Superbowlticketnfl's Blog

 

The NFL stood behind the calls of referee Bill Leavy, who was working his first Super Bowl, and his all-star crew, but that is simply the politically correct thing to do.

But what can be done?

Are full-time officials needed?

Well, that argument has never made sense because too many experienced officials would never quit their Monday through Friday jobs to simply work 20 games a year. Plus, the majority of owners have never believed full-time officials made fiscal sense or would actually improve their game-day performances. Besides, what would you do with these guys between February and July?

Mike Pereira, who heads the league's officiating department, understands that he has a lot of work to do to simply combat public perception (and Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren's belief) that the officials impacted the game unfavorably against the Seahawks.

Seattle was penalized seven times for 70 yards, and three major calls in the game gave Pittsburgh a touchdown, took one away from Seattle and negated a major pass completion that would have given the Seahawsk a first down inside the Pittsburgh five-yard line. Technically, those calls added up to a potential 17-point swing in a 21-10 Pittsburgh win.

Pereira and his staff grade the officials weekly, and the ones who made the least mistakes in their view during the regular season are awarded with Super Bowl assignments. Consequently, back judge Bob Waggoner was considered the league's best; it was his view that Seattle receiver Darrell Jackson gained competitive advantage by using his right arm to contact Pittsburgh safety Chris Hope in the end zone. Waggoner called offensive pass interference on the play, one that negated a long touchdown reception by Jackson.

The league's competition committee will meet this week in Indianapolis to briefly discuss some ways to review officiating overall. But the league is limited in what they can really do. I mean, they're not about to fire all of these officials and start all over.

But here are some suggestions that they should consider:

 

Instead of using an All-Star crew, why not simply employ the league's highest-graded regular-season crew do the Super Bowl? Why should Leavy be working the sport's biggest game with unfamiliar faces, a crew he hasn't worked with all season?

During the course of a season, a referee builds a strong bond of communication with the men in his crew. He knows their strengths and weaknesses. It may make sense to rotate in a couple of veteran officials for some younger (or weaker) ones on a particular crew, but for a cohesive officiating day, it makes sense to keep the crews together. It's called teamwork. It generally succeeds with teams; why wouldn't it work for officiating crews, too?

 

Officials have never really liked instant replay, believing it only undermines their on-field credibility. But the owners want it, and the officials have to live with it. Personally, it does correct some horrible calls made on the field.

In the Super Bowl, Leavy viewed the instant replay of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's dive to the goal line that was ruled a touchdown on the field. Leavy did the correct thing after viewing all the replay angles. There wasn't a conclusive angle to overturn the touchdown; so Leavy didn't. He simply followed the rules of how to use instant replay.

From the Seahawks' view, they believed the tip of the football, tucked in Roethlisberger's right arm, never grazed the white line of the end zone. Depending on your allegiance, you could accept both views: he scored, yet he didn't score. It was impossible to see the football, and the officials simply made a subjective call based on the probability that the ball touched the white line (it doesn't have to go over the line) because it looked like Roethlisberger's right arm did.

Because instant replay is such a big part of the game, and the fact that the networks tend to show a hundred replays of plays throughout a telecast, why not make the replay judge a member of the officiating crew? This would allow him to contact the referee about possibly overturning a poor call on the field?

Now, the crews wouldn't like this, but it may help the game by correcting obvious mistakes. For example, the illegal block below the waist called on Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, when he tackled Steelers defender Ike Taylor, was definitely wrong, giving Pittsburgh an additional 15 yards. A good replay judge could have corrected that call.

Probably the best way to have such a system would be to rotate every member of an officiating crew into the replay booth. Allow them all to take turns watching the game, which seems to be played at such a fast level that some officials simply can't seem to keep pace with the speed of the players.

Pereira may view this as ultimate second guessing, but why not fix obvious mistakes? Isn't making the correct call what everyone wants? There isn't a coach in the league who doesn't hate to receive a memo from Pereira during the week informing him that two or three incorrect calls were made in the previous weekend's games. Those memos happen all the time.

And by making the replay official also a member of the officiating crew, it might actually build some camaraderie. The argument against such a plan is that it will cause officials to become more tentative on blowing their whistles. Of course, I don't view that as a bad thing.

The playoffs had numerous questionable calls. New England coach Bill Belichick wasn't pleased with how his game against Denver was officiated. A questionable pass interference penalty in that game against Asante Samuel awarded the Broncos with the ball on the one-yard line that led directly to the game's first touchdown. The league may even want to copy the college rule of a 15-yard penalty for pass interference, especially if the play isn't a blatant tackle or pull down because a defender is beaten. Make the penalty similar to the incidental face-mask grab (five-yard penalty) instead of the intentional face-mask penalty that is a major personal foul worthy of 15 yards.

 

Finally, there is nothing I like more during a game than to watch the officials huddle and discuss the play amongst themselves. In baseball, that system tends to work and it would be good for football crews to talk about a penalty or a critical change of possession, too — just to make sure they are right. A good debate can often lead to a good result.

Matt Hasselbeck says he's still upset about a game he lost in high school. So it's way too soon for him to be over Seattle's Super Bowl setback to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the Seahawks' quarterback made it clear that he didn't agree with several decisions made by the officiating crew last Sunday. "I certainly don't want to add fuel to that fire," Hasselbeck said after going through his first Pro Bowl workout Wednesday. "They're not trying to screw calls up. Sometimes, you get it right, sometimes, you don't. They're doing the best they can. "We've got to move on, say, 'Hey, we didn't get it done. We didn't do enough to win the game.'" Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren caused a stir Monday during a rally at Qwest Field when he said: "We knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well." Said Hasselbeck: "I think it was sort of a joke. I know Coach Holmgren has a lot of respect for the officials. I don't think he meant it to be mean." Hasselbeck and six teammates arrived in Hawaii late Tuesday for the Pro Bowl, to be played Sunday at Aloha Stadium. Three Seahawks -- rookie Lofa Tatupu and veterans Mack Strong and Robbie Tobeck -- are making their first Pro-Bowl appearance. "We're hazing rookies who are old guys," Hasselbeck said, referring to the 34-year-old Strong and 35-year-old Tobeck. "This game's a lot of fun. This is quite an honor to be here. To be here with a lot of my teammates is a special thing. "The Super Bowl was a great experience until the end of the game. This is a nice way to get your mind off it." Strong agreed, saying: "I'm glad I'm here and not at home stewing over it. I'm doing great. You couldn't ask for more -- I'm out here in Hawaii." Shaun Alexander, the NFL's Most Valuable Player, said he didn't know if he'd be able to play Sunday because he sprained his right foot in the Super Bowl. "I've just got to heal up a little bit," he said. "It's a little sore." Alexander called his feelings bittersweet. "You lose the Super Bowl, you are disgusted," he said. "You just have a constant numb feeling. You have to laugh to keep from crying." Alexander is one of several unrestricted free agents on the Seattle roster. Among the others are Strong, Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson, wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, defensive tackle Rocky Bernard and safety Marquand Manuel. "We're almost like dispersed," Alexander said. "That might have been like the last hurrah. There are four or five of us who need to be re-signed." Regarding his status, Alexander said: "I'm an optimistic person -- I always have been." Asked about the Super Bowl officiating, Alexander said: "I just think no one's perfect. You can't take anything back. Pittsburgh won. If you look at any game, there might be questionable calls. They didn't do it on purpose." When asked what he believed to be the most damaging call, Alexander laughed and replied: "All of them."

The Rolling Stones have said that the decision to censor two of their songs during the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday "ridiculous" and unnecessary. The band's spokesperson Fran Curtis was reacting to a comment by a National Football League spokesperson, who said that the band had agreed to being muzzled. Reuters reports that the the line "you make a dead man come" in the song 'Start Me Up' was cut short, as was a refernence to "cocks" in 'Rough Justice'. "The Rolling Stones were aware of our plan which was to simply lower the volume on his microphone at those two appropriate moments," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told Reuters on Monday. "We had agreed to that plan earlier in the week. The Stones were aware of it and they were fine with it." But the Stone's representative argued: "The Rolling Stones thought the censorship of their songs by the NFL/ABC was absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary," though they were aware of the plan before the show. "The band did the songs they were supposed to do and they sang all the words," Curtis said. "There were many many conversations back and forth and the band clearly was not happy about it." Reuters reported that ABC Sports said any alteration of the lyrics was done by the NFL and its production company.

Here is one definition of holding as it pertains to the National Football League: Hand(s) or arm(s) that encircle a defender — i.e., hook an opponent — are to be considered illegal and officials are to call a foul for holding. Blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent in a manner that restricts his movement as the play develops. — Digest of rules, 2005 NFL Record & Fact Book, Page 770 By the above definition of holding, Seattle Seahawks right tackle Sean Locklear committed holding on the controversial fifth play of the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL. He hooked his right arm around the right shoulder of Pittsburgh linebacker Clark Haggans and restricted Haggans' movement. The call negated a pass that would have given Seattle first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. By the letter of the rules, it was the right call. But if something is a penalty on one play, it should be a penalty on every play. And during the rest of the game, the officials didn't enforce holding by the letter of the rules. To determine whether the holding call was justified, I studied the tape of Super Bowl XL, watching both offensive tackles on every passing play to see how often they committed the type of infraction for which Locklear was penalized. The results are bad news for the NFL: Using the standard that was applied to Locklear on the infamous play, the four offensive tackles committed 22 uncalled holding penalties on passing plays. By the letter of the rules, Locklear committed holding 10 times (he was flagged twice). Seattle left tackle Walter Jones should have been called six times. Pittsburgh tackles Marvel Smith and Max Starks should have been called four times each. Here we present each of the four tackles and the plays on which they should have been flagged for holding: Sean Locklear Third-and-9, 12:40, first quarter: As Haggans rushed to the inside, Locklear reached his left arm out and hooked Haggans' left shoulder. Locklear was called for holding, and Haggans sacked Hasselbeck anyway. Third-and-16, 5:53, first quarter: As Haggans rushed to the outside, Locklear used his arm to hang onto Haggans. Third-and-23, 0:35, first quarter: At first Locklear engaged Haggans and seemed to get the better of the matchup, but as Haggans broke free and tried to rush to the outside, Locklear hooked him. Third-and-5, 14:11, second quarter: Locklear got an arm around Haggans as Hasselbeck completed a pass to Joe Jurevicius. Third-and-3, 8:47, second quarter: Haggans rushed to the inside and Locklear stuck his left arm out to restrict his rush. Third-and-4, 13:45, third quarter: Locklear hooked defensive end Brett Keisel. Third-and-15, 4:30, third quarter: Locklear wrapped his right arm around Haggans. Third-and-5, 14:17, fourth quarter: Locklear hooked Haggans. First-and-10, 12:35, fourth quarter: The infamous penalty call. Locklear's hold was no more flagrant here than on any of the previous seven uncalled holds. After he was flagged a second time, Seattle adjusted its offense to keep Locklear from having to block Haggans' outside rush, giving him outside help from Mack Strong for the rest of the game. Second-and-10, 0:34, fourth quarter: One last time, Locklear hooked Haggans. Walter Jones Third-and-9, 12:40, first quarter: This was the first time Locklear was called for holding, and using the strict standard, Jones also should have been called. He hooked his left arm around Joey Porter. Third-and-16, 5:53, first quarter: Smith again tried to get past Jones to the outside, and Jones hooked him. First-and-10, 2:08, first quarter: This was the Darrell Jackson touchdown that was called back for offensive pass interference. If the officials had used the strict definition of holding all game, it also would have been called back for Jones getting his left arm around Porter as Porter rushed up field. Second-and-6, 1:13, second quarter: Porter tried to beat Jones to the inside, and Jones stuck his right arm around Porter's midsection. Third-and-4, 13:45, third quarter: Jones used his left arm around Porter on an outside rush. Third-and-15, 4:30, third quarter: Jones hooked Kimo von Oelhoffen with his left arm on an outside pass rush. Max Starks Third-and-19, 10:32, first quarter: Starks blatantly hooked Bryce Fisher -- a much more egregious hold than the one for which Locklear was flagged. First-and-10, 4:53, second quarter: Craig Terrill looped to the outside and Starks hooked him with his right arm. Second-and-10, 4:47, second quarter: Fisher rushed to the outside and Starks hooked him. Third-and-4, 10:27, third quarter: Starks encircled Fisher with his right arm. Marvel Smith Third-and-19, 10:32, first quarter: Smith held Grant Wistrom. First-and-10, 0:17, first quarter: Smith hooked Wistrom, and then encircled him with both arms. Second-and-20, 4:21, second quarter: Smith held Wistrom, Wistrom beat him for a sack anyway. Third-and-2, 2:58, third quarter: Smith hooked Wistrom. That's 16 uncalled holding penalties on Seattle and eight on Pittsburgh. Because Seattle passed more than twice as often as Pittsburgh did, Pittsburgh's tackles actually committed holding at a higher rate than Seattle's, although the Steelers were never flagged. If the officials had called holding on two inconsequential plays and ignored it the rest of the time, no one would much care. But Locklear's penalty negated an 18-yard Jerramy Stevens catch that would have given the Seahawks first-and-goal from the one-yard line, where they very likely would have scored and taken a 17-14 lead with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game. Instead they faced first-and-20 from the 29-yard line, Matt Hasselbeck threw an interception three plays later, and Pittsburgh's subsequent touchdown effectively ended the game. These are my opinions. Someone else watching the same plays might come to different conclusions, thinking there were more or fewer than 22 uncalled holds on the offensive tackles. But no fair observer can say that given the way the rest of the game was called, Locklear should have been assessed that game-changing penalty. Just as in boxing, two judges can watch the same fights and see different things, but when a judge goes beyond the pale, impartial analysts need to call him on it. And if the NFL doesn't like having its officials compared to boxing judges, a good way to start would be to improve the way it defines penalties. The NFL needs tighten the definition of holding. Change the rules so that the actions described above, which happen on every play, are legal. Then, whatever is contained within the new, narrower definition needs to be called consistently and always. As it stands, the definition of holding is a joke. Here's another part of the NFL's digest of rules: A runner may ward off opponents with his hands and arms but no other player on offense may use his hands or arms to obstruct an opponent by grasping with hands, pushing, or encircling any part of his body during a block. Pushing? PUSHING? If pushing is illegal, does anyone out there — fan, player, coach, referee — have a clue what is legal? Is there ever a play when an offensive lineman doesn't push a defensive lineman? The NFL has some explaining to do.