swallowing the whistle is nothig new in all sports..

 I wrote a blog two months ago about whistle swallowing and I deleted last night because I could n't finish it. I know that it has been a part of sports for years. Remember the 2001 NBA playoffs. Dikembe Mutumbo never had any fouls called on him in the Eastern Conference playoff run. When he met up with Shaquille Oneal in the finals, if he sneezed it was a foul. This past football season, the Atlanta Falcon were denied a pass interference call the allowed the Niners to win the NFC championship game. Only the Niners lost the Super Bowl on a similar play when Crabtree was held in the endzone. This season in baseball has been marred by several blown calls by umpires. Baylor's womens basketball team had its championship dream ended on a no call to end that game. Coach Melky was so angry that she was willing to pay any amount of money for making comments about the officiating. We understand that Refs are people too.  They miss calls, they have bad judgement on some calls that is blatantly obvious to you and me. The homerun in the Oakland A's and Cleveland indians game is an example. We all saw it as a homerun. 4 umpires who watched the same replay did not. Armando Galarraga retired 26 straight batters in a game and when it appeared to the entire planet that number 27 was out too, the umpire screamed out safe. What do we do?
Clearly everyone is going to complain that the Spurs should have had a few free throws to eliminate the Heat tonight. Spur fans forget that Bruce Bowen grabbed Lebron James on a potential game winning shot where Lebron should have at least had free throws. He got nothing but swept aside. All pro sports put out its best officials for championship games or series. they try not to let the refs or umps be the story and want the players to determine the outcome. Did Jordan push off? Of course he did. But it wasn't called. Remember the 1985 World Series when the Cardinals thought they had won but the first base umpire called the runner safe at first? Making a tough call is why they have the guys there in the first place. If you can'tdo it or the moment is too big or bright for you then get out of the way. Game 6 will be remembered for the shot by Allen, the Missed free throws by Ginobli and Leonard, and of course the no calls in overtime. its a damn shame..

Is the nfl becoming pro boxing?

  Who wants to be a NFL referee now? One week ago, I blogged about the the NFL being too full of itself.  I talked about the bounty scandal involving the Saints.  Look what has happened to the Saints.  They are 0-3 and the Packers coming this week who are angrier than hell because of what happened last night.  ked about the importance of making a deal with the referees.  The NFL is a multi billion dollar money making machine.  People will pay to watch games anywhere at any time if it was necessary.  Most football fans spend an entire week getting ready to watch their favorite team play, then flip around on the satellite feed and watch division rivals play, favorite players play, fantasy football team players play, or watch the marquee matchup of that week. Last nights game should have been the last straw as to why the real officials are needed to monitor these games.  One call in a game should not have the impact of winning and losing a game.  The Packers to their credit did not use the end of the game as an excuse. They physically got beat up last night in the first half and had a chance to get one first down to end the game. The Packers have not been the same team this year as last year so blaming the refs is probably why they have not said a word.  I am glame the refs and there is ample evidence to support my theories..
I had a discussion two weeks ago with a a couple of people and we were talking about what is the problem with the replacement refs. I listened as they spoke and other pundits did as well on espn about the levels of competeition some of these refs have been in.  The first thing that we agreed on was that the speed of thegame is way to fast for these guys. The speed of the game is too fast for the real guys too.  The difference is that the real refs have figured out ways to position themselves on the field so that they can make as close to the right call as they can. Last night the game winning touchdown call was made by a ref who was behind the play and he was in no position to make that call. The ref that came running in and was waving his arms should have been closer to the play since there was no action in his area and he could have made the correct call.  There was a call for pass interference on the defense when clearly the the offensive player created and caused all of the contact.  If the referee was in the right position maybe he gets that call right.  The NFL should have taken precautions and instructed these guys that being in the right place could help them get calls right. They are not fast enough to keep up with guys so positioning is key.
The second thing that is frustrating is that the refs seem to not know the rules of the game or make poor judgement calls.  The roughing the passer penalty when the Packers made an interception in the 4th quarter was horrible.  Marking an unsportsmanlike penalty for 27 yards instead of 15 is not acceptable.  The pass interference call against Seattle on a crucial third down that eventually lead to a score is hurting the integrity of the game. What has killed Boxing in this country is tthe officials.  People tune hoping for a trainwreck and they get chaos and an earthquake instead. Manny Pacquiauo is still wondering how Timothy Bradley has his titles. Ken Norton is wondering how Muhammad Ali has a winning record against him. The NFL does not want turn into a sham.  The NBA in recent years has had to deal with a scandal of a referee fixing games utting itself further under a micrscope. There are several examples from the weekend of missed calls, poor judgement, and game mismanagement by these guys.  Kyle Shanahan and Jack Del Rio were fined for abuse toward an official. Bill Bellechek tried to chase one down and get an explanation of whether or not the game winning field goal was actually good or not.  All you have to do is watch the sideline and read the lips of the coaches to know whether or not a call is correct or not.  The Harbaugh brothers are must see tv.
There are estimations that last nights call cost people worldwide over 250 million dollars.  The betting line was Packers -31/2 and if the call was reversed the people who took the Packers would have won because they were up by 5. The speculation is that over 70% of the betting population took the Pack last night.  We all know that the only reason for injury lists is for the betting population.   The NFL does not "care" about wagering on the games, but it most definitely cares about people watching the games.  I am 100% certain that they are loving that there millions of bloggers today writing about a football related incident than talking about the pennant races or that Brandt Snedeker won the PGA  Fedex Cup. I wonder what would happen  if a team told its players to walk off the field because they were a victim of too many bad calls? As long as we the fans watch, the NFL will not care what happens on the field.  They talk about safety and integrity. They talk about protecting the shield and the legacy of the game.  We are all addicted to the NFL drug and wont abandon the game.  They better start to listen reall soon or the rehab centers of sports will be full of football addicts..  This is why HOCKEY you should not lockout your players. The quote of the day goes to BUbba Watson.  He said that" football fans watch golf this weekend and support team usa in the ryder cup, we have no refs". Absolutely hilarious..

My final football post of the pre season..

So lets finish the discussion about football before thegames begin in both College and the NFL.  They stories in College are extremely intriguing.  What kind of season will Penn St. have?  They will be the most scrutinized team this year and now the story wont go away.  I blogged how disappointed I was that the school did not fight for their rights, and now the members of the trustees are finally stepping up and in.  It is bad for the school because everyone just wants to sweep the situation under the "football rug". The school is uniting in  all sports  to show that Penn St. has moved forward and cannot control what happens off the field.  The students make the University and hopefull this fall they will represent their families, friends, and themselves with class and dignity.  I feel for the victims, but no one can fix what happened.  Good Luck Penn St.
Another story is several college athletes came back to college for one more year for a chance at a title.  Matt Barkeley would have been a first round pick.  Montee Ball and Landry Jones too. They have the world on their shoulders this season and relish the opportunity to get it done this fall.  Expectations are extremely high at those Universities this fall.   Tyrann Matthieu came back as well but addiction has ruined his college career.  It is tragic and hopefully he will get the help he needs. 
Speaking of the SEC will they win another BCS title?  Georgia, is joining the fray this year as they have the quarterback in Murray to compete with the big boys. If South Carolina can control their turnover problems of years past they will be their as well.  USC, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon feel like they have enough to end the run of the SEC.  Florida St. and Virginia Tech always possess potent defenses and good enough players to play with the SEC schools.  I think the reign comes to an end this year.
I think the title game will be USC and Oklahoma. Bama and LSU have a lot of unanswered questions on both sides of the ball.  They are both giving way too many new players an opportunity to be great this year.  Look out next year though..
Denard Robinson will win the Heisman.  He will combine for more than 50 touchdowns this year.  Geno Smith in West Virginia may as well. West Virginia is a sleep team to win the title as well.  they have a sick offense coming back.  They scored 70 points in a bowl game last year and were just in year 1 of learning the offense of the new coaching staff.  I cannot wait to see how it unfolds..
How about teams changing leagues just to make more money and a chance toplay for a title.  Texas A&M in the SEC. Boise St. to the Big East.  Missouri in the SEC. Just to name a few.  Doesn't Pittsburgh, Syracuse move to the ACC soon? How about new coaches at schools?  Charlie Weiss in Kansas? Kevin Sumlin in Texas A&M.  Mike Leach at WSU? Bill Obrien at Penn St.? Urban Meyer at Ohio St.? Who will win more games?  Ohio St. has sanctions coming.  Can Texas rebound from last years meltdown?  Notre Dame is playing the most brutal schedule I have ever seen.  No cupcakes anywhere.  They start the year in Ireland against Navy and then all breaks loose with their schedule. 
In the NFL.. I gave you my predictions of who will win the divisions.  I think New England, Baltimore, Houston, and Denver should prevail in AFC with Pittsburgh and San Diego making the playoffs.  I think that Houston and New England will play for AFC title and Houston will emerge as champion.  Houston has the defense and schedule to be really good this year.  Home field advantage will be their launching pad to the Super Bowl. 
I think Andrew Luck will be AFC rookie of the year and will not disappoint.
The NFC I think that the Niners, Giants, Packers, Saints win divisions.  I think Philly and Chicago get wild cards.  I am wavering on the wild card picks because Atlanta is very good.  Detroit is as well.  I just think Atlanta has the wrong success model.  They keep bringing in the wrong veteran players.  Asante Samuel has been on three teams now in the last five years because he cannot cover like he believes he can.  The Falcons can score with anyone. can they stop anyone? Detroit needs a running game to gurantee that Stafford will be on the field this year for 16 games.  He showed last year that if healthy he can put up huge numbers and be a superstar.  I think that their defense is one year away from greatness but off the field matters will haunt this team.  This team will be great in 2013 mark my word.  Maturity wins titles.  They will be forced to grow up pretty quickly.  The NFC is much better than the AFC this year.  There are more teams that have playoff ability in that conference.  Dallas is better than most AFC teams and will be at home watching the post season.  I already mentioned Atlanta and Detroit.  Carolina is up and coming and Seattle will be a pleasant surprise.  The final two in the NFC will be Green Bay v New Orleans.  New Orleans will become the first team to host the super bowl. 
The referee lockout is a disgrace to the league.  The NFL make 9 billion dollars a year and they do not want give a raise to the men who give the games its integrity? The replacement refs will do a good enough job that wont cause a calamity, but why risk it?  Yes every week we hear the pundits criticzie the refs for blown calls and it repercussions for teams, coaches and players.  I understand that noone is perfect but at least we kindof understand when a ref misses a call. We dont understand when a ref misses a basic rule.  the replacement refs had a game this preseason where they thought the 4 yard line was the end zone line.  They marked a penalty 11 yards that was to be 15 or cannot explain why a call was made to the audience.  They have even faced the wrong way talking to the camera.  I wonder what is going to happen if in week 1 the Niners play Green Bay and blown call gives the game to one team and they lose out on homefield advantage 15 weeks down the road.  A hefty price to pay when the refs are only asking to be compensated because everyone else involved in football is getting raises.  We hope the best even though we know this is going to be ugly..
My super bowl of Houston and New Orleans will be fun to bet on and attend.  The Saints will win and tell the league to kiss their *** when they are praising Sean Payton for organizing such a fine team.  Brees is your M.V.P. .. Let the games begin