Posted on 06/10/2003 8:47:08 PM PDT by battleknight24
What have been the worst/most controversial calls (or non-calls) in sports history?
* Hue Hollins calls a (phantom?) foul on Scottie Pippen- Game 5, 1994 Eastern Conference semi-finals, Bulls vs. Knicks. With the series tied 2-2, the Bulls are leading 86-85 when Hue Hollins calls a foul on Scottie Pippen with 2.1 seconds left in the game. Instant replays showed that Pippen lightly tapped Hubert Davis on the wrist, well after the ball was released. A foul by the rulebook, but the kind of foul officials NEVER let decide a big game. Davis sinks 2 free throws and the Knicks win a nail biter, 87-86. The Knicks ended up winning the series in 7 games (They would go on to lose the NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets in seven games.) What makes this so memorable is not only that I saw this game on TV when it happened, but that even ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY commented on it in their TV section.
* Thanksgving Day Overtime Coin Flip Fiasco- Steelers vs. Lions, Thanksgiving 1998. With the game going into overtime, the Steelers and Lions get set for the coin flip. Jerome Bettis of the Steelers calls tails, and it lands tails. The only problem was that the ref heard "heads." The Lions get the ball first and score on the first overtime drive to win the game.
* There are way too many others I can think of to go into great detail. Here are some suggestions.
- Jeffrey Maier assists Jeters home run.
- Colorado's fifth down.
- Soviet Union basketball team gets extra attempts and beats US 51-50 in 1972 Olympic gold medal game.
- Brett Hull's skate in the crease.
- Maradona's 'Hand of God.'
- Jordan bumps Byron Russell in the final seconds of the 1998 NBA Finals.
P.S. What did you guys think of the pass interference call made in overtime at this past years College Football National Championship (Ohio State vs. Miami)?
The St. Louis Cardinals led the Kansas City Royals in the Series 3-2 and were ahead in the ninth inning of the sixth game, 1-0. Umpire Don Denkinger called the Royals' Jorge Orta safe at first on a grounder to the Cardinals' Jack Clark, but TV replays showed that the throw to pitcher Todd Worrell had beaten Orta to the bag. Kansas City went on to rally for two runs, averting elimination, and the next day won the Series.
This was a terrible call, but only because most fans had the benefit of a good side view of the play. If you see this play from the angle of the umpire calling the play, he was looking straight at the ball from the direction of the infield didn't have a clear view of just how far the kid was leaning over the wall.
Soviet Union basketball team gets extra attempts and beats US 51-50 in 1972 Olympic gold medal game.
They had a great documentary on this incident on one of the cable stations within the last month or so, and after going through all of the events in detail it was determined that the Soviets won that game fair and square. The one legitimate complaint that the U.S. had was that the officials at the game spoke very little English and therefore didn't explain everything clearly at all.
Brett Hull's skate in the crease.
This was a terrible call because it stood up even though the NHL had a replay rule in effect at the time. I don't consider it an egregious injustice, though, because that "skate in the crease" rule was one of the dumbest rules in professional sports before it was modified soon afterwards.
A better example of a horrible call in an NHL playoff game involved the Quebec Nordiques and the New York Rangers back in the 1992-93 or 1993-94 season. Alexei Kovalev of the Rangers was checked hard and appeared to be injured on the play, and Quebec moved the puck back the other way and scored a goal several seconds later. The referee blew his whistle after the puck entered the net, but the goal was disallowed anyway. The play was controversial for two reasons:
1. When a player is injured the referee cannot blow his whistle until the injured player's team gains control of the puck, unless the player is severely injured. In this case, Kovalev was just lying on the ice because he was a soft, lazy malcontent who didn't want to hustle back into the play after getting decked (many Russian players still have a reputation for this even to this day).
2. The puck clearly entered the net after the whistle had blown, but the goal was waved off anyway. The excuse that was given was that the referee was "in the process of putting his whistle in his mouth" when the goal was scored.
What made this case unusual was that after the game the NHL made the unprecedented announcement that the referee (it was Andy Van Hellemond, if I recall) was being fined $10,000 for blowing the call and would be replaced as a playoff official that year.
Maradona's 'Hand of God.'
This one is easy to understand -- the referee simply didn't see it (nor did any television cameras at the time).
What did you guys think of the pass interference call made in overtime at this past years College Football National Championship (Ohio State vs. Miami)?
Very controversial call, but I would be very reluctant to call something like this one of the "most controversial" in sports history because it is based entirely on the judgement of an official who doesn't have the benefit of instant replay.
Any list of the worst cases of sports officiating should be made up almost entirely of incidents at basketball games -- I'm convinced that 90% of basketball officiating is bullsh!t anyway.
The "Immaculate Reception" playoff game between the Steelers and the Raiders back in the 1970s will go down as one of the most controversial finishes of all time -- to this day, nobody except the two players at the point of contact really knows which of the two players (or both) actually got their hand on that pass.
Thank you Phil Luckett!!!
Taylor ahead on all scorecards is knocked down in the 12th round, easily beats the count, and with 2 minutes 58 seconds elapsed in the 12th and final round, referee Richard Steele stops the fight and awards Chavez a TKO victory.
2 stinkin' seconds.....
I'm sure you have something to add......
Dallas Cowboys versus Detroit Lions. Detroit Lions kick game winning FG in OT to win. One problem. Lions had 12 men on the field (and no one was trying to leave the field at the last second). Happened during the mid-70's.
Must have been a democrat referee from Florida. Couldn't count to 12.
Brett Hull's skate in the crease.
So was the puck. The play was perfectly legal. This example doesn't belong with the others.
I have no complaints, though -- that rule was idiotic, particularly in light of the difficulty NHL teams had in generating offense at the time.
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