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Super Bowl Officiating 4 Comments More | Login | Reply /

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  • I didn't care which team won and I found myself just disappointed that the refs and calls had to be such a big part of the game.

    On the push-off in the end zone, I agree that by the absolute letter of the law, it was a penalty. However, officiating is done in the spirit of the law and I've seen the same play plenty of times when it wasn't called. The written rule doesn't mean as much when it is inconsistently enforced. In this case, I don't think they should have called it because I don't think the push matt
    • I didn't care which team won and I found myself just disappointed that the refs and calls had to be such a big part of the game.

      *shrug* They followed the rules. They rules are the game. I see no problem.

      In this case, I don't think they should have called it because I don't think the push mattered that much.

      That it mattered at all should be enough. That said, if it didn't matter, why did he do it? I see no reasonable complaint here.

      There was another bad call on a phantom chop block when Hasselbeck tackle
      • By definition, the team who wins is the best team on the given day.

        When you put it that way, it made me realize that in my mind, I don't have that absolute definition. That is, I think I have some idea in my head that in a perfectly officiated game, the winner is the best. In an imperfectly officiated game, the bad calls will fall equally because officials are human but not biased. In this case, the winner is also the best.

        But I think I also hold out for the possibility that in some cases, the team that

        • That is, I think I have some idea in my head that in a perfectly officiated game, the winner is the best. In an imperfectly officiated game, the bad calls will fall equally because officials are human but not biased. In this case, the winner is also the best.

          I hear that, but a game is made of rules, and those rules include the fact of fallible human officials, and whoever wins the game in the context of those rules is the best team at this game called "NFL football."

          But I think I also hold out for the possibility that in some cases, the team that is better in terms of ability can still lose because the game wasn't played fairly. In the extreme case, this could be a fixed game with corrupt officials.

          Yes, but in that case, someone is violating the rules of the game. Making mistakes, as a fallible official, is part of the game. But what you describe is not, so in such an extreme case, the outcome of the game would be void.

          In the unfortunate case it's when the majority of calls go against one team in unfortunate plays.

          Still, that is within the parameters of the game. Just like other unfortunate things the teams cannot directly control that might benefit one team over another, like a gust of wind knocking down a last-second field goal kick.

          So I guess I've never seen the winner is the best as an absolute rule. I have some idea of the abstract ability of a team.

          I can't see it that way, though. I see a closed system and rules and objectives and the team that accomplishes those objectives within those rules is therefore the best.

          This is amplified especially in team sports, where the "most ability" is more a factor of individual play, and not of team play. Who really thinks the Patriots have the most talent in any given year they won the Super Bowl? Maybe 2003, but almost no one gives them the nod for "best ability" in 2001 (St. Louis) or 2004 (Indianapolis, Pittsburgh). But they played the best as a team, and did what it took to win.

          Maybe this is why I prefer hockey where there are seven games to sort things out. Over seven games, the luck will more likely fall evenly and there's much less room for sour grapes over a single event... ...unless of course you live in Buffalo where people still have "No Goal!" stickers. :)

          Heh, and I think some of your reasoning about the worst team losing might be related to a certain other Buffalo team losing four straight Super Bowls ... :-)
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