# Extremely Bad On-the-Field Gaffes by Sports Officials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249 "2007-09-15T00:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/21 "2007-09-15T14:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] What am I supposed to be looking for? Here’s what it looks like to me: 1) #11 from the white team and the goalkeeper from the red team slide into each other; 2) The ref gives #11 a yellow card for some reason (perhaps he though he was being too aggressive?); 3) #11 argues the call and gets a red card; 4) The replay shows that it was the goalkeeper who was too aggressive. Seems rather mundane and routine to me. Am I missing something? [/QUOTE] No, it’s not that at all. After the collision, the referee immediately ran to the attacking player and showed him a yellow and red card in quick succession, thus sending him off the field immediately. I can’t understand the commentators, but i can only presume that the send-off was for “taking a dive,” i.e., for pretending that the goalkeeper had knocked him over in order to try to draw a penalty shot. But, as the replay shows, the goalkeeper clearly took the player’s legs out from under him, without getting anywhere near the ball. It was a clear penalty, and should have been a penalty shot. Hungary should have received a penalty shot and probably scored a goal; instead, they got no opportunity to score, and lost a player. A classic “home” call (the game was played in Istanbul). Although, admittedly, the difference between a foul and a dive in the box can be a matter of inches, and if the referee has a bad angle, it can be hard to tell whether or not contact was made. And **DSYoungEsq** beat me to the “Hand of God” goal. A classic. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/22 "2007-09-15T14:52:16Z")
I dont remember for sure but I think the Steelers played the Lions,the game went to overtime, Steelers called the flip correctly and the ref said he did not…Lions got the ball and won the game. Do I have that right? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/23 "2007-09-15T15:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] I dont remember for sure but I think the Steelers played the Lions game went to overtime, Steelers called the flip correctly and the ref said he did not..Lions got the ball and won the game. Do i have that right? [/QUOTE] According to the referee, he heard both "heads’ and “tails” in that order, and a Lions player, Robert Bailey, said that one Steeler called heads, while another called tails. Bailey also said, “That way, no matter what happens, you can argue. It’s an old trick.” Also, enhanced audio of conversations between Jerome Bettis and Bill Cowher during the ensuing arguments apparently reveal Bettis admitting that he essentially changed his call while the coin was in the air (“I said ‘hea-tails.’ I said, ‘hea ….’ I said, ‘hea ….’”), in which case the referee was obliged to take the first call he heard. [Link](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/news/1998/11/26/lions_steelers/) [Much more detailed analysis of the issue here](http://www.referee.com/sampleArticles/2001/SampleArticle0101/headsortails/headstailstext.html) ETA: It’s worth noting that the whole coin-toss procedure was changed after this incident. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/24 "2007-09-15T17:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] No, it’s not that at all. After the collision, the referee immediately ran to the attacking player and showed him a yellow and red card in quick succession, thus sending him off the field immediately. I can’t understand the commentators, but i can only presume that the send-off was for “taking a dive,” i.e., for pretending that the goalkeeper had knocked him over in order to try to draw a penalty shot. But, as the replay shows, the goalkeeper clearly took the player’s legs out from under him, without getting anywhere near the ball. It was a clear penalty, and should have been a penalty shot. Hungary should have received a penalty shot and probably scored a goal; instead, they got no opportunity to score, and lost a player. A classic “home” call (the game was played in Istanbul). Although, admittedly, the difference between a foul and a dive in the box can be a matter of inches, and if the referee has a bad angle, it can be hard to tell whether or not contact was made. And **DSYoungEsq** beat me to the “Hand of God” goal. A classic. [/QUOTE] The keeper should also have been sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, although it’s rarely called in a situation like that. [Take a look](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXT5PqY-4xE&mode=related&search=) at the “foul” that led to Ronaldinho’s free kick goal in a recent friendly. Now it doesn’t have any significance since the game is meaningless, but wow to that call. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/25 "2007-09-15T18:10:26Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] [Take a look](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXT5PqY-4xE&mode=related&search=) at the “foul” that led to Ronaldinho’s free kick goal in a recent friendly. Now it doesn’t have any significance since the game is meaningless, but wow to that call. [/QUOTE] Wow is right. That was one of the most egregious dives i’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/26 "2007-09-15T19:33:59Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] [Take a look](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXT5PqY-4xE&mode=related&search=) at the “foul” that led to Ronaldinho’s free kick goal in a recent friendly. Now it doesn’t have any significance since the game is meaningless, but wow to that call. [/QUOTE] Let me guess. CONCACAF referee? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/27 "2007-09-15T20:00:05Z")
Booker Turner, (in)famous west coast college basketball referee during the 80’s, called shots that went over the backboard as good shots - not once BUT TWICE. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/28 "2007-09-15T22:06:01Z")
I don’t remember exactly which game, but I remember Brent Musberger referring to some play in a Texas-Oklahoma game that it was “the worst call he had ever seen in his life.” All I remember was that it involved an end zone play, but I don’t remember whether a score was improperly credited or denied. This would have been at least 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/29 "2007-09-15T22:37:51Z")
“[Poll’s biggest mistake led to him cautioning Croatia’s Simunic three times before finally sending him off.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5108722.stm)” This was a World Cup game. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/30 "2007-09-15T23:21:14Z")
No mention of the phantom touchdown for USC v Michigan in the Rose Bowl? One of the stinkiest ones I ever saw. For homerism, it’s hard to top the home plate umpire overruling a correct call by the third base umpire saying the Japanese runner didn’t wait for a fly ball to be touched before scoring in the Japan v US World Cup. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/31 "2007-09-16T00:08:33Z")
I just remembered one that probably only Australians and a few ardent Olympics track-and-field fans would know of. It was the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and in the final of the triple-jump competition, Australian Ian Campbell made a jump that looked good enough to win gold. The Russian officials flagged him for a foul, despite the fact that the TV replays (not as good quality as the ones we have now) showed no indication that he overstepped the mark. The Russians ended up taking gold and silver in the event, with Campbell finishing in 5th. I was only 11 at the time, but i remember the storm of controversy it caused in Australia. I couldn’t find very much at all about the incident on the web, except for [this story](http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=olymp/history/1980.htm). > [@](#): > > Word got out that the competition was being tilted heavily in favor of Russian athletes. One of the greatest examples of this was in the men’s triple jump. Heading into the final round of competition, four athletes were beginning to rise to the top of the field, two Soviets Jaak Uudmae and Viktor Saneyev, winner of the last three Olympic triple jump gold medals, and a pair of Westerners, Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil and Ian Campbell of Australia. > > Oliveira and Campbell were frustrated as jump after jump, Russian officials would red flag them, indicating a foul. As the men began to argue, the officials would already begin raking away the mark, making any argument of the foul moot. On Oliveira’s fourth jump, it looked as though he had surpassed Saneyev’s 12-year-old-world record of 17.39 meters, only to be flagged once again. > > All in all, the westerners were flagged in nine of their 12 jumps. As a result, Uudmae captured the gold, Sanevey the silver and Oliveira the bronze. Campbell finished fifth. I don’t remember anything about the Brazilian athlete, but that’s not too surprising. The Australia media tends to be especially parochial during the Olympics, focusing almost exclusively on Aussie athletes. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/32 "2007-09-16T00:17:37Z")
The UNC-Virginia game this afternoon had a terrible miscall: a field goal which went through the lower corner of the uprights was initially ruled a miss. While these thigns sometimes happen, and replays caught the error, the reason for the miss was hilarious: The referee standing at the base of the field goal posts responsible for checking if the ball went through, panicked when the kick started sailing towards him, and ducked down, looking away from the ball. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/33 "2007-09-16T01:07:14Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] For homerism, it’s hard to top the home plate umpire overruling a correct call by the third base umpire saying the Japanese runner didn’t wait for a fly ball to be touched before scoring in the Japan v US World Cup. [/QUOTE] That was Bob Davidson, the worst official working in North American sports. That was one of two abysmal calls by Davidson in the WBC, both favoring the USA. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/34 "2007-09-16T02:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] It was the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and in the final of the triple-jump competition, Australian Ian Campbell made a jump that looked good enough to win gold. The Russian officials… [/QUOTE] Cheating isn’t quite a “gaffe.” The old joke “And (low score) from the Russian judge” is not really a joke; Communist judges and officials cheated at almost every opportunity during Olympic competitions, often quite openly and without the slightest interest in honestly or fair play. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/35 "2007-09-16T03:13:54Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Cheating isn’t quite a “gaffe.” [/quote] Sure, but there are also incidents which don’t rise to the level of “cheating,” but which also seem too systematic or sustained to be called a “gaffe.” Quite a few of the “homer” calls described here seem to be in that grey area. Your own Example #3 of Eric Gregg’s strike zone in that NLCS game also seems to be such an in-between example. It’s not cheating in the way that Soviet Olympic officials cheat, but it also seems like more than just a momentary lapse in judgment or attention that we might label a gaffe. It’s not quite the same as a single blown call at first base, or a missed tag. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/36 "2007-09-16T03:24:55Z")
I remember some years back England losing a rugby international in bizarre circumstances: A penalty kick at goal was awarded to them late in the game and as it was a windy day, the kicker had a “placer” - a teammate lying prone on the ground to hold the ball upright until the instant before he kicked it. The kick sailed through the uprights but the referee disallowed it because the placer was in front of the ball and therefore offside. As any international referee should have known, a placer is considered out of play for the duration of the kick and hence exempt from being called offside. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/37 "2007-09-16T03:25:53Z")
I’m not sure ice dancing qualifies as a sport, but traditionally the order of finish is determined before the competition even starts. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/38 "2007-09-16T04:56:40Z")
Not a game of tremendous importance, but I remember a Kentucky-Florida football game where Derek Abney seemingly returned a kickoff for a touchdown, breaking the career return TD record. The touchdown was called back due to a flag for a block in the back, despite there being no one within 15 yards of the flag. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/39 "2007-09-16T05:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] I don’t remember exactly which game, but I remember Brent Musberger referring to some play in a Texas-Oklahoma game that it was “the worst call he had ever seen in his life.” All I remember was that it involved an end zone play, but I don’t remember whether a score was improperly credited or denied. This would have been at least 10 years ago. [/QUOTE] A lot of chatter is made about the end of the 1984 Texas-OU game. OU made an apparent interception in the endzone to seal a win, but it was ruled out of bounds, and Texas was able to kick a field goal for the tie. Replays show the catch was made a good 2 yards in bounds. No one but Texas fans seem to remember that earlier in the game, the OU punter was permitted to field a snap on his knees, then stand up and punt. ---
**Author:** ![Incensed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Incensed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incensed)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249/40 "2007-09-16T15:37:06Z")
I have always thought [this Dante Hall punt return](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoKxvk80BM8&mode=related&search=)was a pretty good example of horrendous officiating. At least two separate instances of clipping within a few feet of the ball carrier–and the official is less than ten yards away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-bad-on-the-field-gaffes-by-sports-officials/419249.md?page=3)