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superbowl officiating blooper

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Carl Dettelis

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Jan 28, 1986, 10:30:21 PM1/28/86
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Subject: Super Bowl foulup
Newsgroups: Net.sports.football


At the end of the first half of the Super Bowl, it was
mentioned that the referees made a mistake in allowing the
Bears to kick the field goal. They said that since the Bears
deliberately tried to stop the clock with 3 seconds to go, there
should have been 10 seconds run off the clock.
I dissagree with this. When Jim Mcmahon was takled, there were
18 seconds left on the clock. You would think that a team sould be
able to line up and snap the ball in 18 seconds. The reason they couldn't
was because there was a Patriot who deliberately held JM down after
he was tackled, and a bigger reason was because there were Patriots
in the Chicago backfield who were pushing Bears that were trying to
huddle. For this reason, I feel that the clock should have been stopped
with no penalty to the time clock assessed.

-I was wondering what other people on the net thought
about this.

-Carl (maddog) Dettelis

Scott

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Feb 11, 1986, 11:13:06 AM2/11/86
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Well, if its the play I'm thinking of, Mcmahon not only called the snap,
but also threw the ball at the ground, out of bounds. Now, I've never
heard of this 10 seconds off the clock rule, but any way you slice it,
the Bears get to kick the F.G. If the Pats were off side, then the ball
is moved and the Bears get one more play. If the Bears are off side, then
since the half cannot end on an offensive penalty, they get a play. If the
refs dont call either team off sides, then McMahon gets an intentional
grounding penalty, and one more play. If they don't call anything, then its
an incomplete pass, and stops the clock with three seconds left, and you
guessed it, one more play. I credited McMahon with some quick thinking
so that no matter what, they would get the F.G. in. I didn't think it
was bad officiating at all

Addison
ihnp4!ihlpa!ibyf

My brother? I always thought of him as mom and dad's science project.

boro...@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu

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Feb 12, 1986, 12:58:00 PM2/12/86
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> If the Bears are off side, then
> since the half cannot end on an offensive penalty, they get a play.
>
> Addison
> ihnp4!ihlpa!ibyf

I think a half CAN end on an offensive penalty. An accepted defensive
penalty extends a half.

Stephen L. Borodkin

USENET: ...!{pur-ee,ihnp4}!uiucdcs!borodkin
CSNET: borodkin%ui...@csnet-relay.arpa
ARPA: boro...@uiuc.arpa

Allen England

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Feb 12, 1986, 5:09:47 PM2/12/86
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> Now, I've never
> heard of this 10 seconds off the clock rule, but any way you slice it,
> the Bears get to kick the F.G. If the Pats were off side, then the ball
> is moved and the Bears get one more play. If the Bears are off side, then
> since the half cannot end on an offensive penalty, they get a play.
> Addison
> ihnp4!ihlpa!ibyf

The half cannot end on a *defensive* penalty is the actual rule. The half
is allowed to end on an offensive penalty if the defense declines the
penalty.

Allen England
ihnp4!ihlpl!alle

be...@ucla-cs.uucp

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Feb 13, 1986, 2:12:03 PM2/13/86
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you need to review the rules. the half cannot end on a DEFENSIVE
penalty but can on an offensive one.


Dan R. Murphy

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Feb 14, 1986, 12:11:04 PM2/14/86
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> is moved and the Bears get one more play. If the Bears are off side, then
> since the half cannot end on an offensive penalty, they get a play. If the
> refs dont call either team off sides, then McMahon gets an intentional
> grounding penalty, and one more play. If they don't call anything, then its
> an incomplete pass, and stops the clock with three seconds left, and you
> guessed it, one more play. I credited McMahon with some quick thinking
> so that no matter what, they would get the F.G. in. I didn't think it
> was bad officiating at all
>

Check your rulebook again. The half or the game CAN end on an offensive
penalty. Also, just because you've never heard of the ten second rule means
it doesn't exist? Your argument holds no water.

What happened was the ref`s were correct in giving an illegal procedure
penalty to Chicago. They then blew the call on the ten second rule.
The league admitted to this at halftime. What you are saying here is
almost as bad as some NE fans saying the outcome of the game would have
been different if a few plays were changed (e.g. Morgan's drop).

Dan Murphy
Raytheon SSD
Portsmouth, RI

Bob Fortin

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Feb 14, 1986, 12:47:48 PM2/14/86
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I thought the half couldn't end on a defensive penalty, but could end on
an offensive play otherwise, the offense could keep getting extra plays
if they commit a penalty intentionally when a play isn't working out.

be...@ucla-cs.uucp

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Feb 17, 1986, 1:24:36 PM2/17/86
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or, in this case, if the defense accepts the penalty.

Peter Barbee

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Feb 17, 1986, 3:51:31 PM2/17/86
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In article <11...@ihlpa.UUCP> ib...@ihlpa.UUCP (Scott) writes:
>
>the Bears get to kick the F.G. If the Pats were off side, then the ball
>is moved and the Bears get one more play. If the Bears are off side, then
>since the half cannot end on an offensive penalty, they get a play. If the

What?

The half can't end on a defensive penalty is the rule. But actually there is
no rule about penalties and ends of halfs. It is merely logic. As the
defensive team I would decline the penalty rather than allow the opposition
an additional try. The opposite applies for the offensive team.

If what Scott (or is it Addison?) says is true than it seems the offensive
team would be sure to committ a penalty at the end of every half to get
an extra play.

Peter B

Jon M. Hanrath

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Feb 18, 1986, 8:23:47 AM2/18/86
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In article <11...@ihlpa.UUCP> ib...@ihlpa.UUCP (Scott) writes:


Sorry, a half MAY end on an offensive penalty. It may not end on a defensive
penalty. Otherwise, an offensive team could keep completing long passes
and then smack someone illegally just to keep the half alive.

Jon Hanrath
ihnp4!ltuxa!jmh

michaelf@ism780

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Feb 18, 1986, 7:24:00 PM2/18/86
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If what MacMahon did was legal, what is the sense of
conserving your timeouts if all you have to do is throw the ball
out of bounds and give up 5 yards. Why not throw
a hail mary pass and if it's dropped, punch someone in the head,
assume the penalty and try again?

Carl Dettelis

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Feb 21, 1986, 9:38:15 PM2/21/86
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I don't think that the question is weather or not the officials blew

the 10 second rule, they did. I think the problem is whether the clock

should have been stopped because the Patriots were delaying the game.

Jim M. was tackled with 18 sec. left on the clock which is more than

enough time to get a play off; however, the pats were in the Chicago

backfield and one Pat even tried to hold Jim M. down after he was tackled

in order to waste time. The officials, by missing the 10 sec. call

were wrong, but the clock should have been stopped earlier after giving

the Pats a reasonable time to set up (18 sec. is more than reasonable).

So, the bottom line is the refs missed two calls which in effect canceled

each other out and allowed Chicago to kick the field goal like they should

have in the first place.

- Carl Dettelis

John A. Muth

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Feb 24, 1986, 2:36:38 PM2/24/86
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In article <62100001@ism780>, michaelf@ism780 writes:
> Why not throw
> a hail mary pass and if it's dropped, punch someone in the head,
> assume the penalty and try again?

Hmmm. Interesting idea. Sounds like a perfect play for the Raiders.

--
John A. Muth ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun,nsc}!amdahl!muth

sil...@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu

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Feb 24, 1986, 4:19:00 PM2/24/86
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The clock is restarted if the penalty is refused. (I think)

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