What are the worst or most controversial officiating calls in sports history?

none | 6-10-2003 | battleknight24

[battleknight24]

What have been the worst/most controversial calls (or non-calls) in sports history?

* Hue Hollins calls a (phantom?) foul on Scottie Pippen- Game 5, 1994 Eastern Conference semi-finals, Bulls vs. Knicks. With the series tied 2-2, the Bulls are leading 86-85 when Hue Hollins calls a foul on Scottie Pippen with 2.1 seconds left in the game. Instant replays showed that Pippen lightly tapped Hubert Davis on the wrist, well after the ball was released. A foul by the rulebook, but the kind of foul officials NEVER let decide a big game. Davis sinks 2 free throws and the Knicks win a nail biter, 87-86. The Knicks ended up winning the series in 7 games (They would go on to lose the NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets in seven games.) What makes this so memorable is not only that I saw this game on TV when it happened, but that even ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY commented on it in their TV section.

* Thanksgving Day Overtime Coin Flip Fiasco- Steelers vs. Lions, Thanksgiving 1998. With the game going into overtime, the Steelers and Lions get set for the coin flip. Jerome Bettis of the Steelers calls tails, and it lands tails. The only problem was that the ref heard "heads." The Lions get the ball first and score on the first overtime drive to win the game.

* There are way too many others I can think of to go into great detail. Here are some suggestions.

- Jeffrey Maier assists Jeters home run.

- Colorado's fifth down.

- Soviet Union basketball team gets extra attempts and beats US 51-50 in 1972 Olympic gold medal game.

- Brett Hull's skate in the crease.

- Maradona's 'Hand of God.'

- Jordan bumps Byron Russell in the final seconds of the 1998 NBA Finals.

P.S. What did you guys think of the pass interference call made in overtime at this past years College Football National Championship (Ohio State vs. Miami)?

[F16Fighter]

Easily, the Men's Olympic Basketball game between the USSR and the U.S. back in the late 70s/early 80s(?) when the officials kept giving the Ruskies the ball with no time remaining until they scored the winning points to win the Gold.

Anyone care to recap this event in a coherent factual manner? ;-)

[Alberta's Child]

If I remember correctly, it occurred exactly as you described but the puck left the crease without being in Hull's possession before the goal was scored. At the time, the rule was that a player coould have a skate in the crease before the puck, but only if he maintained full control over the puck.

The NHL issued a statement after the game that was an attempt to rationalize why the goal was not disallowed, and it was quite lame. They just didn't want to call back the winning goal in the Stanley Cup finals.

[Alberta's Child]

Anyone care to recap this event in a coherent factual manner?

It would take too long, but I saw a great documentary on this incident recently. After a careful review of the rules and of the events as they occurred, it was determined that the officials called that whole thing correctly!

One of the major causes of confusion was that the off-court officials sounded the buzzer in an attempt to keep the referee from re-starting the game -- they had to reset the clock after time had been called with a few seconds left. As the referee is handing the ball to the Russian at the baseline, you can clearly hear the sound of the horn in the background as the off-court officials tried to get his attention.

The one legitimate complaint that the U.S. had was that the officials did not speak English and therefore could not explain their actions at the time.

[F16Fighter]

"After a careful review of the rules and of the events as they occurred, it was determined that the officials called that whole thing correctly!

Wow! Well I'll be...

[Alberta's Child]

I couldn't believe it myself. But in the documentary they described exactly why the officials had to go back and re-start the clock on two different occasions.

The real blame for that loss goes to the two U.S. players who allowed the Russian to heave the ball almost the length of the court to a Russian player for a game-ending shot. They both leaped up with the guy at the receiving end of the long pass, but they timed their jumps badly and he ended up getting the ball with enough time to score the winning basket.