In today’s Steeler-Colts game, referee Pete Morelli unbelievably overturned an interception by Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu in the 4th quarter. This play wasn’t even close. I am a Steeler fan, so I’ll admit that I may be considered biased. But I assure you I am not. I loathe instant replay, for just this reason.
Why use the technology if you can’t use it properly? There was no interpretation necessary. He caught the ball, rolled completely over, both knees touched the ground, got up to run and accidently hit the ball out of his hands with his high-kicking knee. He then covered his own fumble and waited for a Colt to touch him. The Colts offense and Steeler defense were both on the sidelines. The announcers said it was clearly an interception. I go to the bathroom during the review. I come out, and Morelli still has his head up his ass (the replay machine). WTF is he watching? I say to my wife, “he’s going to overturn this.” She says “no way.” I say, “just watch. He’s trying to figure out why he’s going to overturn it.”
His answer was bogus. He either had money on the game, the NFL wanted Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl for the ratings, or Paulie Walnuts was speaking to him over his headset on the sidelines. Dungy looked as stunned as anyone in the stadium. I almost expected him to say, “no, that’s wrong. I’m embarrassed by the call.”
How can Morelli have a job tomorrow? EVERY announcer, football show talking head, and everyone I’ve spoken to had the same point of view. What was Morelli smoking?
Flush this system now. I’d rather have the occasional missed call and chalk it up to human error than to have all the technology in the world misused by some jackass who has five bucks on the game (or whatever Morelli’s problem was). I hope he DID have money on the game, and I hope he lost his house. MORON!
And if the last five minutes of that game didn’t convince you to never bet on football, nothing will.
The officials’ use of instant replay results in the proper call far more often then not, so I’d like it to stick around. Besides, it gives the league a chance to show more adverti$ements on TV!
Yeah, do you remember when IR was taken out. We could see that a call was wrong because the networks would replay it for us but the refs couldn’t look. At least now everyone knows what an asshat Morelli is. He doesn’t have an excuse.
As you may know, I am a huge Steeler fan. I think Morelli’s decision was incomprehensible as well, but I would not want to get rid of the instant replay. I knew Morelli was going to overturn it as well, but that was largely because he (and his crew) had made a number of really bad calls earlier in the game, including the lack of a pass interference call on the pass to Randle El, and the bizarre “no play” decision on the false start/encroachment play.
Instant replay is a great tool. Morelli is just a tool. We should get rid of the latter and keep the former.
It’s not instant replay’s fault; it’s the home-team officiating we’ve seen in every game this weekend, IR or not. The Polamalu call was actually the first one I’ve seen nearly so blatant, though.
All I’d pit about it is the time and disruption it takes to do the challenge/review thing on the field. The last 2 minutes of the half or the game, it’s all in the booth, and virtually seamless as well as almost always right. I’d like to see the last-two-minutes procedure in place for the entire game.
I agree that instant replay, if used correctly, would be great. But it’s not. It slows down the game (but perhaps that’s the point, since you can sell more beer!), and annoys me more than adding any enjoyment to the game.
I also remember the days without instant replay. And more often than not, the refs get it right. Baseball lives without it, even when it would be a great help in proving a fly ball was either a home run or a foul ball, or if a runner was safe or out. But it would slow the game to a crawl.
I agree with you Hentor, that Morelli and his crew really had a piss-poor game. I kept saying to myself “try to be objective, you are a Steeler fan”, but it really looked like the crew was doing its best to get the Colts to the next round. Perhaps a higher power blew that kick wide right because it was poetic justice. Vanderjagt is the best kicker in NFL history, (I think). That had to be the worst kick of his career.
But until it’s used correctly, it should be shelved. Do you get more pissed off if the umpire misses a call, or if a ref misses the call **AFTER ** reviewing it from 65 angles on an instant replay machine?
Maybe Morelli is just a jackass. I look forward to disciplinary action from the NFL. I know it will never happen, but his decision flies in the face of review anyway. What irrefutable (is that a word?) evidence was there in any replay we saw to overturn the call of interception on the field?
The Steeler’s have been my AFC team since I became aware of football. And being a 5 year old Packer fan in 1978 I didn’t have much to look for in Januray.
That was a complete and utter horseshit call. Thankfully, it didn’t reverse the outcome of the game, but if Vanderjagt makes that kick? Different story.
And who else is waiting for the next Vanderjagt/Manning pissing contest? It may be as heartwarming as the fucking Bears going down, yet again, like a crack-addled whore.
This I will take issue with. Can we stop comparing instant reply between baseball and football? Seriously. There are some that will say baseball is already played at a snail’s pace, and it could be a valid argument, if what you want is exciting action. One thing I like about baseball is the slower, relaxed pace a fan can follow it watching it under a warm sun and gentle breeze. Football is high intensity and designed to be played at full-throttle every second that clock is ticking. (Ever wonder why there is no clock in baseball? No urgency is built into the game.)
That said, there are 162 games in a baseball season. There are 16 in an NFL season. If you want to break it down to a single bad call being the decision maker, you have to agree that IR is 10 times more important in football. One game lost in the NFL would equate to 10 bad calls deciding games in the MLB.
That isn’t an argument of the merits of IR in the NFL, just a reality check on the fallacy of comparing IR in regards to baseball.
I seriously thought that Cowher was going to take a swing at him at one point. I don’t know jackshit about football, and even I could tell those were some seriously bad calls.
I missed the pass interference call, and I agree with everything said about the INT call, but that false start/encroachment deal was insane. It kind of worked out in the Steelers favor as there was most certainly a flinch on the line, but if the refs weren’t going to call it, there’s no way they should just stop the play with at least 4 Colts players standing or having their arms offsides.
As a Bengal fan, I would’'ve loved to have seen the Steelers pounded and crying like little girls…but even my biased ass saw that as a clear cut INT. Is that crew the only people in the world to have seen at as an incomplete pass?
Ok, first of all, I agree 100% about the calls today in the Steelers game. Especially the intercept— wait, upon review, the non-interception. Totally horrific. The referees should be flogged.
But, second, let me just ask - why are you only pitting NFL replay? Didn’t you watch the bowl games? Worst fucking refereeing and worst fucking reviews in the world. Goddammit! And why the hell are there things that you can’t use instant replay for? Is there any fucking point to “getting things right” if (a) the referees fuck up the call after reviewing it, or (b) something is clearly fucked and is unreviewable and thus, unfuckable?
Case in point re: subpoint (b) - The Outback Bowl in Sunny Tampa - Iowa was storming back against Florida after being down all day. They just needed to recover an onside kick to have a chance to take the game into OT. So they line up, kick a beautiful onside kick, and lo & behold - THEY RECOVERED IT! Miracle of miracles! But wait! A flag! Off-sides! Re-kick. But guess what? NOBODY WAS OFFSIDES! It was a fucking phantom call! And guess what?! It’s fucking unreviewable. So even though Johnny Armchair at home can see that NONE of the Iowa players were offsides, even though the announcers are bitching about what a bullshit call it was, even THOUGH IT WAS WRONG, instant replay can’t do a damn thing.
Back to subpoint (a), we get shit like today - where they review it and then make some fucking call defying all logic and reason. They might as well have placed a call to Nancy Reagan’s astrologer for all the good instant replay did today.
God - instant replay was supposed to be this amazing thing - but seriously - after that call today, I don’t know anymore … NO INTERCEPTION? NO INTERCEPTION?
Replay works most of the time. Therefore, getting rid of it sounds like a bad idea.
Even if you like baseball, and I do, it’s definitely played at a snail’s pace. The average game is still close to three hours. It can remain relaxed in less time, I’m sure.
Football’s more like three and a half house, and when it comes to the final minutes, basketball is even worse. But football doesn’t feel like it drags as much.
I’ve cross-posted this from the MPSIMS thread on the Steelers, but it’s relevant here. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s print edition had Morelli’s explanation for his call (if I can find it on-line, I’ll link to it). Here’s what he said:
Yes, I think it’s a rotten call; I doubt there’s anyone in Pittsburgh who doesn’t. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Sorry, but the reversal on the interception was technically correct. The rule sucks, but the ref is paid to enforce the rules. If you catch it down and nobody touches you, you must have posession when you get up to run. That wasn’t the case, and the reversal was correct.
Yep - I was waiting for someone to say this. It was the right call, and the refs were just following the rules. Sadly, this is the stupidest rule ever to exist in any sport. If you catch the ball like that and try to get up - you have to make a “football move,” whatever the hell that is, before you officially have possession. That means Polamula could have stayed on the ground and there would have been no question about the INT. It also means that he could have rolled like a gerbil for 40 yards, popped up to his feet at the 1, lost the ball, and it would have been an incomplete pass. It really is just an insane rule.
