October 12, 2002

Why Are All Refs Blind?

Dammit, good for the non-touchdown that resulted in a Cal football loss. The USC receiver plain dropped the ball as he dove to catch it, but it bounced back into his arms, and he came up with it. The Umpire, unable to see anything, called it a touchdown, and since there is no instant replay in college football, the touchdown counted, even though the Fox replay showed it clearly: no contest, no discussion, no controversy. He dropped the ball and that was it.

Minus seven points from the USC score, and what is the result? 28–23, Cal wins. But NO!!! Instead, 30–28 LOSS to USC! Stuff like this makes me bitter: there is nothing to blame specifically here—that's the worst part. It wasn't the umpire's fault; he couldn't see it. It wasn't the receiver's fault, he was just doing what anyone else would have done. I think the only entity to blame here would be the system, which doesn't allow for replays, but even that is questionable, considering instant replays lag games a LOT!! So I guess this result can be chalked up to luck. Damn!