Tag: Officiating

The Packers aren’t handling not being officiating darlings anymore very well

Packers fans and media didn’t like the officiating in Detroit’s Week 14 win and their salty tears are flowing

For years — make that decades — the rest of the NFL fan bases have complained about the beneficial treatment the Green Bay Packers have endemically received from the officiating. Ask any Lions fan, Seahawks fan, Cowboys fan (Dez caught it!), or any fan of any other team that pays any attention to the rules, and they’ll disgustedly roll their eyes at how many hundreds of times the refs have smiled upon the Packers.

Lions fans are acutely aware of being the fire hydrant to the Packers and their officiating dogs. Trey Flowers erroneously being called for illegal hands to the face twice. An egregiously missed delay-of-game foul that directly led to a Packers win. Aaron Rodgers longingly looking at the referee when he got breathed upon and immediately getting a flag. Pass interference called on a Lions defender who wasn’t even in coverage to mop up a Brett Favre incompletion. The list goes on and on and on and on again. Bears and Vikings fans can certainly add multiple paragraphs here, too.

In Detroit’s nail-biting win on Thursday night, Green Bay fans learned what it’s like to be on the business end of the hose–at least in their eyes. A couple of calls — more correctly, calls not made — from referee John Hussey and his crew favored Detroit in their eyes. Perhaps following the lead of head coach Matt LaFleur, who birthed a cow on the sidelines at not getting an offensive pass interference call against the Lions, they can’t believe their eyes.

Those eyes are spewing some of the saltiest tears ever tasted. Here’s another good example that’s being echoed around Cheesehead nation,

 

It’s as if much of the Packers fan base has come to the sudden and collective realization that the middle child learns when the new baby comes along, like discovering the presents from Santa in your parent’s closet the week before Christmas, learning that the stripper doesn’t really love you and your ex never spends a second thinking about you. And it’s hit them all at once.

Welcome to the cold reality of being just another NFL team. To quote Tyler Durden,

“You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.”

 

 

Vikings were set to try 68-yard FG before late penalty pushed them back

The Vikings were set to try a 68-yard FG to win the game before a penalty and odd loophole pushed them back and preserved the Lions win

The Detroit Lions held off a final rally from the Minnesota Vikings to claim a 31-29 victory in Week 7. That two-point margin, created when Lions kicker Jake Bates slammed home a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left on the clock, proved even closer than it might appear.

That’s because the Vikings very nearly trotted out big-legged rookie kicker Will Reichard for a potential game-winning field goal on the game’s final play. Reichard has been perfect on the season and comfortably hit from 57 yards earlier in the game, and he’s drilled kicks from beyond 65 yards routinely in warm-ups.

After QB Sam Darnold hit wideout Jalen Nailor at the 50-yard line, the Vikings were ready to send out Reichard for a potential game-winner from about 67 or 68 yards. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell admitted after the game they were trying to get Reichard a shot to be a hero.

The Lions, and their fans, were spared any nail-biting drama thanks to a penalty that pushed the Vikings out of any conceivable range, even for the very impressive Reichard.

The penalty O’Connell referenced exposed a loophole, one that in times past might’ve bitten the Lions at the base of the tail. The Vikings were called for an illegal formation penalty after furiously rushing to the line to snap the ball for a spike to kill the clock.

In nearly every instance, an offensive penalty in the final two minutes creates a 10-second runoff on the clock. Because Minnesota had no timeouts, that would have ended the game. But there is a loophole specific to the illegal formation penalty that doesn’t create the runoff.

Of course, the five yards assessed on the penalty pushed the Vikings out of potential field goal range, as O’Connell noted. However, had Minnesota’s offense been further down the field, that weird technicality in the NFL rulebook could very well have haunted the Lions.

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Knicks file protest with NBA over loss to Rockets

The Knicks are reportedly filing a protest with the NBA over Monday’s loss in Houston, though history suggests it’s unlikely to be upheld.

The New York Knicks are reportedly filing a protest with the NBA over Monday’s controversial last-second loss in Houston. However, history suggests that protest is very unlikely to be upheld.

From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

The Knicks decided to file on Tuesday evening, highlighting the NBA’s last two minute report and game crew chief Ed Malloy’s acknowledgements that the foul call on Knicks guard Jalen Brunson against Houston’s Aaron Holiday inside the final second was incorrectly called, sources said.

Holiday made two free throws with less than a second left on the clock, and intentionally missed a third to run out the clock in the 105-103 victory. The Knicks and Rockets aren’t scheduled to play again this season, but the hope of the protest is to either pick up a tied game at the start of overtime, or somehow remedy the Knicks without a loss.

Nevertheless, a protest must prove the “misapplication” of a rule, not simply a missed call.

The Knicks have five days to provide evidence, and the commissioner’s office can take up to five more days to make a ruling.

According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, only one NBA protest has been upheld in more than 40 years, and it came under wildly different circumstances. Feigen explains:

Only six of 44 protests have been upheld in league history, with misapplication of rules usually the determining factor, rather than a missed judgment call. Only one team has won a protest since the 1982-83 season, with the Heat successfully arguing that Shaquille O’Neal was ruled to have fouled out of a Dec. 19, 2007, game when the stat crew in Atlanta incorrectly counted the number of fouls he had committed.

In the Knicks-Rockets case, another complicating factor is New York could have simply challenged the Brunson call and taken it to an immediate replay review had they a challenge available. However, head coach Tom Thibodeau unsuccessfully used his challenge earlier in the game. As Bobby Marks, ESPN’s NBA insider, notes, that remedy could make a successful protest even less likely.

Monday’s loss dropped New York to 33-21, while Holiday and the Rockets improved to 24-29 with the victory.

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NBA official: Foul that ended Rockets-Knicks game shouldn’t have been called

In a postgame pool report, Monday’s NBA crew chief now says the late call that decided the Rockets-Knicks game in favor of Houston was a mistake.

In a postgame “pool report” interview with Fred Katz of The Athletic, Monday’s officiating crew chief said the late call that decided the Rockets-Knicks game in favor of Houston was a mistake.

“After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor,” NBA official (and crew chief) Ed Malloy said late Monday. “The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt, and should not have been called.”

With the game tied at 103 in the closing seconds, official Jacyn Goble whistled New York’s Jalen Brunson for making contact with Houston’s Aaron Holiday on a shot attempt with 0.3 seconds left.

Holiday made two free throws to win the game for Houston (24-29), sending the Knicks (33-21) to a third straight loss.

“In live action, it was felt that the lower body contact was illegal contact,” Malloy said in his postgame remarks.

Malloy, however, now says the call was in error.

Whatever the case, there is no recourse available for New York to challenge the result. The Knicks did not have a replay challenge left, since they had  used one unsuccessfully on an earlier play.

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Wisconsin HC Greg Gard gives classy response to question about officiating in loss to Purdue

Agree with Coach Gard?

Wisconsin’s 75-69 loss to Purdue on Sunday did not come free of controversy — at least in the fans’ eyes.

The Badgers fell victim to several questionable calls down the stretch of the game. First, Purdue center Zach Edey was given a favorable whistle. Second, Braden Smith appeared to travel during an inbounds play, but a foul was called on Chucky Hepburn. Finally, a Purdue guard trying to inbound the basketball appeared to step on the baseline, but again nothing was called.

Those are the controversial plays from late in the contest that had many Badgers fans irate after the game.

If you ask me, the game was a loss regardless of those calls. Wisconsin was outrebounded, didn’t shoot well and seemed to lack the big run when opportunities presented themselves in the second half. It’s a game the Badgers could have easily won, but it wasn’t stolen by the officials.

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin’s deflating loss to No. 2 Purdue

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard shares that sentiment. Here was his classy response to a question about the officiating after the game:

“Officiating isn’t why we lose games,” Gard said. “Not going to fall into that trap and blame them.”

The entire explanation is well-said and speaks to Gard’s maturity as a leader.

In an unrelated point, this is why Gard’s complaints to the refs during games hold so much weight. He doesn’t complain about everything like some coaches do — so when a real issue arises, the refs are more inclined to listen to his side and give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s how all coaches should conduct themselves on the sideline.

Nick Wright disproves ‘Chiefs get all the calls’ narrative

Nick Wright singlehandedly disproved the “#Chiefs get all the calls” narrative on “First Things First” this week.

Fans across the NFL are tired of seeing the Kansas City Chiefs win and have turned to a lazy narrative about officiating to explain the team’s success in recent years.

“The Chiefs get all the calls” has been a common rallying cry for Kansas City’s opponents on social media, and serves to take away from the greatness of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of the team’s roster which is being witnessed annually.

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Fox Sports 1’s Nick Wright dispelled this troubling talking point this week on his show First Things First by breaking down the Chiefs’ penalty yardage differential in all six years of the Patrick Mahomes era.

Predictably, Kansas City wasn’t shown to have received a significant advantage from officials.

Kansas City was at or near the bottom of the league standings in penalty yardage differential for all but one season, when they earned a spot in the middle of the pack at 17th place.

NBA acknowledges three blown officiating calls late in Rockets-Nets game

In its Last Two Minutes report, the NBA acknowledged three missed calls in the final seven seconds of Saturday’s Rockets-Nets game.

To no surprise, the NBA acknowledged a series of blown calls in the closing seconds of Saturday’s game at Barclays Center between the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets, who emerged victorious.

The officiating mistakes were clarified in the league’s official Last Two Minutes (L2M) report, which is automatically issued the next day for all games at or within three points during last two minutes of a fourth quarter (and overtime period, when applicable).

The most visible error occurred with 5.0 seconds left, when the Rockets trailed, 103-102, and Jalen Green tied up Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas for what appeared to be a jump ball. Instead, the officials called Green for a foul, and Thomas sank both free throws to put the Nets up by three. Houston’s broadcast crew was incredulous.

However, the L2M report also cited two mistakes in the final seconds that the league says went in Houston’s direction. Before that jump ball, the NBA says Amen Thompson should have been called for an away-from-the-play foul versus Thomas prior to the inbound pass. That would have given sent Brooklyn to the free-throw line, up one.

Finally, with 3.8 seconds left in the game, the report says Fred VanVleet should have been called for a lane violation when he intentionally missed his second of two free throws, which occurred with Houston trailing by two points. “VanVleet steps over the free-throw line before the shot touches the backboard,” the report reads.

Had that been whistled, Brooklyn would have received possession of the ball, leading by two points. Without the whistle, the Nets ended up being called for a loose ball foul against Alperen Sengun on the rebound sequence. Sengun then had an opportunity to tie the game, but he missed one of two free throws, and the Nets held on to win.

The complete L2M report for Saturday’s game is available here. Videos of the three disputed calls are posted below.

Cedric Maxwell says that Boston’s Jayson Tatum needs to stop crying to referees

Maxwell knows a thing or two about how to work NBA officials on the court.

Boston Celtics legendary small forward and current-day NBC Sports Boston broadcaster Cedric Maxwell knows a thing or two about how to work NBA officials on the court. On a recent segment of the CLNS Media “Cedric Maxwell” podcast, the eponymous host and his cohost Josue Pavon speculate on what star Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is saying or doing to the referees to force such quick whistles, technicals, and ejections.

Drawing on his own experiences as a pro in need of a friendlier whistle from the officials, Max offers Tatum some strong advice on how to remedy his relationship with the refs.

As a bonus, both hosts indulge in a hilarious moment of making fun of LeBron James’ best acting — or as they say these days, ‘selling contact.’

Check it out in the clip embedded above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Celtics alum Rasheed Wallace on today’s referees

There may be no better Boston alumnus to comment on the rising tendency of referees to become part of a game’s narrative than former Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace.

For fans of the Boston Celtics and the rest of the NBA, this might be one of the worst seasons in recent memory when it comes to referees inserting themselves into the outcome of a game. The Celtics, in particular, have found themselves on the wrong end of some especially egregious officiating errors, and a handful of ejections that have raised eyebrows.

But there may be no better Boston alumnus to comment on the rising tendency of referees to become part of a game’s narrative than former Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace. Sheed recently took some time to share his thoughts on the crisis of refereeing impact the league this season on an episode of his Underdog “That’s What Sheed Said” podcast.

He also gets into some of the worst calls he ever witnessed as a player, and those who know Sheed know there were more than a few.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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