You'd have be an awfully "casual" viewer not to notice that of those three apparent fourth-down stops, one of them was reversed by the Ravens themselves having called time out, and the other was waved off because the Patriots had committed an obvious false start. How are the officials supposed to take the fall for either of those?
I was definitely rooting for the Ravens, but I gotta say that those calls all appeared correct to me. I was actually thinking after the game that the refs did a great job with a series of tough calls in a row. The timeout was correctly called. The pass interference (defensive holding) was almost purposeful. The most borderline was the catch, but to me it appeared as though the receiver was in control of the ball and was simply transferring to his other hand. And the throwing of the penalty flag into the stands was a very easy call to make. They were just frustrated, and that is understandable.
Agreed. It sounds like a big case of sour grapes to me, coming from fans and players throughout the league. If you can't beat them, get better or deal with it. Stop with the crying.
Maybe someone could answer the obvious. The NFL wants the Patriots to go undefeated because it is worth at least $1 billion to them. Sour grapes. I think not. Big business. We all know that big business is crooked.
I completely agree with d4e, tay and cj. Those calls were all obvious. If anything, the refs made a non-call on the hail mary pass. The WR mugged the DB a few separate occasions in order to gain position to make the catch, but nothing was called. In any other circumstance, that would have been offensive pass interference. They let the players decide the outcome, the Ravens just folded under the pressure.
The list of facts are piling up 1. Pats caught cheating with video camera 2. Pats caught cheating by turning off opponents press box to field communications during the game 3. Pats pile up two questionable wins based on referees calls so that the Pats can go undefeated an add $1 billion to the leagues coffers. Sour grapes. I think not. Too much evidence to the contrary. On top of that, that is the only stuff that has come to surface.
What do #1 and #2 have to do with the league or officials? The Pats cheated, they were caught, and they were punished - and not exactly a slap on the wrist either. As mentioned in my previous post, I don't think there was anything "questionable" about the calls in Monday's game. That's hardly evidence, I'd call that opinion. I'm starting to get the impression that you don't really like the Patriots. Perhaps you have a vendetta. The evidence is starting to mount. You've been starting some questionable Anti-Pats threads of late.
Major league sports is for profit via entertainment. The die hards are not where the money is. It's the casual fans who get sucked into a championship run, or a historical moment. The ones who tune in to see a must see TV game and become die hard fans (the base). The only major league that seems to have any integrity is the NHL, mostly because the player's union up until recently held so much clout, there are foreign leagues for the elites to play in that pay nearly as well, and the leadership of the league is far too incompetent to actually scheme something profitable on their own.
where does the 1 billion come from? you are telling me the nfl coffers will have a 1 billion difference in amount if the patriots go 16-0 instead of 15-1?
Dumars4Ever just pointed out the most obvious answer to your conspiracy crock. If the Ravens didn't call that timeout, the game would have been over and the Patriots would have lost. It's that simple.
I think this winning streak looks a little fishy. If the referees want to maintain their integrity, they better do whatever it takes to insure victory for the Steelers. Otherwise, it looks fixed.
