instance was to be a dickface about it and silence any and all doubters by ejecting anyone who dare challenge his "perfect" umpiring. Philly fans did get a small measure of revenge as he was booed and jeered for the rest of the game.

And not only are MLB playing the roles of history re-writers on the article, but thus far the only video that was posted of this on YouTube taken down less than 30 minutes after it was posted.

What Ed Rapuano did today was one of the worst, immature, absurd, ridiculous decisions that an umpire has ever made. Fire Ed Rapuano now! And if a video ever surfaces, trust me, I will get it to you as soon as possilbe. Check back frequently for updates.

Update: The abusrd has appeared to have just gotten absurder. Allegedly, Victorino was not even throwing his arms up at the umpire! From a fan comment on the above linked MLB article quoting someone from another forum:

"I was in sect 146 ( between Shane [Victorino] and Raul [Ibanez]) a drunken Idiot Fan started Yelling at Shane for hitting into a groundout, he was throwing his hands up and Victorino Responded, he actually kept on him, Victorino turned around but threw his arms up, Thats when he got tossed... All the Fans got on this supposed Phills fan, leading to he and his White Trash buddy both getting ejected.. I think thats why Victorno charged the Mound, thinking he wasnt even communicating w the UMP. If you were at the game or watching it on TV, you would have heard the fans getting on this idiot !!"

Update 2: MLB put up a highlights video with the Victorino incident in the highlights. And shockingly, they show most of what happened. You've heard my arguments, decide for yourself if it is a justified ejection.

Chinese Soccer Player Lives Out Any Angry Sports Fan's Dream

How many times as an a referee made a horrible call and you just wanted to poof to the stadium/arena and punch him right in the face (although there are several who I'm sure just want to give him the finest prescription glasses available)? Well this Chinese soccer player was able to live out every fan's dream when, after being sent off for stepping on another player, chased after and attacked the official! Seriously. Here's the video for proof.



Ah, good times! And while it might be awhile before that guy ever plays soccer again, at least he went out with a bang. And gave us some great comedy material. Stay classy, Mr. Chinese Soccer Player Whose Name I Don't Know Who Attacked The Referee After He Rightfully Sent You Off!

ACC Referees Absolutely <3 Duke!

Not sure how many of you saw the end of the Duke-Va. Tech game today on ABC, but there was quite a bit of controversy, to say the least. Watch as Jon Scheyer of Duke travels not once, not twice, BUT THREE TIMES in a period of 5 seconds, and not get called for any of them.



Traveling calls are apparently optional when it comes to Duke. Why, you ask? Because Duke + referees = true love forever. Oh, and you can throw in a lacrosse team and a strip club as well. Now we're talking party!

But in all seriousness, if you're a referee and you don't want your Duke bias to be found out by America, do yourself a favor, and CALL TRAVELING!

On The Super Bowl XLIII Officiating

48-hours ago I did not think there would be any need for me to type this. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

What happened 2-nights ago in Tampa at the Super Bowl was a travesty. Yes, it was a great game. Yes, Big Ben had a drive for the ages capping with a touchdown that will be replayed over and over and over again for years to come. The Pittsburgh Steelers are deserving of the Super Bowl that they won. That can't be taken away from them. But the Arizona Cardinals were deserving of a chance at the end. And they were denied that. Not by the Steelers, but by Terry McAulay and the rest of the officiating crew at Super Bowl XLIII.

Now had the last 40 seconds of the game been officiated properly, there's no telling what would have happened. Would the Cardinals have been able to punch it in the endzone in the last 5 seconds, no one knows. But what we really should have seen will surprise you. And that will be pointed out here.

You can debate calls all throughout the game. There were debatable calls on both sides. You can argue that the refs were against the Cardinals all game, as evidenced by the fact that the Cardinals had to use both of their challenges and they won them both. I'm not going to argue that. This is not Tim Donaghy big. But this is big.

It started on the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch. It was a great play and a clean play. However, it was after the play that we have some controversy. Actually, there is no controversy. After the touchdown, Santonio Holmes treated the ball as a prop by using it almost as a salt-and-pepper shaker (the motions mimicked that in a way) and then threw the ball up in the air while spreading his arms out, clearly mimicking LeBron James. And there was no penalty! This was something that was clear as day and yet, the refs clearly missed that call. That's 15-yards! This is the Super Bowl and while you can use the argument that it's the Super Bowl and he should be allowed to do what he wants after catching one of the greatest touchdowns of all time, the fact remains it's still a penalty. And a clear penalty in a game that was littered with ticky-tacky calls. No one's going to say anything if you call that 15-yards, it was clear as day. And yet, it went ignored and uncalled. 15-yards. Remember that.

Now we get to the Warner fumble. I have seen that play over and over and over again from every possible angle and I have come to one conclusion. Warner's arm was going forward. Based on the sheer physics of the play, there's no other possible explanation. We'll get to back the the physics later, but first let's disect the video. Here's a great close-up.


What happened when he threw is he put his arm back, put it back even more to heave it down the field, moved his arm forward, got hit as he was doing so and the ball came out. And if the video does not prove it (which I think he does) then let's talk science. There is no way this is not an incomplete pass. By the sheer physics of it. The ball ends up 4-yards down the field. How is that possible? Especially seeing as Lamaar Woodley came from Warner's side! He was not popped from behind. We've seen empty hands before. A good sign of an empty hand fumble is the ball popping up in the air because the only momentum is the defender hitting him and the QB going down. How does the ball end up 4-yards down the field if Warner is hit from the side with his arm all the way back? The only possible explanation is that he must have had possession of the ball while moving his arm/shoulder forward. How else does the ball get all that forward momentum? It certainly would not have been provided by Woodley who hit him from the side. Momentum cannot be created or destroyed and Raymond James Stadium is not a place where the laws of physics are destroyed. And not only did it end up 4-yards down the field, but it ends up 4-yards down the field on a line, not popped up in the air. If it were popped up in the air, that would lend credence to the empty hand, but the fact that the ball was 4-yards down the field on an albeit somewhat wobbly line proves even more that the pass was incomplete and the arm was going forward. There's no other scientifically plausible explanation. And if there is, I'd like to see it.

And what's an even bigger crime here is that this play WAS NOT EVEN REVIEWED! It is impossible in one-minute of looking at the play to make a judgment on it. You think that I spent only a minute or two looking at it? NO! I must have seen the play now 50-100 times. I've studied it. And while you certainly can't completely disect the film in 3-minutes for a booth review, you can definitley look at it, apply high school physics, and make a judgment that the arm must have been going forward. And even if McAulay and his crew don't remember anything about physics. Isn't that play close enough just by looking at it to warrant that it needs to be looked at for more than a minute.

And we're not done here. There was another 15-yard excessive celebration penalty on the Steelers. That would have been tacked on. Remember the 15-yard excessive celebration penalty after the Holmes touchdown? Assuming everything stayed the same, and the pass was rightly overturned, the Arizona Cardinals should have had the ball at the 19-yard line with 5 seconds to go. Now whether or not the Cardinals would have converted is anyone's guess, but there chances were very good with Larry Fitzgerald on their team.

The fact that this game came down to this though, is unforgiveable. I'm not here to come up with a crazy conspiracy that the refs were employed by the Steelers or something, but the circumstances certainly are dubious around the whole thing. Terry McAulay was the only referee to have a major controversy in the playoffs and he is the referee for the Super Bowl, having been named days after the Delay of Game controversy in Nashville. And here we are in the Super Bowl, with one of the most controversial finishes in Super Bowl history.

Again, I say, I'm not glad that I'm talking about this. I have no problem with Pittsburgh winning. But thanks to McAulay and the officiating crew, there will always be a cloud of "what if" surrounding the game? Does Warner connect with Fitzgerald for the game-winning TD? Does Polamalu pick it off and seal the deal? Is the pass caught at the 1 by Boldin and tackled immediately, leaving him and the Cardinals inches short of a touchdown? It was a great game, a historic drive by Big Ben ending with what may very well be considered the greatest touchdown in Super Bowl history. However, the cloud of controversy will forever lurk over this game. And that, my friends, is a damn shame.