Worst Call of All Time?

[Bleed S & G]

He threw both of his arms up in the air in celebration, and the ball happened to be in one of his arms.

No he did not.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6Kn0dkbyY"]YouTube - BYU vs Washington 2008 Controversial Last Seconds[/ame]

2. After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately

must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot.
This prohibits:​

(a) Kicking, throwing, spinning or carrying (including off of the
field) the ball any distance that requires an official to retrieve it.​

(b) Spiking the ball to the ground [Exception: A forward pass to
conserve time (Rule 7-3-2-d)].​

(c) Throwing the ball high into the air.​

(d) Any other unsportsmanlike act or actions that delay the game.

If the argument is the rule sucks.. ok, fine. However, the officals got this one right. He throws the ball high into the air... am I missing something?

Here are the rules, 9-2:
http://www.austinofficials.org/img/2008_Football_Rules.pdf

 

[Sportsbuck28]

Locker shouldn't have thrown the ball in the air. Even when Ohio State scores winning TDs against TSUN, we still hand the ball to the official before celebrating. You gotta act like you've been there before, and in Locker's case, he's been there a lot. It's tragic in a sense, but there's still a LOT of ball to be played.

Yeah, because its not like you should show emotion after all that he did there. What makes college football special is the emotion and pagentry of it and this new rule takes that away. If your going to start cracking down on TD celebrations with 15 yard penalties then why not start handing out 15 yarders like candy every time a player gets excited after a sack.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

It looked like a good overturn to me. I was sold once I saw that angle that showed his elbow hit inbounds.

you didn't mind that he never actually caught the ball?

 

[billmac91]

you didn't mind that he never actually caught the ball?

Exactly. Pretend that play took place in the middle of the field, it never even goes to replay because it is so clearly an incomplete pass.

Just to clarify the rules, you aren't allowed to bobble the ball and then not catch it for it to be a catch.

For a catch, you actually have to have possession. Something SEC replay officials disregarded as they made sure their team was going to win the game.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

i was watching it on mute and i couldn't understand why they were showing 100 replays of it because it was obviously incomplete. then i unmuted it to hear them say it was a catch.

 

[jwinslow]

If the argument is the rule sucks.. ok, fine. However, the officals got this one right. He throws the ball high into the air... am I missing something?

Obviously that's the fundamental problem here, beyond any disagreement over whether the rule should have been enforced strictly.

 

[morbitzerker]

(d) Any other unsportsmanlike act or actions that delay the game.

This section bothers me.

It's an umbrella, and it all becomes subjective calling; officials were given a tape of what to look for, but it still isn't completely standardized, because it just not feasible. Just like NBA officiating.

Yes, Jake Locker, probably unintentionally, threw the ball in the air, but since there are no specifics, like height of the ball or something, it's a subjective call.

This wouldn't be as big if the referee's didn't call it, no doubt, and there is the possibility of overtime and a different finish. But whose to say BYU wouldn't have blocked the PAT anyway?

 

[jwinslow]

This wouldn't be as big if the referee's didn't call it, no doubt, and there is the possibility of overtime and a different finish. But whose to say BYU wouldn't have blocked the PAT anyway?

with no call, UW can go for 2 and prevent extending the game against a better opponent... something underdogs are known to do on occasion.

 

[morbitzerker]

True, that's definately another possibilty. But that's what I'm getting at, because they DID call it and they DID block the PAT, it's getting alot of media attention, whereas if UWash makes the PAT after the call, I feel, it isn't as much of a deal.

There are other finishes that could have happened, and people seemed to feel robbed of those. Most people are leaning more towards feeling jaded about the call than recognizing the good defensive play by BYU. Personally, I think it's somewhat of a "no-call" because of the situation. But, when using the criterion of "Throwing the ball in the air," I can understand why it was enforced.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

The "worst call of all time", especially within college football, is the the fifth down that allowed Colorado to beat Mizzou on the last play of the game, even though they should have been out of downs. The long term effect of the extra down was Colorado winning the AP National Championship that year.

The elements that make it the worst call are: (1) that it was irrefutably wrong; (2) the call directly changed who won the game; (2) the utter stupidity of the call -- no judgment or opinion was relied upon like in deciding whether a completion was made; and (4) the significant national effect -- they wouldn't have won the (split) national title with 2 losses and 1 tie.

The Fifth Down Game

 

[billmac91]

The "worst call of all time", especially within college football, is the the fifth down that allowed Colorado to beat Mizzou on the last play of the game, even though they should have been out of downs. The long term effect of the extra down was Colorado winning the AP National Championship that year.

The elements that make it the worst call are: (1) that it was irrefutably wrong; (2) the call directly changed who won the game; (2) the utter stupidity of the call -- no judgment or opinion was relied upon like in deciding whether a completion was made; and (4) the significant national effect -- they wouldn't have won the (split) national title with 2 losses and 1 tie.

The Fifth Down Game

That's a good point Cockfight.

The issue with my "worst call of all time" is that the officials on the field had the call correct, and SEC replay officials blatantly cheated on live TV.

Nothing about this play was a catch, yet the SEC replay officials declared it a catch. There should be national outrage amongst college football fans, although it won't happen with ESPN's new contract with the SEC.

I guess with time, I had forgotten about how bad of a call the Oregon/Oklahoma game was.

Both instances, instantly show why in "out of conference" games, the home team should not have conference replay officials. It is just ridiculously unfair to the away team.

Honestly, why would any out of conference team want to play an away game in the SEC conference after seeing that garbage?

 

[tibor75]

The "worst call of all time", especially within college football, is the the fifth down that allowed Colorado to beat Mizzou on the last play of the game, even though they should have been out of downs. The long term effect of the extra down was Colorado winning the AP National Championship that year.

The elements that make it the worst call are: (1) that it was irrefutably wrong; (2) the call directly changed who won the game; (2) the utter stupidity of the call -- no judgment or opinion was relied upon like in deciding whether a completion was made; and (4) the significant national effect -- they wouldn't have won the (split) national title with 2 losses and 1 tie.

The Fifth Down Game

That has to be the most overhyped blown call. Colorado ended up spiking the ball on 4th down, because the yard marker read 3rd down. So, this idea that they were given an extra down is true, but if they had known 3rd down was actually 4th down, they would have run a real play.

 

[buckiprof]

That has to be the most overhyped blown call. Colorado ended up spiking the ball on 4th down, because the yard marker read 3rd down. So, this idea that they were given an extra down is true, but if they had known 3rd down was actually 4th down, they would have run a real play.

And if the Colorado players and Colorado coaches are unable to count to 4 on their own without the aid of a sideline marker, then maybe we all missed an even bigger "story".

 

[Wingate1217]

That has to be the most overhyped blown call. Colorado ended up spiking the ball on 4th down, because the yard marker read 3rd down. So, this idea that they were given an extra down is true, but if they had known 3rd down was actually 4th down, they would have run a real play.

Didn't the same thing happen against OSU at Purdue? I believe Mike Tomzack threw the ball away thinking it was 3rd down (marker indicated that it was 3rd) when actuality it was 4th down. Anybody remember that and the circumstances??

 

[Brutus1]

What was he doing?

Playing the drumz....