BLATANT ERRORS OR IS THERE SOME TRICKERY AFOOT?

Although you may be thinking so, I am not talking about the New England Patriots this time (sorry). Instead I am going to rant about the multiple poorly called plays the referees have been calling lately. There have been some games lately where it seems like very bad, blatant calls against a team (which usually ends up being the underdog) are occurring more frequently.

Example: Titans/Texans game, MNF, November 21st, 2009

Last Monday, I begrudgingly turned on the Houston game; because I'm not a fan of either team, I figured I wouldn't be very involved. However, I stuck with it, rooting for Houston because many Buffalo Bills players have stopped there on their way towards retirement, as well as Andre Davis, who is my favorite special teams player (and Niskayunian, aside from myself, family, and close friends). The game was very close and actually exciting, which division games should be. Here is the call that was a very bad call; when the MNF announcers are saying the refs are making bad calls, then you know that there actually are really bad calls being made.

"The Titans started the go-ahead drive at the 6-yard line, but the Texans were called for a 15-yard horse collar penalty on a tackle on Chris Johnson. A 22-yard run by Johnson two plays later put the Titans on their 41 just before the two-minute warning."

Anyone who watched that play knew that it was a terrible call. Did it cost the game? Most likely, but we will never know.

There have been multiple bad calls over the years, but it seems to me that they have become more prevalent. Watching the Oakland/Dallas game, there were many small holdings that weren't called on the Cowboys. Although, with the new big screen tv they have, I'm surprised they didn't notice. I think that these poor calls, especially those that might be game changers should be taken seriously. Is it because these guys are too old? Do they need glasses or do they need to retire? Should teams have the option of being able to stop the game to have the refs review their call to see if they were in fact correct or not, as they can do in tennis? No matter what happens, I think that something should be set in place so that the refs aren't the ones who are giving the (favored) teams more points. And maybe there should be some checking into bribery if the calls are that ridiculously wrong.

Jaclyn Kahn

BELICHICK AND THE PATRIOTS... MERE COINCIDENCE OR FURTHER CHEATING?

We all know by now (unless you are a very ignorant person, or a die hard Patriots fan) that Bill Belichick has been known to have some extra tricks up his sleeve, and not all of them have been fair nor legal.

To give you some backstory, a couple of years ago, the Jets (and by the Jets I mean their former coach Eric Mangini) blew Belichick and the Patriots in for cheating. According to Mangini, who had worked with Belichick for a few years in Foxboro, knew that he was videotaping other teams in order to get the advantage. So when Mangini became a head coach for a team that was rival's with Belichick, Mangini wasted no time catching Belichick and his videotaping buddies.

After all of the hooplah, and the $500,000 fine that the NFL imposed on Belichick (I think to get rid of cheating you have to get rid of the man but the NFL sucks up to him too much to do something THAT incredulous), came other reports that the Patriots not only taped teams during the regular season, but that they taped the Rams before they met for the Super Bowl all those years ago, which became the beginning of the end.

So now that you know that Belichick has a history of cheating, both alleged and fact, another story has developed between the Patriots and the Jets. Last Sunday, the Patriots found their mojo and pleasantly pounded the New York Jets, 31-14. However, there have been other reports that came out after the beating that some trickery was afoot in Foxboro.

According to the Shutdown Corner on Yahoo! Sports, The Jets had a very unwanted wake up call at one o'clock in the morning during their stay at a hotel the night before Sunday's game. Some players seemed to take it in stride, and even made fun of the situation, and others were flat out pissed off. Now, I am not a fan of either team, but I would be fuming if I was a Jet's player and that I wasn't given the same amount of ample rest I needed before a AFC east division game. Especially since the team to beat is the Patriots.

Now, I would blow it off and say some hard core Patriots fans were being ***holes and wanted to play a funny prank on the Jets. I mean, if I lived in Buffalo, and the Jets came to play in Ralph Wilson stadium (which they aren't this year, sadly) and I either worked the hotel or knew where they were staying, I would think it would be a great prank to pull. Of course, I probably wouldn't attempt it seeing as though all of the members of the Jets are far bigger than me and many football players have anger management issues, which would result in myself most likely earning a near-life-ending beat down. But I digress, the reason this smells fishy is because the same exact thing happened to the Buffalo Bills when they stayed at the same hotel in Foxboro, the night before they ALMOST beat the Patriots back in week one. Am I saying this too early wake up call was the reason the Bills lost? Not at all. But the fact that this keeps happening to the visiting team in Foxboro is disconcerting. I wonder if Mangini had stayed with the Jets, would he have outed Belichick for this too?

On the final note: "It sounds like there's a fan (or fans) who still like to pull middle school pranks to help support the team. Or maybe it's not a fan at all. Judging by his past history, I wonder if Bill Belichick has an alibi for last night? "

Jaclyn Kahn

TO BE CONTINUED...

Due to the lack of interesting things happening in the National Football League (and no one here really pays attention to basketball or hockey), we apologize for the dearth of posts.

Keep posted if the Jets or Bills can make it to the playoffs.... time to go Eagles!