Is it just me, or is everyone overreacting about OU getting screwed?

[michigancat]

Crappy calls happen all the time.  People get screwed.

Sure they got screwed, but there was no excuse for OU losing that game, with or without the onside kick error.

It just seems like there's a huge uproar over a mistake that shouldn't have made the difference in the game.

[Beijing Cat]

I guess the thought of losing hold on the "sooner magic" is too much.

[michigancat]

Example:

My Goodness, Eugene
College Football Receives A Death Threat

As a four-year scholarship holder in a competitive intercollegiate activity and a lifelong supporter of collegiate athletics I’m more and more bewildered by the egregious and unprincipled corruption that transpired in Eugene, Oregon on September 16.

Something similar transpired in the Alamo Bowl this past December when a Sunbelt officiating crew literally and consciously decided the outcome of the game; they selected the winner. In a SERIES of unfathomable and inexplicable one-sided decisions (the same team benefited each and every time) touchdowns were called back, invisible/phantom defenders were called for holding, ticking, breathing and pass interference. Imaginary turnovers were enforced; actual turnovers (three!) were negated depending on who was holding the football and which team benefited. Michigan was robbed. They beat Nebraska by three maybe four touchdowns. The final play of the game was absolute lunacy. A half dozen or so rules were disregarded on this play alone.

Big 10 fans were outraged and they should be. They were jobbed and cheated. Victory was handed to a Big 12 school in San Antonio-Big 12 country.

What I witnessed Saturday moves far beyond these proceedings.

Perspective
Any reasonable person accounts for a little ‘home cooking.’ In many instances close, ‘could go either way’ judgment calls often go to the same team many times in succession because that team has seized momentum. In many instances this is the home team. Referees can be affected by the ‘spirit of crowd’, get caught up in the moment or the ‘mob mentality.’ A reasonable person accounts for this. As a college sports fan one can even argue it’s logical and justified. What would a college gymnasium on a Saturday night in late February be without a little home cooking? When the crowd is frenzied, and your team is on a furious 15 point run that just tied the game shouldn’t you get the ‘could go either way’ charge/block call?

Any reasonable person accounts for the speed of the game and realize there’s honest human error. People are going to make mistakes. Any of us would. But in other instances something more calculated and more sinister is at work. What happened in Eugene Saturday is one of these instances.

What happened in Eugene Saturday is unparalleled in the long history of college athletics.

With the benefit of instant replay and dozens of cameras yielding hundreds of angles an officiating crew looked us in the eye and told us the color blue is really red…black is white…night is day.

Knowing these images would be broadcasted coast to coast they shrugged their shoulders and constructed their own reality. The one that suited them.

This was not a judgment call. This was not ‘questionable.’ This was clear, obvious, apparent, certain, definitive, irrefutable, conclusive, unambiguous, unmistakable, undeniable.

1. Offsides.
2. Interference. An Oregon player hits Iglesias at the 43 yard line-inside of ten yards.
3. Illegal Participation. Oregon player touched the ball.
4. The receiving team fielded the football.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P...ed&search=

Adjectives describing these particulars (listed above 1-4): clear, obvious, apparent, evident, certain, definitive, irrefutable, unambiguous, unmistakable, undeniable, crystalline.

I can think of many more. But one in particular bears relevance in this discussion:

conclusive.

Imperfections and Impurifications
I’m not arguing for the sanctity and purity of big-time college sports. I realize it’s big money and big business. But the eternal lure of college football is inexorably linked to its tradition, pageantry, passion and innocence. It’s a 16 week playoff. Lose and you’re out. Everything counts. Maybe the players play for pride, or loyalty to their coaches; maybe they were local products and grew up dreaming of playing for State U; or maybe they play for the hope or promise of something more (the NFL) but by God, they play. They go all out. They don’t take plays off like professional athletes with $50 million portfolios. (Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, et al. )

The Victim?
RE: William McCall’s AP Article on PAC-10 Instant Replay Official Gordon Riese

I can't sleep."I'm struggling with it," Riese said in an interview at his home. "I feel so bad I missed that call, it's driving me crazy."

"I can't sleep, I can't eat, my blood pressure is skyrocketing," Riese said, looking haggard and worn as he sat on the front porch of his house. His wife is a registered nurse, and has been checking his blood pressure every four hours, he said.

Egregious dishonesty and unparalleled corruption governed his actions and the actions of that crew. I’m not buying the regretful elder/Mother Theresa wife/babe in the woods routine.

That corruption surely stripped a large piece of college football’s remaining innocence.

He is not the victim in this situation and no disingenuous portrayal of his plight on Yahoo or ESPN will change that. Nothing he can do will change or lesson the damage he has caused by his reckless abandonment of the rules, of personal and professional ethics, and every last semblance or bastion of truthfulness.

He [Riese] said the equipment is not as sophisticated as NFL replay equipment, and does not allow the official to freeze the frame. But Riese lays the blame on himself after replays showed that an onside kick was touched by an Oregon player before it traveled the required 10 yards. The Ducks went on to score the go-ahead touchdown.

54 or so hours ago this was not the story. The official that addressed the crowd Saturday did not say: “Our equipment isn’t sophisticated enough to yield conclusive video evidence. The call on the field stands.”

He didn’t say that.

He did say: “There is conclusive video evidence that an Oklahoma player touched the ball and an Oregon player recovered. The call on the field stands. Oregon ball!”

He walked to mid-field Jack Ruby-style (in front of God and the World) pointed his pistol at the truth and let fly.

Revisionist history will not change the aftermath…will not change the dispiritment and disappointment of college football fans everywhere. Nothing will change that an Oregonian was working the replay booth that day and with the benefit of replay and dozens of cameras yielding hundreds of angles his chose to abandon the truth. His told his colleague to look us in the eye and tell us the color blue is really red…black is white…night is day.

Ponzi Schemes, the Big Store, the Money Bag, the Wire Rag, the confederate, the roper, and the Spanish Prisoner. Arnold Rothstein, Professional Boxing, College Football. The Flimflam men fixed the World Series. And now they got my College Football.

The PAC-10 Boycott
I’m only 33 but I will never, for the rest of my life, watch or patronize a collegiate athletic contest that involves a team from the PAC-10. This will be difficult. I don’t care. To hell with SC. To hell with Reggie Bush. To hell with Oregon and to hell with the Holiday Bowl. I actually like Karl Dorrell and like the way his team plays. I like Tyrone Willingham. I lived in Los Angeles for six years. I plan on moving back in a couple years. Oh well. This boycott will not be abided in half-measures.

One exception: if Oklahoma ever plays in a BCS title game against a PAC-10 team and the game is NOT played in Pasadena, I’ll watch it.

College Football Receives A Death Threat
It’s a beautiful evening here in the American Midwest. The winds are mild and comforting — so cool you’d swear they had cascaded off the Pacific somewhere near the Palisades. Or maybe even a little farther up the Pacific Coast, where the rocks on the coastline climb and scrape the cloudless skies. My mind keeps coming here. I keep thinking of yesterday.

I saw enough to know what happened in Eugene, Oregon in all likelihood did not cost the University of Oklahoma a national championship. In all likelihood we have a 10-2 team and 10-2 doesn’t win it all. But shouldn’t those kids been the ones who determined that? Shouldn’t that dream survive until they get beat-until they lost…and not one second before?

College Football will always be my favorite sport. But I’ll remember September 16, 2006. Some of college football’s magic died that day.

It died yesterday.

College football died?  WTF?

[WILDCAT NATION]

The point is...yes, mistakes happen...but then we got review to correct them..and they blatantly blew it...

That is what makes it such a big deal.

[mjrod]

Sad.  OU got screwed, there is no doubt, but how many times have OU gotten a bad call go their way?

That's life in College Football.  Move on.

[michigancat]

I don't think the call is that obvious, myself.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcT4EqOXfSM&mode=related&search=

[michigancat]

Check that.

The fumble is the call they missed.

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/college-football/thats-not-a-fun-way-to-lose-201296.php

[mjrod]

Check that.

The fumble is the call they missed.

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/college-football/thats-not-a-fun-way-to-lose-201296.php

No, that call is not reviewable.   What is reviewable is the 10 yards, and the Oregon player did touch it before it went 10 yards.

[WILDCAT NATION]

How many times has OU had a review go their way when the call was so obviously wrong.  Just my opinion, but every CFB fan should be ultra pissed about that snafu.  It was brutal.

In case you didn't see it...the guy came on after the review and said "there is conclusive video evidence than a member of the receiving team touched the ball first".

Can you tell me what's wrong with that statement?

[michigancat]

How many times has OU had a review go their way when the call was so obviously wrong.  Just my opinion, but every CFB fan should be ultra pissed about that snafu.  It was brutal.

In case you didn't see it...the guy came on after the review and said "there is conclusive video evidence than a member of the receiving team touched the ball first".

Can you tell me what's wrong with that statement?

Missed that announcement.

I still don't think this is anywhere close to the worst call in the history of sport.

[mjrod]

How many times has OU had a review go their way when the call was so obviously wrong.  Just my opinion, but every CFB fan should be ultra pissed about that snafu.  It was brutal.

In case you didn't see it...the guy came on after the review and said "there is conclusive video evidence than a member of the receiving team touched the ball first".

Can you tell me what's wrong with that statement?

Missed that announcement.

I still don't think this is anywhere close to the worst call in the history of sport.

Nebraska fans can attest..

Oh wait.. that was a non call.  It didn't happen.

Nevermind.

[WILDCAT NATION]

I saw a good analogy..this is like if they would have had review for the 5th down, and after reviewing the tape, still allowed the TD that took place on 5th down.

The thing that makes it inexcuseable is the explanation they gave.

Had they said "there is not conclusive video evidence that the kicking team touched the ball prior to the ball advancing 10 yards", I would have been fine with it...

OU fans want to say that OU recovered the ball, and it's on tape, but what they don't mention is that when the Oregon player covered it, he was ruled down, and therefore the play was over.  The travesty was in the refs ignoring the fact that Oregon touched the ball early.

[Skycat]

You know, if 23 just turns around and immediately shows the ball to ther refs, don't you think that OU would have been awarded the ball?

The thing that makes this whole deal stink so bad isn't that the refs blew a call, it's that that f'ed up 3 or 4 different ways on the same play.

I will say, it sure added some excitement to the game, but I'll admit that I'd be royall ticked off if that happened to K-State.

[michigancat]

I will say, it sure added some excitement to the game, but I'll admit that I'd be royall ticked off if that happened to K-State.

Raheem wouldn't have allowed Oregon to score.

[Skycat]

I will say, it sure added some excitement to the game, but I'll admit that I'd be royall ticked off if that happened to K-State.

Raheem wouldn't have allowed Oregon to score.

Excellent point.

Have you seen all the OU fans that want to get rid of Venables?

They even have a cute nickname for him, Vulnerables.   

[GoldbrickGangBoss]

The more people bitch about refs and how bad they are, the better chance of holding them more accountable for doing their friggen job right in a game.

I couldn't be happier that OU is bringing it strong. I don't agree with the 'strike the loss from the record books' part but I like the pressure on officiating.

[mjrod]

The more people bitch about refs and how bad they are, the better chance of holding them more accountable for doing their friggen job right in a game.

I couldn't be happier that OU is bringing it strong. I don't agree with the 'strike the loss from the record books' part but I like the pressure on officiating.

You need to stop hating Texas.

[GoldbrickGangBoss]

No.

[FBWillie]

I don't think it's so much OU getting screwed that pisses everyone off... People were told that instant replay would help solve some of these bad calls.... Saturday, It only confirmed that officials are making calls based off of biased opinions.  When I look at the replay objectively, I can see that OU got screwed.  But as a KSU fan that thinks its funny when OU gets screwed... I see it the way it was originally called.

[mjrod]

Can the replay officials help it if they think that Bob Stoops is an asshole?

[KSt8er]

Can the replay officials help it if they think that Bob Stoops is an asshole?

They did get that call right.

[JavaCat]

I will say, it sure added some excitement to the game, but I'll admit that I'd be royall ticked off if that happened to K-State.

Raheem wouldn't have allowed Oregon to score.

Jordy wouldn't have allowed Oregon to even get near the ball on the onsides kick.

[WILDCAT NATION]

Can the replay officials help it if they think that Bob Stoops is an asshole?

So you've met him?

 

[sonofdaxjones]

This defines the concept of:  My favorite college football team (sports team) defines me as a person.

For other evidence:   See post game NU vs  KSU 1998 (and still 8 years later).
See Also:  Phognet post game after Bucknell and Bradley.

[michigancat]

From an Oregon paper:

But first you should know that Riese didn't see the ABC television feed that viewers watched at home, which you, your spouse and your children know showed an Oregon player touching the ball before it traveled the required 10 yards. And you should know that Riese will not talk about specifics on the call, but said: "My supervisor knows what happened up there and that's all that matters."

A source in the replay booth on Saturday said that Riese found himself crunched for time, pressured by television and the on-field referee for a rapid decision, and there was such a delay in getting the video feed to Riese that he never even got to properly review the play.

The Pac-10's coordinator of football officiating confirmed that Riese didn't get all of the replays that ABC was providing.

With all the cameras working the game that one half of the country was watching, Riese saw only a single frame of video, the source said. The angle was bad. But it appeared to show an Oklahoma player touching the ball with his helmet before it hit the Oregon player. (From other angles, clearly, it hits the Ducks player first.) With no other video immediately available, and television waiting, Riese did what he's told to do when he's out of time and has no conclusive evidence.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/1158639907304430.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

[fatty fat fat]

Crappy calls happen all the time.  People get screwed.

Sure they got screwed, but there was no excuse for OU losing that game, with or without the onside kick error.

It just seems like there's a huge uproar over a mistake that shouldn't have made the difference in the game.

No. OU should be irate.

[sonofdaxjones]

Sure the fans and the team should be irate.

But the school president writing letters, online petitions ... that's .... sad.

This is one, where next year you don't call it a loss in the media guide, you pull a Penn State from back 20 years ago and dub yourself National Champions ... you don't have school President's sending out whiney bitch letters.

But this is OU ... where the President of OU once said, "We want a university the football team can be proud of".

[michigancat]

In 2000 they cancelled classes after the UT win.

[sonofdaxjones]

This is the same school that literally took 8-10 million from its endowment to bailout the athletic department because it was being so poorly run back in the mid 1990's.

They called it a loan, but I think the AD  paid back about 10%.

[Wildcat Jack]

The more people bitch about refs and how bad they are, the better chance of holding them more accountable for doing their friggen job right in a game.

Goldie,
Seems like you know a whole bunch about this.  So what would you say the %'age of plays an officiating crew screws up in a game is?  And while you're at it why don't you enlighten us on your knowledge of how officials are or aren't being held accountable.