Here's a link to the ESPN's listing of NFL rule changes from last year.
And the quote we care about:
"A player will be ruled in bounds if he touches the pylon at the goal line before going out of bounds. For example, a pass would be considered complete if one foot touches the pylon and the other foot is in bounds."
Here's the same rule changes as described by NFL.com.
The quote:
"A player no longer can be ruled out of bounds when he touches a pylon unless he already touched the boundary line."
Guess what. Jackson did not touch the boundary line before hitting the pylon with his leg.
Now, when the play happened and they showed it, I thought "Holy shit, his foot hit the pylon! That's in bounds!" But my friends were like "No way, dude. That only counts when he like already has possession. He still needed to get both feet down."
So now this official rule has been dug up, and it seems that everybody my friends (and, surprise surprise, the refs) were wrong. I mean, it could be open to interpretation if it was just the first sentence. But the second sentence, the example, explains that play EXACTLY. The pass should have been ruled complete. And a touchdown.
I bet if we dig a little deeper, we could find some more blown calls. I've seen some other people claiming there was a blatant hold on the Willie Parker run. And that Big Ben laid an "illegal chop block" during Randel El's trick play touchdown pass. And Big Ben wasn't even tackling anybody.
I mean, shit, I'm not one for conspiracy theories really, but the evidence is piling up.
during the randle el td pass - thats a classic case of the potential for a crackback block. I'm sure if you watched it, you could find one.
ReplyDeleteSo whip it out on tivo and look for a crackback (a blindsinded block below the waist)
I'm guessing that the pylon leaning forward in that shot is the evidence that he touched it? Man, I remember when the play happened I was so disgusted that I simply assumed that I didn't know the rule. "How could the officials be that incompetent" was what I thought. That's the last time I'm doubting myself.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I've got some advise for St. Ides: you're not going to feel any better by next week or even next month (unless the Rangers make a serious run) so go ahead and write what you're feeling. This blog is just as much about getting things off our chest as it is about entertaining our three readers.
Besides, a pissed off St. Ides has GOT to be pretty darn entertaining...
I agree - its always better to have a pissed off writer.
ReplyDeleteHe definitely touched the pylon, i remember that. I was more pissed at the receiver at that point for not being aware he was on the field. He shoulda been able to make that catch and stay inbounds with ease. The receiver totally F-ed this catch up. As we know, you can't leave anything to the refs
I think I'm mostly passed "pissed" and more like "in disbelief and disappointed".
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe I'm pissed at the NFL for claiming they were happy with the officiating, and pissed at Jeff Fisher for claiming he thought the officiating throughout the playoffs was "good". That's ridiculous.
March Madness can't come soon enough in my opinion. I'm not into the olympics soo much.
ReplyDeleteI know St Ides likes hockey, i guess i do too, but not enough to watch it. Going to hockey games is good times. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers is cheap, great hockey. $10 a ticket, and not a bad seat in the little house.
Yeah, I was actually "working" from home the other day, and got to watch the US hockey game live. I wasn't very excited. The early rounds are hard to get excited about, especially when it features such hockey powerhouses as Italy and Kenya. (Just kidding, Kenya doesn't really have a hockey team.)
ReplyDeleteNow the medal round games... THOSE will be kickass. I stil remember the last US-Canada game... I think it was last Olympics for the Gold Medal actually... it was awesome.
Oh, and I'll write my Super Bowl wrapup thoughts maybe sometime next week. I'm still bitter. :P