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Sunday was one of the worst-officiated days in recent NFL history. While everyone makes mistakes, and officials are no different, there were multiple high-level mistakes made by the league's officiating crews on Sunday. Three calls stood out. In the Browns at Colts game, a brutal "pass interference" penalty on an uncatchable pass helped give Cleveland the win. In the Rams vs. Steelers game, a questionable spotting of the ball helped give Pittsburgh the win. And in the Eagles vs. Dolphins game, a blatant missed facemask penalty was uncalled. How do you miss this?

Los Angeles Chargers pass rusher Joey Bosa was fuming at the officials for the game-turning unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in his team's 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He contained his emotions at the time but today he went off. Speaking to the media during the team's exit interviews, Bosa deemed it unfair that he faces a fine if he criticizes referees but the referees get to joke about making a bad call that ruins a game. "If I say something to them I get a $40,000 fine, but if they blow a call that ruins an entire team's season... they'll...

The New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings had a back-and-forth game on Sunday, but a horrible roughing the passer penalty almost played a huge role in deciding the game. The play occurred late in the fourth quarter with the Vikings trailing 31-24 and driving. New York defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence applied pressure on Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins, forcing an errant pass and sending Cousins to to the ground. It looked like any normal hit on a quarterback, but officials flagged Lawrence for a roughing the passer call, which seemed completely ridiculous in real time and worse when looking at...

In perhaps the most ironic ending to a sporting event ever, Grambling State beat North Carolina Central in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl in part because of a … penalty for excessive celebration. After NC Central’s Quentin Atkinson pulled down a 39-yard TD pass from Malcolm Bell to cut the deficit to 10-9 with just over two minutes remaining, Atkinson was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct when he removed his helmet while galloping around the end zone.

"Williams claims an NFL official called him “fat ass garbage” during the game. The lineman was irate in the locker room after Washington’s latest loss, and revealed some of the alleged details:..."

A West Park youth football coach was arrested Monday for allegedly hitting a referee so hard, it knocked the referee to the ground, the Broward Sheriff's Office said. But Monday afternoon, Sheriff Al Lamberti questioned why Dion Robinson, 43, an assistant coach for the West Park Saints, was allowed to coach children in the first place.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) If there's one thing that can unite political foes in Wisconsin, it just may be the Green Bay Packers. Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who made a national name for himself by going after public employee unions last year, posted a message on Twitter calling for the return of the NFL's locked-out unionized officials after a disputed call led to a Seattle Seahawks 14-12 victory over the Packers on Monday night. "After catching a few hours of sleep, the (hash)Packers game is still just as painful. (hash)Returntherealrefs," Walker tweeted early Tuesday.

In Monday's game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, Seattle faced a 4th-and-10 from the Green Bay 24 with eight seconds remaining in the game. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass into the end zone. Several players, including Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, jumped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball. While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It...

The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read We've obtained a copy of Tim Donaghy's book, Blowing the Whistle, which purports to expose the NBA's "culture of fraud" and which Random House was set to publish next month — until, a source says, the league threatened to sue... Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read As promised earlier, here are a handful of excerpts from David Stern's favorite book, Blowing the Whistle, by Tim Donaghy...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference has suspended officials from last weekend's Arkansas-Florida game after the crew was involved in its second controversial call of the year. Referee Marc Curles' crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter as the Gators were rallying for a 23-20 victory. The league said there was no video evidence to support the call.The same group of officials called the LSU-Georgia game earlier this month, which included a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the league said shouldn't have been called. "A series of calls that have occurred during the...

An Oakland Raiders cornerback claims he was penalized on Sunday for making a religious display while celebrating an interception. After picking off a Matt Schaub pass in the end zone, Oakland Raiders cornerback Chris Johnson celebrated by dropping to his knees and raising his arms in triumph. He was instantly flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebration. Johnson later complained that he was whistled for thanking God:

Fidel Castro says corrupt judges are to blame for Cuba's sub-par showing at the Beijing Olympics. Castro alleges that judges blatantly stole semifinal fights from two Cuban boxers, and that a judge must have been bribed in the case of Angel Matos, who kicked a referee in the face after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal taekwondo match.

BEIJING, Aug. 15 -- In a hallway of the Beijing Workers Gymnasium on Friday night U.S. boxer Raynell Williams buried his head in a towel, leaned against a door and wondered just what it was he had done so wrong on an evening when he appeared to do everything right. A few feet away, his coach Dan Campbell, gnawed on a toothpick and glared. "I just called back to the people in the tape room and everybody said it was (expletive)," Campbell said after Williams lost a second round fight he looked to have decisively won against France's Khedafi Djelkhir....

EXCLUSIVE: NEW YORK — NBA referee Tim Donaghy made repeated phone calls to a second referee at the same time he provided inside information to professional gamblers during the course of the 2006-2007 season, according to court documents and phone records obtained by FOXNews.com. The records show Donaghy placed 134 calls to referee Scott Foster — more than the 126 calls Donaghy made to his bookie — between October 2006 and April 2007, the period during which he has confessed to either betting on games or passing on game information to gamblers. The majority of the phone calls lasted no...

The NFL is looking into a postgame comment by Baltimore cornerback Samari Rolle, who contends an on-field official called him "boy" during the Ravens' 27-24 loss to New England. Rolle identified the official by his number rather than by name following the Monday night game, which was marked by several disputed officiating decisions. "The refs called me a boy," Rolle said, according to a transcript of postgame comments provided to the media by the Ravens. "No. 110 called me a boy." Both Rolle and the official, identified in the NFL official guide as head linesman Phil McKinnely, are black. The...

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For those interested...addressing the referee scandal.

by Mark Finkelstein August 8, 2006 - 17:04 Imagine if Rush Limbaugh had said it . . . 'Rome is Burning' is ESPN's edgy sports-commentary show starring the eponymous Jim Rome. Jason Whitlock is standing in for Rome this week, and while I don't know much about him, from what I've seen I enjoy his shtick. He's smart, funny and seems to successfuly walk the fine line of expressing strong views without being malicious. Another plus: his physique and bearing remind me of one of my all-time favorite movie characters in my all-time favorite movie - Sydney Greenstreet as Signor...

Fashion statement: NFL refs to sport new uniforms Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. -- Coming this fall to an NFL stadium near you: fashion-forward referees. Gone are the traditional vertical black-and-white stripes that have been a staple of the league seemingly since its inception and that live on in Foot Locker stores and DJ booths around the country. In their place is a flashier look that features wide white stripes and thin black stripes that flare around the shoulders and upper arms. In addition to giving their annual lecture on rules changes for the upcoming NFL season, several referees debuted the...

Dear Mr. Tagliabue, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to you and the league for my intemperate remarks at our ceremony at Qwest Field concerning the officiating during the Superbowl. On Monday, just one short day after “losing” (oops) the game, I was still burned about the outcome, and I had consumed about a pound of bad jumbo shrimp for lunch, my stomach was churning, and it was just a bad day all around. I came home from Detroit, our cat was missing from the house, the Governor’s dog was hit by a car, and she was blaming...