Top five most bonehead calls of all time
by Dan Bowman / staff writer
As the New England Patriots smirked and giggled their way through
the post-game press conference two Sundays ago, Raiders fans could
only watch in disgust, knowing that their team had been outright
robbed of a second straight trip to the AFC title game. Although
I myself am not a fan of the silver and black, I do believe firmly
that Oakland's ticket had been punched after Charles Woodson's
forced fumble, and that the Pats were beneficiaries of one of the
worst displays of officiating, perhaps ever. Where does this game
rank in my top five most boneheaded calls of all time? Read on.
Honorable mention: An honorable mention goes out to the officials
of 2002 intramural basketball here at JMU. A certain co-ed team,
which will remain nameless, fell victim to biased and uncompromising
refs, who probably wouldn't be fit to referee a game of beer
pong. Don't blocks out of bounds usually result in the offensive
team regaining possession? Apparently not to these part-time zebras.
5. The University of Colorado's "fifth down":
How could a team get five downs in a four down game? How is that
possible? Chalk it up to the officiating at Memorial Stadium in
Columbia, Mo. Oct. 6, 1990. The Buffaloes, playing an early season
game at Big 12 rival Missouri, were trailing 31-33 in the final
seconds of regulation, when a lapse in judgment by the refs gave
them a fifth-down and goal after an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Colorado went on to win the national championship.
4. Hugh Hollins, the Knicks' "sixth man":
In the waning moments of game five of the 1994 Eastern Conference
semi-finals between the Bulls and the Knicks, New York trailed by
one with time for one last shot. Back-up shooting guard Hubert Davis
appeared to miss the game-winning three, but seconds after Horace
Grant passed off the rebounded miss, referee Hugh Hollins took it
upon himself to call a foul on Bulls star Scottie Pippen for his
snake-bite of a foul on Davis's wrist. The Knicks went on to
make the NBA Finals that year, while the Jordan-less Bulls were
never able to shake the label of "one-man team."
3. Oakland is robbed: As mentioned before, Charles Woodson's
forced fumble had no reason to be called back, and yet the refs
reviewed the play anyway. New England went on to tie the score,
and eventually win in overtime, but the bitterness is all too recent
for Raiders fans to forget about.
2. Brett Hull's crease goal: The Buffalo Sabres had
been giving the heavily favored Dallas Stars a good run for their
money in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before bad officiating ended
all of that. In overtime of game six, Brett Hull scored what appeared
to be the game-winning goal. However, with his foot in the crease,
the goal should obviously have been called back, right? Wrong! Referees
who probably were tired and wanted to go home managed to overlook
Hull's happy feet and virtually gave the Stars their first
and only Stanley Cup to this date.
1. The coin toss: No one call is more worthy of the No. 1
spot than what every sports fan refers to as "the coin toss."
Thanksgiving Day in Detroit; Th Steelers against the Lions, Nov.
26, 1998. With the game going into overtime, the captains from both
teams lined up for what was to be a routine coin toss. The Steelers'
Jerome Bettis clearly yelled out tails, but the officials begged
to differ, giving him a call of heads. The Lions went on to win
in overtime, but everyone watching the nationally televised game
knew the outcome should have been otherwise.
Dan Bowman is a junior SMAD major who regularly burns pictures
of Hull holding the Cup.
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