Here it is late in the fourth quarter with Florida leading Florida State. The fifth, or sixth, fumble by FSU was just called not a fumble. Meanwhile the one Florida “fumble” by Fason was called a fumble – even though he was clearly on the ground.
I have tried to disassociate myself from football outcomes or officiating not involving myself – BUT…
Fucking moronic bastards.
A fumble in the ACC means a ball recovered by an ACC team – apparently.
Tough to lose a game that way, but not as tough as losing the 1999 Stanley Cup on an illegal goal that was not even reviewed.
Oh sweet Jesus. And here I thought you were talking about Air Combat Command.
Tripler
I totally get my acronyms confused.
It’s OK. I keep getting some Arizona regulatory board when I try to find the example of where an ACC crew had to apologize to another conference.
IT HAPPENED!!! The internet is either the information superhighway or the memory hole from hell.
Thank goodness, I wasn’t the only one.
Right. After all, it is the job of some young college kids to make up for clearly biased officiating.
Personally, not playing, I was tempted to give up after the opening kickoff. Bad call.
The Gators proved that they are a lot more resiliant than I am. Sad part: I just watch.
Now I feel better. At least I didn’t riot.
I quit watching when FSU was gifted their next-to-last touchdown.
Counting to ten… I’m at close to a million and still pissed off. “Better” but still pissed off.
My personal sympathy level for the Waller-Gators is normally quite low. That having been said, yeah they got ripped off.
Usually officials only get one or two chances to blatently favor one team over the other. That ACC crew got many chances and took advantage of nearly every one.
I had come to expect that they were determined to do everything within their power to secure the win for FSU, and was surprised when they didn’t call the receiver out of the end zone on Florida’s last score.
I guess they thought they had better make ONE correct call. 
I still see bumper stickers around here shouting “NO GOAL.” I wasn’t around in '99, and the first time I plaintively asked someone what that bumper sticker meant, the guy was almost purple with rage about the call. Four years after the fact.
One question I have to ask: why wasn’t an officiating crew from a neutral conference used for the UF-FSU game? I thought that was standard operating procedure in Div I-A.
One thing about the Straight Dope, it does not take long for someone to get right to the serious issue or policy question. Duke, very good question…
During the game, the grapevine says, Jeremy Foley was “renegotiating” the situation with Florida State’s AD, in terms of who will officiate future games. The neutral crew is what I’m hearing the next contract will have.
This is one of only a handful of games in my entire life where I felt the officials had predetermined the outcome. Others involved the point spread and bizarre calls down the stretch. Why I don’t gamble on sports, among other reasons.
To my Martian friend,
Thanks.
You who sleeps-with-relatives. Which ain’t all bad, I hear. 
Your season righted nicely. I’m glad I wisely laid off the wisecracks when I had the chance. I had USC early. They looked strong.
Now, let’s all sing the Gator fight song…
Wait 'til next ye-e-e-ear, Wait 'til next Ye - e - e - a - r.
Beagle, Beagle, Beagle! :“You who sleeps-with-relatives. Which ain’t all bad, I hear.”
Yeah but never with any relative closer than first cousin, and never with any relative under age 12. There ARE certain standards of decency, ya’ know.
I told my dad about what happened to UF and he said, “Good.” He still hates Spurrier and everything tainted by him. It’s funny because he went to Delaware.
But yeah, Florida definitely got hosed. And here’s the thing…because Florida got hosed, Georgia is in the SEC game against LSU, practically guaranteeing LSU getting screwed out of the Sugar Bowl because they will lose their quality win point or lose. Which means USC is pretty much a lock for the Sugar Bowl, which annoys me because I wanted them in the Rose Bowl.
Maybe it’s a BCS plot to not have a crappy Sugar.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/1999/playoffs/news/1999/06/20/sabres_bitter/
http://www.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLPlayoffsBUFDAL/jun21_strachan.html
The Hull goal was perfectly legal. Just like that Tom Brady fumble/incompletion, it was correctly called, even if to the observer it appears like a dumb call.
I’m no fan of either team, but it was a shame to see an otherwise good game tainted by “questionable officiating”.
On the other hand, Go 'SC! See you at the Sugar Bowl! 
Neurotik,
Spurrier? Let go. Breathe in, breathe out. Squeeze this little rubber ball. Hello, is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me.
As for your other grand conspiracy theory, damn straight! We wuz robbed! I will say this, my Seminole “friends” (heh) have been cool about this. They sense that this time the anger is real, among the smarter ones. I need to let go. Breathe in, breathe out. It’s a shame that one of their better games involved so consarnabbit many bad calls.
JCoM, remember? I go straight to the “incest well,” oh great whoosher of hunting dogs. Incest: It’s a Southern Tradition. Wee! When we ain’t muddin’ and shinin’ out the General Lee with a pellet gun, thet is.
I’ll bet I was the only one that had to think about the FSU roster for one second, looking for a Hull. Frozen Water!!! [EEK]
By Beagle: "JCoM, remember? I go straight to the “incest well,”
‘Course I remember, oh Long-Eared Dog. You will recall that I invited you up here to go on a date with my 13 year-old cousin. She’s 14 now, and spent last summer hangin’ out on Dauphin Street in Mobile. Become quite polished at what she does best, she has. The invite still stands…
NOTE: Once long ago (1966) the fates decreed that I should be sitting in the stands in Tallahassee when the SEC officials called an FSU receiver out of bounds on what would have been the game winning touchdown. The whoo-ha then was about the same as it is now, only reversed.
My main memory of the day was Steve Superior throwing a 50 yard touchdown pass to Larry Smith.
Sigh Yes, I must admit that once, before I found enlightnment and the True Way, I was Gator fan. [Hangs head in shame…]
JCoM,
Our local columnist brought that up the day after the game.
When someone puts together a photo spread of all the FSU turnovers – I’m slow, it’s already out there probably – this will be interesting. On one of them the running back is still moving forward while upright when the ball pops out. One caption I heard about: “What fumble? Move along, nothing to see here.”
I must admit, the 1966 game is not exactly fresh in my memory. I had diaper issues.
When not partaking in the saltier pleasures of the night, rarely, I like to play some golf. RTJ Trail is up there. Still meaning to play some of those. Unless you were serious about your cousin.
Well, it wasn’t for a Cup, but a more apt analogy would be losing 7-6 when 5 of the winning team’s goals happened with Hull in the crease. If they make the correct calls on all those fumbles that directly impacted scores, the Gators win at least 51-17.
It does suck for you, but it rocks for me and my Dallas Stars!