The Pac-10 probably hoped that all this hubbub over the end of Saturday’s Washington-BYU game (read this if you’ve been living in a cave and don’t know what’s going on) would blow over and everyone would be more than happy to put it behind them and move on. But you don’t know Terry Bowden very well, do you Pac-10?
Bowden’s scathing criticism of the call brought the whole incident back into the limelight, then later in the day the Pac-10 officiating coordinator slyly threw the game’s referee under the proverbial bus.
From Bowden’s RIVALS.COM column:
It was a horrible call.
I’m not just making a knee-jerk reaction to a 15-second video clip I saw on TV, either. I was there broadcasting the game for Westwood One Radio.
After Washington quarterback Jake Locker dove across the goal line, he got up off the ground and in one quick, excited instant, tossed the ball over his shoulder. He did not do one thing that could have been construed as unsportsmanlike conduct.
“After scoring the touchdown, the player threw the ball into the air, and we are required, by rule, to assess a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty,” Pac-10 referee Larry Farina said. “It is a celebration rule that we are required to call. It is not a judgment call.”
That’s a bunch of baloney.
Officials make judgment calls all the time. If they didn’t, we would have holding penalties on every single snap.
And while he won’t go as far as Bowden, Pac-10 coordinator of officials Dave Cutaia didn’t exactly seem to endorse Farina’s “my hands were tied” explanation. Cutaia seems to recognize that Farina’s story was an attempt to absolve himself of any responsibility for the decision, and subtly calls him on it. From the ASSOCIATED PRESS:
“Every call is a judgment call,” he said. “[The official] saw the ball thrown very high in the air and made the call. I can’t say the call is incorrect.”
So it’s not a judgment call, but it is a judgment call.
Two seasons ago, questions were raised about Pac-10 officials working non-conference home games when Oklahoma was victimized by a series of terrible officiating decisions late in a game in Oregon. Now it’s becoming increasingly clear that Pac-10 refs just shouldn’t be allowed to work any game.
Of course, what everyone seems to be ignoring in all of this is that the 35-yard extra point attempt was swallowed up so easily by the BYU defense that it perhaps renders this point moot. That kick wouldn’t have been good from 35 feet, let alone 35 yards.
2:51 pm on September 9th, 2008
How can people honestly say he simply “tossed the ball over his shoulder”??? He threw it so high into the air that it left the TV screen. Of course it was a penalty. Quit bitching and talk about the awful blocking on the PAT instead.
3:00 pm on September 9th, 2008
They won’t be the only Cougar team beating UW this year.
3:08 pm on September 9th, 2008
I agree Mad Dog. 1) The rule is pretty clear, 2) Would a truly well coached player with a head on his shoulders have broken the rule?, and 3) they still let the FG get blocked which is what lost the game, not the call.
3:21 pm on September 9th, 2008
Was Steve Bartman the one who blocked the kick?
3:53 pm on September 9th, 2008
Are you coogs really talking ish after the beating you took Saturday?
4:04 pm on September 9th, 2008
The kid can’t make a simple, mid-field, short FG. Gimme a break. How come there isn’t more discussion about that?
1:24 pm on September 10th, 2008
You people are idiots. He clearly didn’t throw it high in the air. The reason it left the screen is he tossed it over his shoulder and it went to the ground. The block of the PAT is irrelevant; Willingham was already calling for them to go for two. Get your heads out of your XXX’s, Wazzu scum.
2:12 pm on September 10th, 2008
Without the penalty Wash. could have gone for two and won the game. At least it was an option. The penalty removed that option so they HAD to try the long kick.
2:56 pm on September 10th, 2008
One thing that everyone is overlooking are the many non calls that the pac-10 refs didn’t call through out the whole game. There was a clip and a few holding calls on UW that weren’t called, so lets talk about the fairness in penalty calls. It was so lopsided its not even funny, so to have 1 or even 2 calls called was a miracle in it and of itself. I thought the cougars weren’t going to get a call the whole game. The second thing is that the kicker still had a chance to put the game in overtime. A 35 five yard kick should have been made. Heck as an EX soccer player I could have nailed that kick!!! For all intensive purposes it was a great game and the better team found a way to win. I give credit to the Cougars for making a play when it counts, just like last years Vegas Bowl and the games against Utah where they came back in both games at the end to win.
7:09 am on March 26th, 2009
I am a Giants fan from Argentina. Very nice Giants information.
I miss the days of Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms.
I hope to be in Chicago for a game this fall.