ccs007@ucdavis.UUCP (0058) (11/13/85)
I have been an avid fan of NFL football for many years, and have seen more games than most. However, the officiating on Monday's Denver/ S.F. game was a complete and utter travesty. There will always be the occasional bad call, but the inconsistent rulings of the officials in that game were positively vile. I will forgive the questionable (to put it kindly) pass interference call on a crucial third down play in the Broncos' last scoring drive, but the missed call of interference against Denver in the End Zone disgusted me. Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. It's beyond me that the officials did not call an unsportsmanlike against the crowd at that point. According the rules, that is within their power. More angry than most, Gary Huckabay. !ucbvax!ucdavis!deneb!ccs007 "Frankly, I don't care if you decide I'm vermin. I was a rhubarb before you were even a thought." "Full fifty men lay strewn about its lair!"
jeff@hpcnoe.UUCP (11/14/85)
> However, the officiating on Monday's Denver/ S.F. game was a > complete and utter travesty. I am a Bronco fan, and I agree. > Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the > second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. It's beyond me that > the officials did not call an unsportsmanlike against the crowd at that point. > According the rules, that is within their power. The snowball incident was unfortunate, and I think they should have replayed the down. But to say the Broncos would have lost is ludicrous. Play calling revolve around the current score. For example, the Broncos might not have gone for the TD in the third quarter (they would have been behind instead of ahead), and in the last drive of the game the Broncos would certainly have made more of an effort to score a TD. I'm not saying that the Broncos would have won, I'm saying it is not obvious they would have lost. -- Jeff Wu
woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (11/14/85)
> I will forgive the > questionable (to put it kindly) pass interference call on a crucial third down > play in the Broncos' last scoring drive You are dead wrong here. The replay CLEARLY showed that the defender HAD HIS HAND ON WATSON'S CHEST, while the ball was in the air, and was not looking for the ball. Say what you want about the current interference rules, but according to the rules as stated, that was interference. You can say that the Broncos were 'lucky' if you want, but I disagree. An infraction was committed and was properly flagged. If the defender hadn't committed the infraction, there would be no 'luck' for the Broncos. > but the missed call of interference > against Denver in the End Zone disgusted me. I'll give you that one. The officials blew the call. The replay showed that Harden hit the receiver before the ball got there. However, Harden was at least looking for the ball. In this case, the determination is whether Harden deliberately hit the receiver to prevent his catching the pass, or whether he was going for the ball. I think it was interference, but it's tougher to call in this case. The major difference between these two plays is that in one case, the defender had his eyes on the ball, and in the other, he didn't. According to the new rules this year, that is critical. > Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the > second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. I think that is really leaping to conclusions. Psychologically, the game would have been different had they made that field goal, plus the fact that there is no guarantee that they would have made it had there not been a snowball. We don't know for sure that the snowball was the reason Cavanaugh bobbled the snap. And we don't know Weirshing would have made the kick had he fielded the snap properly. BTW, I do not approve of throwing ANY kind of projectile onto the field. Someone could get hurt. I am not trying to defend the snowball thrower, I just think that's a pretty lame excuse coming from a 49'ers fan who is feeling sour grapes. If the 49'ers had scored a touchdown when they had first and goal from the three, or had Earl Cooper not dropped an easy touchdown pass, we might not be arguing this. The 49'ers blew it, pure and simple. They had plenty of opportunities to put the game away in the 3rd quarter, and THEY BLEW IT. No excuses. > It's beyond me that > the officials did not call an unsportsmanlike against the crowd at that point. > According the rules, that is within their power. Is it? Apparently that is a matter of some controversey. I understand the league office is instituting some new rules specifically to cover incidents like this. > More angry than most, > Gary Huckabay. Make that sour grapes. If the 49'ers didn't blow games that they could have won, they wouldn't be 5-5 and you wouldn't be using snowballs as excuses. --Greg -- {ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | mcvax!seismo | ihnp4!noao} !hao!woods CSNET: woods@NCAR ARPA: woods%ncar@CSNET-RELAY
charlie@nbires.UUCP (Charles Carrington) (11/14/85)
In article <284@ucdavis.UUCP> ccs007@ucdavis.UUCP (0058) writes: >I will forgive the >questionable (to put it kindly) pass interference call on a crucial third down >play in the Broncos' last scoring drive, but the missed call of interference >against Denver in the End Zone disgusted me. If you follow the NFL, then you know that pass interference is different this year. A defender can virtually decapitate a receiver and get away with it, if (now pay attention) HE IS MAKING A PLAY ON THE BALL. Otherwise, it's interference. Steve Watson and Mike Harden understand this rule. Apparently you and Dwight Hicks do not. >Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the >second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. You should be as ashamed of this kind of sour grapes as I am ashamed of that fan. There were 145 plays run from scrimmage, 15 punts, plus assorted kickoffs and field goal attempts. The outcome could have turned any one of them. I don't think that one snowball and 5 (count them, only 5) penalties decided this game. Face it, Pal, the 49ers were beaten fair and square, in a tough game, by the better team. >More angry than most, >Gary Huckabay. Because you had more money on the game than most? :-) -- Charles Carrington charlie@nbires.UUCP (303) 444-5710 NBI Inc, Boulder CO
tml@druhi.UUCP (Tim Larison) (11/14/85)
> I have been an avid fan of NFL football for many years, and have seen more games > than most. However, the officiating on Monday's Denver/ S.F. game was a > complete and utter travesty. > There will always be the occasional bad call, but the inconsistent rulings of > the officials in that game were positively vile. I will forgive the > questionable (to put it kindly) pass interference call on a crucial third down > play in the Broncos' last scoring drive, but the missed call of interference > against Denver in the End Zone disgusted me. > Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the > second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. It's beyond me that > the officials did not call an unsportsmanlike against the crowd at that point. > According the rules, that is within their power. > More angry than most, > Gary Huckabay. If I follow the logic here, I think your saying: If no snowball is thrown, then San Francisco makes the field goal. Add 3 points to the 49'ers total and they win 19 - 17. Now wait a minute! For one, the missed field goal occurred in the first half, and the 49'ers had more than enough time to make up the points. I think the 49'ers going 1 for 16 on third down conversions and being inside the 5 yard line twice without scoring a touchdown had more to do with loss than a missed field goal. And if the 49'ers had made the field goal, it would have been a different ball game. Instead of going for a field goal on that last drive, Denver could have scored a touchdown (they were inside the 10) and have won 21 - 19. Has anyone read an interview with the S.F. field goal holder? I wonder if he thinks the snowball made him drop the ball. From the replays I saw the ball still hit him right in the hands after the snowball had landed a few feet away. Championship teams seem to be able to transcend such adversity and win anyway. Tim Larison ihnp4!drutx!druhi!tml
mom@sfmag.UUCP (M.Modig) (11/16/85)
> I have been an avid fan of NFL football for many years, and have seen more games > than most. However, the officiating on Monday's Denver/ S.F. game was a > complete and utter travesty. > > There will always be the occasional bad call, but the inconsistent rulings of > the officials in that game were positively vile. I will forgive the > questionable (to put it kindly) pass interference call on a crucial third down > play in the Broncos' last scoring drive, but the missed call of interference > against Denver in the End Zone disgusted me. You hit it right on the head. Inconsistency. There were many questionable situations involving pass interference (possibly) that were let go (remeber that play the 49ers made on Broncos TE Mike Barber deep in SF territory-- I'd call that interference, along with at least some of the other situations that have been mentioned). As I understand it, the DB has more freedom, but he still has to play the ball and not the man. To me, it's ridiculous that all these other situations were let go, while a key one late in the game was called, especially since Watson was really making no effort to try to catch the ball at all-- it looked almost like it was a set up play. These calls are all judgement calls, I realise. But I do like to have a little consistency-- if it's called a certain way, it should be called that way every time. > Without its fine, classy fan that threw the snowball at Matt Cavanaugh in the > second quarter, the Broncos would be 6-4 at this point. It's beyond me that > the officials did not call an unsportsmanlike against the crowd at that point. > According the rules, that is within their power. I hardly think that the snowball made a decisive difference in the game. I think, though, that even most Denver fans would agree that it wouldn't be unreasonable to run the play over again (hopefully without the snowball). Saying that this was THE key play of the game, though, was a bit much, despite the emotional effects of such a play, and what might have happened on a replay of the down. I also am not sure that the officials can call an unsportsmanlike conduct against the crowd, though they can inisist the down be played over. In any case, things generally have a tendency to even out, and one game does not a season make. If the Niners hadn't lost a couple of easy ones early, this game wouldn't have been so crucial. Mark Modig ihnp4!sfmag!mom