The obvious missed call you are referring to in the SD-Indy game last weekend was the interception by the SD defensive back just before the end of the half that Phil called back due to “holding.” The TD on that play would have given SD a 14-10 halftime lead but Phil was determined to alter history (which he did for awhile).

Phil Luckett has a long history of making such terrible & yet game (& season) changing calls. The most obvious is the famous “Tuck Rule” game in the 2001 AFC Playoffs Oakland at New England. The zebra who made that horrible call that snowy evening was your pal Phil Luckett!

For the record I boo him loudly at every game I attend in which he is a referee.

Bill

There’s not much we, as fans, can do to preserve the integrity of the game, and it is obvious that the NFL wants the story of the undefeated Patriots (Ravens game was a laugher). But one reason these refs get away with it is their relative anonymity. How many times have you heard a sports caster name who is behind the zebra numbers, beyond the main ref? We CAN do something about that. We can go to NFL.com, go the the ’scores’ page, and click on the GAMEBOOK link for a game. There we can find the names behind the numbers. Let’s give them as much publicity as they deserve. Let’s name names. In as many public places as possible.

The league definitely prefers to see Indianapolis face New England next weekend (in the AFC Championship) rather than the San Diego Chargers. With that in mind don’t be surprised if you see some odd calls to protect the Colts.

Bill

The 15 yard facemask penalty stinks and here’s why:

1. In order to establish a 1st down in NCAA and NFL football, only 10 yards (30 feet) is needed. So why give an extra 5?

2. The facemask penalty has two versions– the 5 yard and the 15 yard? What if an “in between” facemask actually occurred? Well, in the statistical world, this would occur about 33.3% of the time, yet there is NO (10) yard facemask penalty.

To be honest, I really do not like any 15 yard penalty. They are unfair when a first down only requires 10 yards to achieve. Hmm…makes you think a little, eh?

This happened again when Pittsburgh played Jacksonville last week and the refs called defensive pass interference on the Jaguars late in the game. What the refs did NOT call was the blatant facemask grab of the Jax cornerback by the Pittsburgh receiver. In an effort to get the receiver off of him, the Jaguar cornerback pushed the receiver off him and defensive pass interference was called on Jacksonville. Why the bad call? Pittsburgh represents a larger market team than Jacksonville and the league makes more money (more viewers = higher advertising dollars).

I believe the NFL is fixed.

I only caught parts of tonight’s game, so I didn’t see the call you are referring to. I did notice how with 11 minutes to go the Pats Randy Moss dropped what could have been a TD pass. On the very next play Brady threw a deep TD right back in Moss’s direction. Games, set, & match.

Interesting was coach Belichick’s reply after the game. “We knew,” then he paused, stammered, then completed his sentence, “we thought that they were in a trap defense.”

Does this sound like a coach who knew ahead of time what the defense had called? Perhaps a coach who is still cheating? It makes you wonder.

At this point I don’t trust any of them.

I hope you found what you were looking for.

Bill