Thursday, January 20, 2005

The Worst Officiated Games in Sports

Inspired by the SIU-Bradley game that took place tonite at the SIU Arena. By the way this is in no particular order. Just in the order in which I remember them.
  1. SIU-Bradley. Obvious call in both direction that weren't called kept the game closer than it should have been. Ticky-tack foul calls, traveling calls that weren't called, jump balls that should have been called fouls, etc. So many bad calls inspired the Dawg Pound to chant "You refs suck! You refs suck!" Oh to be sitting court side, they probably woulda kicked me out.
  2. Cubs vs. Reds 2004. What is known as the game that Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou went back-to-back to win the game, would be known as one of the worst umpired of 2004 if not for their heroics. Poor calls behind the plate. Strikes called as balls, balls called as strikes, half swings as full swings and full swings as check swings were only the beginning. Both managers were ejected on top of that as well. The absolute worst call was a foul ball hit to the Bartman corner in left field. The ball on the fly hit by Reds catcher Jason LaRue clearly hit the wall in left field which is in foul territory. Staring it down all the way down the line was the third base umpire Kevin Kelly, he emphatically called it fair. Sitting on the first base side lined up with the line I saw it with my naked eye too and nearly would've killed the ump had the call not been reversed. And it wouldn't have been reversed had Dick Pole not gotten out of the dugout to contend the call. The umps got together and they reversed it. Its all in the past cuz CUBS WIN CUBS WIN!
  3. Game 6? NLCS 1997 Marlins @ Braves. Grandma would've turned into Cy Young had she pitched that night. It damn near felt that if it was thrown toward the plate and not swung at it was a strike. Livan Hernandez took full advantage of the strike zone as wide as fat ass umpire Eric Gregg's appetite. The Marlins won the NLCS and went on their first World Series. Gregg never umpired again.
  4. NCAA Tournament Round 1 Game: DePaul vs. Kansas. Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons and Lance Williams were being attacked by Kansas like they owed Kansas money. Though DePaul kept it close, the fact that Roy Williams was on Kansas' bench Kansas got every call, and DePaul lost.
  5. 2004 Bears @ Lions. Everyone likes recent games. This officiating staff is rumored to be the staff to do the Super Bowl. Alex Brown was being held by the shoulder pads, no call. Late hits, taunting, pass interference were not called on the Lions, but called on the Bears. Not to mention the catch that got the Bears the #4 pick in the Draft in which the explanation of the incomplete pass was "The ball moved after he had possesion and crossed the plane, therefore it is an incomplete." The ball is constantly moving, if that were the rule there would be no scoring.
  6. Sabres vs. Stars. The Stars were given the series winning goal even though rules state that a skate cannot be in the crease when a goal is scored by that player. The refs had no comment and next year that rule was changed

Thats all i can remember? Do you remember any others, write em down and post them under comments.

No comments: