NFL Officials got it RIGHT by overturning Cleaveland's first down (my title)

ESPN ^ | December 17, 2001 | Associated Press

[hole_n_one]

who's kidding whom - football is thuggery

Careful there, BD.

For some, it's a religion.

[hole_n_one]

""

I bet you say that to all the boys.

[No!]

"prolly"...

[BluesDuke]

For some, it's a religion.

Er, I could be a smart@$$ and say, Yes, and for some Osama-lama-ding-dong* is a spiritual leader...but let's not go there, shall we? *wink*





(* - Hey, there's a song parody in the making for you...

"Who dropped the bombs
with the bomb-ba bomb-ba-bombs/
who shoved the ram
through Osama-lama-ding-dong..."

Well, it was just a thought...)

[rdb3]

Yeah, when it meant something and we were able to give St. Iggy's a run for their money on the gridiron.

I'm just glad I graduated before Joe's went co-ed.

You know, having a high school football stadium right on Lake Erie in November is true "home-field advantage." GO VIKES!

[rdb3]

Okay, I can accept that.

Guess that means I still love ya and won't have to send you to visit Lake Erie with Tony Two-Toes. ;-)

Have fun, pal.

Isn't Midwest blue-collar grit something?

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks guys for the info. By the way, very entertaining game tonight. I like both teams, but have to go with Warner.

[BluesDuke]

Guess that means I still love ya and won't have to send you to visit Lake Erie with Tony Two-Toes.

Went to Lake Erie in summer of 1998. Poor Tony Two-Toes, saw the poor bastard floating next to Frankie Floor-Flusher down by the big electric plant. Must have come as quite a shock to them, too...

[HelgaHawk]

Classy, never mind the ignoramoose comments. You still are classy, and also have a brain and common sense, which some of our neighbors here lost somewhere along the way..

[Snuffington]

The fact is simple: if the catch had been legally reviewed and reversed, there would have been no bottles

It was legally reviewed and reversed. The fans were drunk, rowdy, and ignorant of the rule. The league even stepped in today and cleared up the rule dispute (per the article above), and people still don't want to hear it.

Sorry, those fans weren't noble souls forced to throw their bottles by circumstances beyond their control. They were ignorant jerks.

When Giants fans attacked the opposing team with snow and ice a few years back, the Giants organization condemned the act and came down hard on their own fans. The Browns owners proved they're as character deficient as their fans.

Through this incident, I lost a LOT of respect for a team and fans I've respected for a long time. I don't care whether the refs were right or outrageously wrong. EVERY NFL team has experienced a stupid call costing them the game. Only in Cleveland did it lead to this.

[classygreeneyedblonde]

[HelgaHawk]

Ugh, ugh, UGH! The nerve!! This definitely is NOT the first time the zebras screw up a call, and it will most likely NOT be the last. I am so sick of this 'can't do no wrong' attitude regarding officiators. They make mistakes just like anyone else. Where I have absolutely NO RESPECT for them is when they cover their hineys so that they don't have to face the music and ADMIT THAT THEY SCREWED UP. They are not gods, they are not perfect. As far as I'm concerned, I wish they would go on strike again. I'm sure this kind of CRAP would not have happened with the replacement refs. At least they were trying to get things right.

[No!]

If you'll be my virtual chicken...
I'll be your digital lamb...
`we'll send all kinds of messa-ges

out in LA LA..land....

EVERYBODY!

[fiftymegaton]

Did anyone even get hurt?? I dont know what the hell your talking about.

[No!]

Real classy, Megan

[BluesDuke]

Did anyone even get hurt?? I dont know what the hell your talking about.

Oh, I see. If no one is hurt, a riot is acceptable and thug behaviour is the epitome of public social conduct.

[rdb3]

Through this incident, I lost a LOT of respect for a team and fans I've respected for a long time. I don't care whether the refs were right or outrageously wrong. EVERY NFL team has experienced a stupid call costing them the game. Only in Cleveland did it lead to this.

Save your indignation for yourself, okay? If this incident caused you to lose respect for the Browns and Browns' fans, then you didn't have a lot of respect to begin with.

All of this pontificating is ex post facto. What happened during the game? The refs blew it, yet I don't see any culpability laid to them who so richly deserve it. They should have never let the ball get spotted after the incomplete pass! This was their fault, not the Browns, nor the Browns' fans.

If you must be indignant, be indignant all the way around fairly. Otherwise, and I can't speak for all Clevelanders or Buckeyes, I must admit that I don't give a rat's hind parts what you think of the Cleveland Browns, The Dawg Pound, or anything relating to Ohio.

Snuff that!

[fiftymegaton]

What exactly was wrong with what the fans did?? 60,000 people yelling??-----ya it was loud. Throwing plastic on the field??-----ya thats littering. But riot???? Where do you come off?? Sixty dollars for a ticket??....I think they deserve to yell and if they feel like it to throw some plastic onto the field. But I bet you would like to fine them all for littering wouldnt you.

[Big E]

Does anyone actually have the official NFL rules? I looked on their website, and all they have is a "rules digest", and a disclaimer which says that any discrepancies between the digest and the official rules will always be decided in favor of the official rules, which are apparently over 100 pages long. I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Without the actual rules, I can't say one way or the other if they made the right call or not. But I'm not going to just take the word of the NFL that's what the rule book says. I think the ref screwed up, didn't stop play before the subsequent snap, and then tried to fix the mistake by making up the rule on the fly. Since there was a riot, the NFL sure as hell isn't going to come out now and say the ref made a mistake, they're going to cover for him.

I'd love to read exactly what the rule book says about replay and when it can be done.

[Snuffington]

If this incident caused you to lose respect for the Browns and Browns' fans, then you didn't have a lot of respect to begin with.

You're right. Being a Browns fan was never going to put someone terribly high in my book compared to being a wounded veteran or ministering to lepers. But as far as respect for a team and fans, Cleveland had been pretty high on my list. I can't think of another incident done en mass by fans of another team that sunk to this level other than the Giants fan snow incident. But in that case at least the team itself condemned the fans.

All of this pontificating is ex post facto. What happened during the game? The refs blew it, yet I don't see any culpability laid to them who so richly deserve it.

I didn't see the game, don't have an opinion on the call, and I don't care. I've watched other NFL teams lose a few games totally due to a bad call. The scorn the refs deserve is "boooo." Not a riot.