I love October. No other month in the year has every one of the four major sports being played. There's something for everyone to enjoy, and the past week didn't disappoint. The ChiSox are heading to the World Series; Notre Dame almost shook up the college football world; the Broncos, Jaguars and Bears scored big upsets; and Brett Hull retired.
But the biggest stories this week have been the poor officiating from umpires and referees. Why should any sports fan or team accept the outcome of a game not decided by the play of either team, but by the call of a bonehead official? Let's put this last week under review. Because I haven't seen somebody steal first base since Pirates' manager Lloyd McClendon got tossed for arguing and refused to leave empty-handed.
By now, you've probably seen the play. A.J. Pierzynski swings and misses strike three and the umpire rings him up. As the Angels head off the field, Pierzynski takes off for first, feeling he has nothing to lose. Suddenly, the umpire calls him safe at first.
The question isn't about whether catcher Josh Paul really dropped the ball. It's about how the umpire second-guessed his own call. Manager Mike Scioscia was right to go out and argue because that call most certainly gave the White Sox new life.
If the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim-near-Orange-County-in-Southern California-west-of-Compton-but-north-of-Huntington-Beach break the tie in extra innings and win game two, they go back to Anaheim up 2-0 in the series. All of a sudden it's a whole new series and maybe the White Sox don't win four straight en route to the Fall Classic.
The bad calls weren't just in baseball. The New Orleans Saints lost on a defensive holding call in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons. A defensive end was called for holding on a missed Todd Peterson field goal, giving the Falcons another shot five yards closer. In a postgame press conference, Saints' coach Jim Haslett called the controversial play "a chickens-t call." Not once, but four times.
USC's fourth-quarter comeback to beat Notre Dame was also controversial. Trojan back Reggie Bush pushed quarterback Matt Leinart into the endzone for the game-winning score with three seconds left, a violation called "aiding the runner." And he wasn't even mum about it.
"I used all 200 pounds of my body to push Matt in," Bush, who sounded very much like A-Rod slapping at Arroyo's glove, told ESPN.com
Leinart's game-breaking QB sneak might not have even happened if the officials hadn't given USC a lenient spot. Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds on the previous QB sneak attempt, but the ball was spotted at the goal line, not at the spot where the ball went out of bounds (somewhere between the two and four yard lines).
Why do the professional sports leagues let this stuff happen? Why should games be decided because an official inserts himself into a play?
There are solutions to the problem of poor officiating. I suggest similar to professional wrestling. If the official gets knocked out (by a chair or by a manager misfiring when throwing salt in a competitor's eyes) play continues in no-holds-barred style until the referee regains consciousness.
But the real solution would be instant replay in each sport. If we can second-guess calls at home with reasonable certainty, then referees should also be able to second-guess their own calls. People are human and sometimes make mistakes. That's why they use instant replay in the NFL.
Baseball fans complain it would slow down the sport. But if football can swallow its pride and use instant replay (lengthening a game that already stops every five minutes to go to commercial), baseball fans should own up to the deficiencies and bring in instant replay.
I love a good manager argument as much as the next person. We use to go crazy at Veterans Stadium every time Larry Bowa went off on an umpire. But baseball needs to change with the times.
College football and the NFL need to make more plays reviewable. There's no reason why any call in football can't be reviewed (like losing a fumble after being ruled down by contact). And I don't understand why officials upstairs don't step in more often to ensure that teams don't lose on technicalities.
We're talking about the integrity of sports. Any true fan understands that instant replay and reviewing plays is good for the game.
