PARDEE: THAT OFFICIAL SHOULD NEVER CALL ANOTHER GAME

[clevfan]

PARDEE: THAT OFFICIAL SHOULD NEVER CALL ANOTHER GAME

BY STEVE SERBY
NY POST
November 19, 2008 --

THE NFL has made its bed and rests all too comfortably on the premise that it will be able to sleep in it.

But if the league wakes up screaming at three in the morning after the end of the regular-season schedule, after one of its playoff hopefuls should be cheated by the errant result of a game that can be and should be altered, all the king's horses and all the king's men will fully deserve their nightmare.

Steelers 11, Chargers 10 won't be changed to Steelers 17, Chargers 10, or Steelers 18, Chargers 10, even though the NFL was forced to admit that its zebras fumbled the ending and the outcome.

Asked yesterday if the league would reexamine the game in the unlikely - but not impossible - event that its tiebreaker scenario would rear its ugly head, Senior VP of Public Relations Greg Aiello said: "No. The final score of Pittsburgh 11, San Diego 10 cannot be changed."

Of course it can be changed. Las Vegas has already informed the bettors who took Steelers minus 4½ or 5 that the game is over, that it doesn't pay twice on the result of any game. So the league, which goes into ostrich mode at the mere mention of the point spread, doesn't have to worry about that crowd.

Apparently the league also doesn't think it has to worry about reaching down to its sixth tiebreaker to determine whether one of its AFC teams earns a playoff berth or a higher seeding.

What if, say, Brett Favre and the Jets are trailing the Dolphins 24-14 in the Dec. 28 regular-season finale in Miami, and there is time for one play, and Favre hits Laveranues Coles with a gimme touchdown pass with one second left, and Mike Nugent (or Jay Feely) kicks the extra point, and the Jets and Steelers finish in a dead heat for the sixth and final playoff berth?

And what if the first five tiebreakers fail to resolve the tie? And what if the sixth tiebreaker (best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed) or seventh tiebreaker (best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed) or eighth tiebreaker (best net points in conference games) or ninth tiebreaker (best net points in all games) or 10th tiebreaker (best net touchdowns in all games) show that the Jets finished with, say, five more points than the Steelers?How would the Steelers, how would Troy Polamalu, who scored The Touchdown That Should Have Been But Wasn't, how would the good people of Pittsburgh feel about that? About the integrity of the sport? And what would the NFL tell them? Sorry, but uh, we couldn't change the score?

Someone ought to ask Jack Pardee about this - and as a matter of fact, the Post's Brian Costello did just that last night.

Since the 1970 merger, total points needed to be used as a tiebreaker twice, excluding the strike-shortened season of 1982. It has been used for seeding five other times, most recently in 1998.

In 1977 and '79, the Bears secured the wild card over the Redskins because of net points. Pardee happened to be the coach of the Bears in '77 and the Redskins in '79.

From his home in Texas, Pardee said that Sunday's blunder in Pittsburgh by referee Scott Green and his crew will be the most ignominious kind of instant replay should it wind up costing the Steelers a playoff berth.

"If it was a coach making a mistake like that he'd be fired," said Pardee, who coached 11 years in the NFL with three different franchises. "That official should never call another game. That might sound harsh, but that's how you get the attention of the officials."

Pardee's Redskins lost to the Cowboys, 35-34, on the final day of the '79 season while the Bears blew out the Cardinals, 42-6, giving the Bears four more points than the 'Skins and the final playoff berth.

"It cost me my job," said Pardee, who coached one more season with the Redskins but never made the playoffs with them.

Pardee recalls NFL commissioners Bert Bell and Pete Rozelle drilling into players and coaches that the league must be "above reproach."

Pardee said they were well aware - how could they not be? - that gambling raised the league's popularity and the only way to maintain that was to avoid even the slightest hint in the public's eye that a fix might be in. Roger Goodell, the law-and-order commissioner, proudly carries that torch.

"If it's not on the up-and-up, you've got pro wrestling," Pardee told Costello. "Who's going to bet on that? It's not a contest, it's a performance."

In this case, it's a fumble.

[Bobby C]

I also think that ref should be fired. Not for blowing the call--these things happen--but for the ridiculous way he handled the entire situation, totally afraid to rule anything at all. Watching those teams stand around on the sidelines for several minutes when the clock read 0:00 was painful.

[Pancho Sanza]

That call aside, that ref is a moran.

Just seems like a dumbass.

[stevo]

I wish I hadnt switched off after the failed run.

I missed alot......LOL

[TheGuesser]

There should seriously be an investigation into the official who said "no no" after the Ref announced it was a TD after the review. Evidently this is the same official who told the Ref that there was an illegal forward pass. It's this official, and not only the ref, who should be thoroughly investigated, incuding the gambling aspect, as there are now reports that some sizeable SD money came in shortly before game time. If the betting was all licensed and regulated, this stuff could easily be investigated, but leave it to the hypocritical NFL to bury their heads in the sand.

[howid]

seems steelers games are always suspect

[analyzer]

ya mean like the steelers game where they played the texans, gave up like 57 yards of total offense, but lost 21-14 ish, when Tommy "the fix is in" Maddox through not 1, not 2, but 3 pick 6's. Yeah, something always fishy in 3 rivers.

I swear, Tommy's #1, Favre is #2. fixin games. But don't tell a wisonsinite that face to face.

[Don Eagleston]

Jack Pardee was a fine player, but not the brightest Texan in the world. The booth guys are extremely, extremely well paid and usually former, aging referees. I blame the booth guy more than the referee. That said, I wonder if either knew the spread was riding on the call. Pittsburgh had won and the final score made little difference to them. Not sure why they reversed the TD.