THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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SIDELINE Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale Green Bay-Seattle: It Could Have Been Worse "Did you see the game last night?" Normally when somebody asks that question, they mean the upset result, the winning score, the come from behind. Last night's game had all of those things. But that's not what anyone is talking about. What we are talking about is the refereeing, missed offensive pass interference, and a decision that changed the outcome of the game. What most people thought they saw was Green Bay Packers safety MD Jennings make the interception that sealed the game. What was called was Seattle Seahawks Golden Tate catching the winning touchdown. But let's not start there; let's start earlier in the drive, on a 1st and 30, with defender Sam Shields covering Sidney Rice, turning to make a play on the ball and being grabbed by the receiver. Flag on the play. Only the call was, incredibly, defensive pass interference, rather than offensive. A reward of 32 yards, and enough of a bad call to have left a taste in the mouth had the Seahawks legitimately staged a comeback thereafter. Which they did, officially, because Golden Tate was given touchdown in the end zone soon enough, with another blown offensive interference call, one so easy, even I could see it. Argue 'simultaneous possession' all you like, it didn't seem like a touchdown. I refuse to accept that it was a touchdown. I will not bend reality, stretch definitions, or conjure up blind spots to find a way to live with the result, as called, by replacement referees. I think the Packers showed immense class by walking off, taking their frustrations to the locker room and twittersphere. It could have been worse. With both the Patriots-Ravens game (which pales by comparison) on Sunday night and then with the Packers-Seahawks game on Monday night, the home team won. Coincidence? that's a whole extra conversation. The road teams seethed their way back to their airports. But what happens when the home team loses under similar circumstances? What happens if a team gets jobbed in their home stadium, with 80,000 filling the air with chants of "B---S**t, B---S**t" (as was heard around the globe loud and clear on Sunday night), and then their team loses? What happens in Philly, against the Giants, and the Eagles lose it on a controversial call? A storm of food and drinks raining down on the field? Assaults? A riot? NFL games are being played under the tenuous – and eroding – control of the replacement refs. If things continue this way, I fear something very serious could happen during or after a game. Right now, the NFL needs to get around the table with regular refs, and it needs to do so in the spirit of 'compromise'. Because on the evidence of last night, league credibility has been compromised. |
