This is a moderated phorum for the CIVILIZED discussion of the Miami Dolphins. In this phorum, there are rules and moderators to make sure you abide by the rules. The moderators for this phorum are JC and Colonel.
Dude just picked of Rapelburger, and he ran it in for a pick six. He goes to his knees and does a zealot pose. Refs throw a flag for celebration. DURING THE SUPER BOWL. Horrible call, they should start fining these refs for stupidity.
Didn't it figure? The whole game they kept trying to cheat for the Steelers like they gave Rothelisberger the ball back against us.
It was clear from that most controversial call of all that either the Packer caught the ball, fumbled it, and the Packers recovered the fumble or He caught the ball, was down and then fumbled after being down.
I thought the big question was whether he was down or not when he fumbled. I never doubted that it was a catch.
He caught it, grasped it to his stomach, took one step, was hit and being pulled down, one knee went down as he was simultaneously stripped.
So either a catch and a fumble or a catch and down by contact.
ChyrenB Wrote:
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Didn't it figure? The whole game they kept trying to cheat for the Steelers like they gave Rothelisberger the ball back against us
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that just maybe, it might be a tad far fetched to believe that there is a massive conspiracy going on in the NFL at the highest levels, wherein Roger Goddell, playing the role as Darth Vader of the NFL, secretly instructed the referees to cheat during the Superbowl by making fake, B.S. calls go against Green Bay and/or calling any and all questionable calls in favor of Pittsburgh, regardless of the facts. I mean are we really acting like this really happened?
I think a more likely explanation for the celebration penalty involved the NFL and Roger Goddell being so obsessed with protecting the shield and putting out a wholesame product for the fans so as to increase the desirability and national appeal of the game for the sake of ensuring maximum profits, that for the Superbowl, when the game will be on full display for all football nuts, causal fans, and people and families that just watch because its a classic American event, he may have had the refs instructed to nip any bad behavior, inappropriate actions, excessive celebrations, etc. in the bud, by throwing flags if it happens.
They looked real trigger happy when that happened. I don't really know what was excessive about it. Maybe the fact that he ran to the middle of the endzone and then his teammates joined him,jumping on him and such, and maybe they thought it looked too much like a team celebration. I don't know, but I can bet that the refs were on high alert for anything that could have made the NFL look bad or like anything less than a smoothly run, professional organization regardless of what team was responsible.
But hey, what do I know, it could have been Mr. Goddell in the library with the candlestick
And let me backpedal a little. Maybe cheating is too strong a word but maybe bias is more appropriate. Sometimes a team of refs may have a bias toward the style of play of one team.
The best way to understand this is basketball. One team of refs may not mind rough play and seem to be favoring the rough playing team to the point they don't call obvious fouls.
Another team of refs may be overly sensitive to tough play and therefore will favor the team that doesn't "get in there and bang." The result then is that the team that legitimately plays it close loses because they all get fouled out.
ChyrenB Wrote:
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If you have not been watching sports long enough to note the phenomena, keep watching, you'll grow up.
And let me backpedal a little. Sometimes a team of refs may have a bias toward the style of play of one team.
Response:
I have been watching sports for long enough. Please don't patronize me.
Your revised point is well made, I just took issue with the inflamatory charge that there was blatant cheating going on with the refs, a charge that you've admittedly backed off from.
I have watched enough sports to become aware of the possible phenomenon where it starts to look like the "referees tend to make all the calls in favor of one particular team" I just didn't think that what we saw went as far as: "The whole game they kept trying to cheat for the Steelers"
In response to your now-tempered suspicion that some inherent bias on the part of the refs in favor of the way the Steelers play, may have influenced some calls... well yeah, I think that is a much more plausible scenario.
Saw the whole thing and the replay. It was a catch and fumble by Swain and a Packers recovery. This is text from a Radio Broadcast at the moment it happened:
9:14: Looked like Brett Swain had a first-down catch for GB, but then Timmons rips it loose and it’s ruled incomplete. Mike McCarthy will challenge that one, so get ready for a delay.
9:15: Pretty important challenge. I don’t think it will get overruled, and if it doesn’t GB of course loses a timeout. That could be big, given that Pittsburgh already has taken two timeouts.
9:17: Green Bay’s challenge is rejected, and the Pack is charged with its first timeout. Only :30 left in the third quarter, BTW. Here comes the GB punt.
So glad that Gene Steelatore wasn't whistling that game.
Ha! Ha! Treasurecoast, either you hit on the right question or this is your subtle way of reminding us that this ref actually DID come from Pennsylvania.