Reply #7: another take on the controversy [View All]

[central scrutinizer]

received this by email. By the way, I am a University of Oregon grad and currently work there.

> > Here is a piece that sums The Game up nicely
> >
> >
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> >
> > Chuck Carlson, Sports Editor, Reno Gazette
> >
> > On those occasions when you fully expect your head to explode from
> frustration
> > and rage, repeat this and repeat it often.
> >
> > "Officials/referees/umpires do not alter the course of a game. They have
not
> > in the past, they do not now and they will not in the future."
> >
> > Clear? Any questions?
> >
> > The Seattle Seahawks can still whine about being robbed of a Super Bowl
> title
> > last year. The Oakland Raiders can remain convinced that Tom Brady fumbled
in
> > the AFC title game four years ago. The St. Louis Cardinals will cu rse umpire
> Don
> > Denkinger to his grave. The U.S. Olympic basketball team still won't pick up
> its
> > silver medals from the 1972 Games.
> >
> > Fine. Mistakes are made. Decisions are botched. Humans act like fragile,
> > flawed humans even if they wear funny stripped shirts.
> >
> > But the people who officiate the games don't give up ninth-inning home
runs.
> > They don't throw interceptions at the goal line. They don't miss the 12-foot
> > jumper at the buzzer.
> >
> > They are controversial, easy targets and, all too often, the decisions
they
> > make are wrong.
> >
> > And? It's called life and, sometimes dear reader, life isn't fair.
> >
> > The latest controversy -- and it's a beauty -- involved the Pac-10
> officiating
> > crew from Saturday's remarkable Oklahoma-Oregon game played in Eugene, Ore.
> >
> > The Sooners held a 13-point lead in the final three minutes and seemed
> poised
> > to claim an important road win.
> >
> > Then Oregon scores a touchdown and on the kickoff that followed, the Ducks
> > recovered the onside kick. Replays clearly showed that an Oregon played
> touched
> > the ball before it went the required 10 yards. It should have been the
Sooners
> > ball, but it wasn't.
> >
> > Then Oklahoma was flagged for pass interference despite a replay that
showed
> > the pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage, negating any interference.
> >
> > Two crushing calls went against the Sooners and that's unfortunate.
> >
> > But here's the thing. Any player at that level, any coach at that level,
> knows
> > what to say and do next.
> >
> > Make a play. Forget the refs. Forget the crowd. Forget the utter injustice
> of
> > it all.
> >
> > Make a difference. Turn the tide. Step up. Win it for all the right
reasons.
> >
> > It's the very essence of competition.
> >
> > Instead, the Sooners gave up a touchdown pass and then with a chance to
win
> it
> > on the final play, they had a field goal blocked.
> >
> > Should it have come to that? Who knows? But it doesn't matter. Make the
play
> > and make everything else inconsequential.
> >
> > Oklahoma had its chances just as every other team has a chance when a call
> > goes against it,
> >
> > Cardinals fans are convinced their beloved team would have won the 1985
> World
> > Series over Kansas City were it not for Denkinger's erroneous call at first
> > base. Sure, it was wrong and Denkinger admitted it.
> >
> > But the Cardinals still had a Game 7 to win it all and failed.
> >
> > The Seahawks were robbed on several plays in the Super Bowl. But Willie
> > Parker's long touchdown run had nothing to do with the refs.
> >
> > That's what offended teams and their fans want to ignore. What about the
> calls
> > that benefit your team that shouldn't? What about the dozens of calls that
are
> > made, or not made, in the course of a game?
> >
> > The travel that isn't whistled. The fumble that isn't called. The check
> swing
> > that really was strike three.
> >
> &

gt; There are too many situations in too many games for anyone to focus on one
> or
> > two mistakes.
> >
> > That Pac-10 crew in the Oklahoma-Oregon game has been suspended for a game
> by
> > the conference and rightfully so. Their mistakes were egregious enough that
> they
> > should be punished. Mistakes of that level can't be condoned.
> >
> > But don't for a minute think that those calls cost Oklahoma the game.
> >
> > The Sooners cost the Sooners and somewhere deep inside they know it.
> >
> > To blame the officials is the worst kind of excuse-making. And it's the
> truly
> > good teams that know there's only one reason for a loss and they don't have
> far
> > to look to find it.
> >