DOLPHINS: week 3

[Mark L. Diana]

> But my point is that it's there because of the examples i gave that
> were ruled as catches when they shouldn't have. If your point (or
> Mark's point) is that these catches are one in a million - then fine.
> But I want something that strives harder for perfection. Football
> isn't like other sports where you get 100 games in the season and 7
> game playoff series - every game counts and bad calls may not
> necessarily even out over the course of the season. For this reason I
> think a rule that takes out ambiguity both from live action and
> replay, has to be in place. Otherwise we're left with "that 'looks'
> like a catch and that doesn't."

OK, I see your point, but my point is that because of the effort to  
get closer to perfection, we now have a situation where catches are  
ruled as incomplete when they shouldn't have been. How is that any  
better than catches that should have been ruled incompletes? In either  
case you've got the wrong call.

> the runner has already had his feet on the ground and established
> possession when he dives. The receiver doesn't establish possession
> until he hits the ground. Or are you more in favor of soccer rules
> where it only matters if the ball is in bounds, not the feet? That
> would certainly clear up a bunch of problems.

Actually, the soccer rule is an interesting notion, and in fact that  
is the rule in football as far as crossing the goal line is concerned  
(except for a receiver!). Soccer rules aside, the only time I can see  
this as an issue is when the receiver catches the ball while in the  
air and does not land on his feet. And I maintain that it is not that  
complicated. If they are not bobbling the ball, and they hit the  
ground before their feet come down, and drop the ball, I am OK with  
that being ruled an incomplete. Note though that I also have an issue  
with the ball "moving" when a receiver hits the ground and it being  
called incomplete. If the ball did not come out, that is, he did not  
drop it, by definition, it is a catch.