You don’t hear an old Cougar say this very often, but I really did feel sorry for the Huskies last Saturday.
Surely, you all know by now what I’m talking about — the unsportsmanlike call on Husky QB Jake Locker after he scored a touchdown late against BYU and then jumped up and tossed the ball straight overhead. After the ensuing 15-yard penalty, the PAT kick was blocked and the beleaguered Huskies lost by a point. Former Dallas Cowboys and University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson put it best on the FOX NFL pregame show Sunday morning when the topic came up. “There are good officials and there are bad officials, and the guy that made that call is an absolute idiot!” he fumed.
I’ve spoken with about a half-dozen local high school officials since that happened, since the preps have the same rule, and every single one said it was a classic no-call. Locker wasn’t hot-dogging, and the officials in that game (seven in college) didn’t have to stop the game and chase the ball down. And it absolutely wasn’t unsportsmanlike. It may technically be a rule, but like most laws, it’s relative and should be judged in the context it happened.
And the rule in general is ludicrous. One of the things I like best about sports is the emotion. And good, clean emotion is what makes the game, any game, great.
The rule should be changed and that official should remember what the game is all about, or get out of the game.
Well, I guess it was a weekend to feel sorry for the state’s major football teams.
The Cougars looked so bad against Cal, I had to stop watching after it was 49-3 (it wound up a 66-3 Cal win). And the Seahawks were pathetic in a 34-10 loss to Buffalo. Their line play, supposedly a strength, was awful, and Matt Hasselbeck rarely had time to make anything happen. The depleted receiving corps was also dismal, dropping pass after pass, and the running game stunk. Maybe Shaun Alexander wasn’t as bad as we thought. Now, it looks like the line is the culprit. Who knows? It may be a long fall and winter for the state’s football fans.
Surely, you all know by now what I’m talking about — the unsportsmanlike call on Husky QB Jake Locker after he scored a touchdown late against BYU and then jumped up and tossed the ball straight overhead. After the ensuing 15-yard penalty, the PAT kick was blocked and the beleaguered Huskies lost by a point. Former Dallas Cowboys and University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson put it best on the FOX NFL pregame show Sunday morning when the topic came up. “There are good officials and there are bad officials, and the guy that made that call is an absolute idiot!” he fumed.
I’ve spoken with about a half-dozen local high school officials since that happened, since the preps have the same rule, and every single one said it was a classic no-call. Locker wasn’t hot-dogging, and the officials in that game (seven in college) didn’t have to stop the game and chase the ball down. And it absolutely wasn’t unsportsmanlike. It may technically be a rule, but like most laws, it’s relative and should be judged in the context it happened.
And the rule in general is ludicrous. One of the things I like best about sports is the emotion. And good, clean emotion is what makes the game, any game, great.
The rule should be changed and that official should remember what the game is all about, or get out of the game.
Well, I guess it was a weekend to feel sorry for the state’s major football teams.
The Cougars looked so bad against Cal, I had to stop watching after it was 49-3 (it wound up a 66-3 Cal win). And the Seahawks were pathetic in a 34-10 loss to Buffalo. Their line play, supposedly a strength, was awful, and Matt Hasselbeck rarely had time to make anything happen. The depleted receiving corps was also dismal, dropping pass after pass, and the running game stunk. Maybe Shaun Alexander wasn’t as bad as we thought. Now, it looks like the line is the culprit. Who knows? It may be a long fall and winter for the state’s football fans.
posted by sam bakotich at
3:36 PM
1 Comments:
I don't believe for one second that Jake Locker was intending to show off or rub his touchdown in the face of his opponents. I think if you asked any of the players from the Y, they would say the same thing.
When you get down to it, though, why was the call made? Terrible officiating? Or something else?
If we watched the game on TV, we saw what appeared to be an innocuous throw over the shoulder. Harmless.
But if you watch closely, it is quite some time after he tosses the ball that you actually see a ball come back into the screen and hit Locker! This was NOT a ball someone threw back into play. This was the same ball Locker threw!
I know three people who were at the game and the confirmed what someone could deduce with the new information: this ball was not thrown lightly. This ball was thrown some 20 feet or more into the air and that is why you don't see it for quite some time come back into the replay.
The things you don't see on TV!
At the risk of someone saying this is slippery-slope thinking, if the official does not call this, then what is next? However, the problem wasn't the official. It is the Pac-10. In my viewing of the conference games over the years, I've noticed conference heads as control-freak types who like to interject themselves in every single aspect of the sport. I agree that sportsmanship should be an integral part of the team. And that includes 20 foot throws into the air. However, the conference first needs to make it a policy to use judgement of the context.
Secondly, Seattle media need to get off the fact that the Huskies would have won if the flag had not been thrown. Angie Arlati was the worst: "The Huskies deserved to win." No, actually, the deserved the CHANCE to TIE and REALLY, it was the chance to kick a 20-yarder to tie. Big difference. Perhaps the Cougar who blocked the PAT would have done so at 20 yards, too!
Just wanted to weigh in, since I noticed the video highlight and heard from people who were at the game.
Good game by the way and the Huskies can be proud. More so than Wazzu :)!
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