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To: fiftymegaton
Patriopts/Steelers playoff game:

****

Here's what happened: Brown's lateral to Harris went forward, at least two feet, not backward. So it was illegal. Slow-motion freeze frame, from two complementary angles, is as clear as a bell. If the Steelers had challenged the ruling, they would almost certainly have gotten a reversal. One camera was directly behind the play, shot from the end zone. So you can see exactly when the ball leaves Brown's hand and when Harris catches it. The other camera, on the sideline, is at the 50-yard line, exactly where the illegal "lateral" took place. From the end zone angle, you can see that the ball is entirely out of Brown's hands just as his right foot lands a bit shy of the 50. From the sideline angle, you can see that, as his right foot lands, no part of his body, or any part of the ball, has quite reached the 50. So, the lateral has been made before midfield. From both angles, it's clear that when Harris first touches the ball, it is about two feet past midfield. Lateraled before the 50. Caught on the other side. What could be more "indisputable?" You can discuss whether the ball went two feet forward, or perhaps as much as a full yard forward. But you can't say it was legal. And you can't say that, on replay, it was even very close. Calls are routinely reversed on far less crystal-clear camera work. Unfortunately, the Steelers didn't have any challenges left.

69 posted on 12/18/2004 7:08:47 PM PST by beyond the sea (Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls? ....... Only after lights out.)
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To: beyond the sea

I don't even remember that game being controversial. I must have been too busy bitching about Kordell's four turnovers.


71 posted on 12/18/2004 7:27:21 PM PST by fiftymegaton
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