Most awful officiating calls you can recall

[SabresRule]

After reading salsa's quote on the controversial Miami/Ohio State Fiesta Bowl call (There is close calls...and than there are "what f***ing game were you watching" calls), I'd like to see what other bad calls you guys remember.

As a Sabres fan, I start with a few simple words:

Hull. Foot. Crease. Stanley Cup Finals.

 

[anders5189]

Don Denkinger Game 6 1985 WS. The Royals were gift wrapped a championship.

 

[SabresRule]

Don Denkinger Game 6 1985 WS. The Royals were gift wrapped a championship.

anders,

just wondering,

but have the Tar Heels ever been on the wrong end of a bad call?

Also, I'll assume you're a Cardinals fan. Since you're a fan of UNC, I'm wondering where you're from.

 

[vurbano]

Ben Rothelisbegers superbowl rushing touchdown

 

[anders5189]

Actually, I could care less about the Cardinals or any other baseball team for that matter, but since you brought up the topic, that call in the '85 WS was the mother of all bad calls IMO.

As for Carolina we've been on the short end of some bad calls too from time to time, but I can't think of any in particular right now. Dean Smith getting ejected in the '91 FF was pretty cheap, but may not have cost us the game.

 

[Mets82]

For me as a ny giants fan, the last play of the 02 wild card game was huge. Even though the Giants missed the field goal, they were flagged, I believe for an ineligeble receiver, the officals made a mistake. I think the 49ers held one of the Giants which means they should've had another play. That bothered me to no end. You may argue they shouldn't have been in that predicament anyway but still the refs blew the call.

 

[SabresRule]

For me as a ny giants fan, the last play of the 02 wild card game was huge. Even though the Giants missed the field goal, they were flagged, I believe for an ineligeble receiver, the officals made a mistake. I think the 49ers held one of the Giants which means they should've had another play. That bothered me to no end. You may argue they shouldn't have been in that predicament anyway but still the refs blew the call.

IMO,

the reason the 49ers have been horrible ever since is maybe it was karma from that game.

Perhaps the football gods, having given San Francisco two decades of greatness, finally had a reason to turn the tide on them.

 

[MikeI]

any game involving Steve Javie and the Lakers since 1989. He hasn't wanted them to win since a pre-season game in Canada almost 20 years ago. You watch next year, he calls more calls against the Lakers then any other ref especially as March and April approach.

 

[anders5189]

IMO,

the reason the 49ers have been horrible ever since is maybe it was karma from that game.

Perhaps the football gods, having given San Francisco two decades of greatness, finally had a reason to turn the tide on them.

That or John York nickle and diming his players. I heard he charges them for the Gatorade they drink.

 

[mpar1]

Last season's Pitt @ WVU football game. The officials tried with all they had to take game from Pitt and put a Big East team in the BCS Championhip game. Fortunately they could not.

 

[salsadancer7]

I would say it goes like this:


1) The "tuck rule" call against the Raiders in the divisional playoffs a few years ago. Now to set up the sitaution, the Raiders were still in the midst of a lawsuit against the NFL and suddenly, the team the League office hates with a passion, is one play away from going to the AFC Champsionship, and to me and most, the best team in the AFC and the likely Super Bowl rep.....and a rule that was only used ONCE previously in the last 40 years(and from what I read, it was a preseason game at that).....gets called against the Raiders in the final minutes....yeah, right.......the league, let's just same got excited in their pants with that one.....

1a) The now INFAMOUS "obvious pass interference call" against the Hurricanes vs. Ohio State in the BCS Championship game a few years ago. Now mind you, you can go now to You Tube and watch it a million times, and CLEARLY see no pass interference....the game announcers say it, the reporters AFTER the game say it....hell, the line judge 2 yards away STARING AT THE PLAY does not call it...but some official in the back of the end zone throws a flag out of nowhere....almost 4 seconds AFTER THE PLAY is whistled dead throws the flag??!!! The end zone ref later said "he wanted to make sure he made the right call"....well if took that long to throw the flag, where you THAT sure you made the right call? LOL!

2) The home run stolen by Jeffrey Maier during the 1996 Playoffs between the Orioles and the Yankees. Tony Tarrasco is clearly camped under the ball and this kid reached over the wall to steal it. It was so obvious he did, the kid almost fell onto the field in how far he was leaning over the wall in right. The umps called it a home run to tie the game in the 8th inning....they go on the win the game and the Series...

3) Another "phantom call", the dreaded Huge Hollins call on the Bulls during the Bulls vs. Knicks playoffs in 1996. The so-called foul on Scotty Pippin was so bad, the Knicks fans were shocked they got the call(I know because I was working for Sports media in Chicago at the time and I was on the team covering the Bulls in NYC) that the response at the Gardens was delayed gasp AND cheer. The clearly clean block would have sealed the win for the Bulls and they would have won in Chicago(the Knicks that year, without Michael Jordan, were terrible in Chicago...go figure....).

 

[HD MM]

Last season's Pitt @ WVU football game. The officials tried with all they had to take game from Pitt and put a Big East team in the BCS Championhip game. Fortunately they could not.

Both Pitt and WVU are in the Big East, but I know what you're saying....

I agree, last years game in which Pitt upset WVU was officiated awfully. One of the worst games I can recall actually. Those 2 phantom holding calls against Pitt kept WVU in the game. Thankfully the deserving team ended up winning, otherwise you would've heard a lot more about this.

This also happened on the same night that Oklahoma beat Missouri. So afterwords, all of the media was focused on BCS talk and not the officiating of the WVU/Pitt game which flew completely under the radar. I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more.

 

[Ramy]

Don Denkinger Game 6 1985 WS. The Royals were gift wrapped a championship.

Ben Rothelisbegers superbowl rushing touchdown

I was thinking about these myself.

 

[brainfry]

Every one of these is a great example.

I have a personal one that most of you probably don't remember because it wasn't in a high-profile game. Two years ago, the Bengals were leading at Tampa Bay 13-7 with about a minute to go. TB had the ball deep in Bengals territory. Justin Smith sacked Bruce Gradkowski on fourth down, apparently giving the ball back to the Bengals so they could run out the clock. However, referee Mike Carey, who I am still cursing to this day, called one of the most egregiously bad roughing-the-passer penalties that I've every seen. It was a clean sack if I ever saw one. Tampa Bay was given a first down, and ended up winning the game.

In most cases, bad calls can turn the momentum of a game around, but you can't necessarily say that it was the absolute cause of the result of the game. In this example you can, because the Bengals would have run out the clock.

 

[brainfry]

Both Pitt and WVU are in the Big East, but I know what you're saying....

I agree, last years game in which Pitt upset WVU was officiated awfully. One of the worst games I can recall actually. Those 2 phantom holding calls against Pitt kept WVU in the game. Thankfully the deserving team ended up winning, otherwise you would've heard a lot more about this.

This also happened on the same night that Oklahoma beat Missouri. So afterwords, all of the media was focused on BCS talk and not the officiating of the WVU/Pitt game which flew completely under the radar. I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more.

C'mon, HD. You gotta mention that Jacksonville game.

 

[HD MM]

C'mon, HD. You gotta mention that Jacksonville game.

Oh man! How'd I forget! Thanks for the reminder Brainfry!

"Bottle Throwing Incident"-- Dec. 16, 2001.

During the Browns '01 home finale against Jacksonville, the crowd of 72,818 reacted angrily when an apparent reception by Cleveland's Quincy Morgan at the Jacksonville 9-yard line was overruled on instant replay by referee Terry McAulay.

But the thing was, that wasn't what pissed everyone off.....

The fans' outburst came after the Browns had a first down at Jacksonville's 9-yard line taken away despite having run a play before the officials reviewed it! Officials stopped the game and decided to review the previous play!

Eventually the catch was overturn, which led to the Jaguars' victory and ended the Browns' playoff chances.

The decision enraged the thousands of fans and players. As Cleveland's bench erupted in protest, Browns fans in the Dawg Pound bleacher section closest to the play began hurling bottles and other objects from the stands.

After a delay of several minutes, with no end of the flying bottles in sight, McAulay declared the game over and sent the teams off the field. Fans pelted the Jaguars with bottles as they went up the stadium tunnel.

Then things got really interesting.

Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin was 10 minutes into his postgame news conference when McAulay summoned him with word that NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue had called personally with orders to play the game's final 48 seconds.

So with thousands of angry fans still in the stands and several players from both teams already showered and wearing business suits, the Jaguars and Browns came out to watch Brunell kneel twice to end the game.

 

[mccoyrj]

This has to be up there at the top:

Fifth Down Game (1990) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - Final drive. Missouri. 1990. 5th down.


Colorado scored on the last play of the game to pull out a controversial 33-31 win. Soon after the game ended, it was confirmed that Charles Johnson’s score from a yard out to give Colorado the victory had actually come on a fifth-down play. The five play sequence went as follows:

1st-down-and-goal—Missouri three-yard line 31 remaining in the game): Quarterback Charles Johnson spikes the ball to stop the clock.

2nd-and-goal—Missouri three-yard line 28 remaining): Running back Eric Bieniemy up the middle for a gain of two yards (final timeout, Colorado).

3rd-and-goal—Missouri one-yard line 18 remaining): Bieniemy up the middle for no gain. Referee stops the clock as players unpile.

4th-and-goal—Missouri one-yard line 08 remaining): Johnson spikes the ball to stop the clock.

5th-and-goal—Missouri one-yard line 02 remaining): Johnson sneaks in around right end for the game-winning touchdown.

 

[yourbeliefs]

For me as a ny giants fan, the last play of the 02 wild card game was huge. Even though the Giants missed the field goal, they were flagged, I believe for an ineligeble receiver, the officals made a mistake. I think the 49ers held one of the Giants which means they should've had another play. That bothered me to no end. You may argue they shouldn't have been in that predicament anyway but still the refs blew the call.

Also, if you remember, the Niners ended up playing the soon-to-be Super Bowl Champion Bucs that year, so in retrospect you may as well feel good that you didn't have to watch your team get massacred the next week.

 

[mpar1]

Both Pitt and WVU are in the Big East, but I know what you're saying....

Right. I never implied they weren't. I was just saying that you know the bozos in the Big East offices wanted WVU to win the game as they would have gone to the BCS Championship game, validating that ridiculous conference.

 

[Hart5150]

1976 Patriots vs. Raiders. Patriots DE Sugar Bear Hamilton was called for a phantom roughing the passer, to keep a drive alive and delivering the AFC championship to Oakland because of Ben Dreith.

Superbowl XL most pathetic one sided officiated football game EVER. From the bogus holding call on the Seahawks to the Roethlisberger non-TD. Just brutal.

Walt Colemen missing the roughing the passer against Charles Woodson, causing the whole "tuck" rule incident.

and a rule that was only used ONCE previously in the last 40 years(and from what I read, it was a preseason game at that).....gets called against the Raiders in the final minutes....yeah, right.......the league, let's just same got excited in their pants with that one.....

That is not true at all, it was called against the Patriots in the Rams and Jets Games earlier that year. (2001)