You’ve seen the replay 17 times without even trying. It’s been on all the major TV networks, CNN, the Golf Channel, CSPAN, the Food Network, MTV, American Movie Classics and the Weather Channel.
Every replay shows the same faux-pas in high-def: The zebras blew it. Not once, but twice. Not just the zebras on the field, but also the ones in the replay booth.
They blew it when they awarded the Oregon Ducks the ball on a controversial and reviewed onside kick, then seconds later upheld a questionable pass interference penalty, which paved the way for Oregon’s rally for the winning touchdown against Oklahoma.
The Ducks won. The Sooners got jobbed. Over and out. Only, it’s not. Not even close.
The Pac-10 apologized to Oklahoma Monday and suspended the guilty officials for one game.
“Errors clearly were made and not corrected, and for that we apologize to the University of Oklahoma, coach Bob Stoops and his players,” said Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen, who also vouched for the officials’ integrity and ability, but added that they “have positions of great responsibility and must be accountable for their actions.”
The act of contrition came after Oklahoma University president David Boren notified Big 12 Kevin Weiberg of his suggestions in the matter, which included a full-season suspension of the offending officials and wiping away the entire game from the record books. Abracadabra! Erase history. It never happened.
Boren didn’t mention whether Sooner Heisman Trophy candidate Adrian Peterson should keep his 211 rushing yards.
But now comes the depressing part.
Reports are that head replay official Gordon Riese, a Portland, Ore., resident, is so distraught about missing the calls that he’s thinking of resigning. He hasn’t slept. He can barely eat. He suffers from hypertension. His daughter told reporters that Riese’s wife, a registered nurse, and doctors can’t get his diastolic under 100.
Riese, an official for 28 years, a schoolteacher for 34, a father of two and a grandfather of two, also has received death threats. One caller reportedly said he would fly to Portland to kill Riese and his wife of 42 years.
That’s when Riese called the police. Then he unplugged the phone.
There’s so much shame and blame to go around. Although it’s difficult to control fan behavior, it is up to those in administration to provide a work environment free of even the appearance of partiality, one in which officials can be confident that they had the means to give their best possible effort.
In this case, everything was done to prevent it. Those who should know better did everything they could to create a potentially volatile setting.
That’s exactly what happened.
First, shame on the Pac-10 for its policy of using only its own officials in non-conference games at which a Pac-10 school hosts. It leaves open, at the very least, the appearance of impropriety. They must, must, MUST use game officials from a neutral conference, period. That means don’t let a Portland resident work a game that involves Oregon or Oregon State, no matter how much integrity or ability he has. It just looks bad.
Second, shame again on the Pac-10 for supplying replay equipment that’s not on par with equipment the NFL uses. Riese says, for example, that the existing equipment does not allow an official to freeze video frames.
Third, shame on television and the on-field referee for pressuring Riese for a quick decision, even though there was such a delay in providing Riese the video feed that he never had a chance to fully review the onside kick. He didn’t see the replays half the country saw on ABC. Under great pressure and with little available on which to rule, Riese went by the book. He had no conclusive evidence contrary to the call on the field, so he upheld it.
Fourth, shame on those who threatened the lives of Riese and his family all week. Here’s hoping that somehow, authorities track them down for prosecution.
Fifth, shame on all of us, not just overzealous Oklahoma fans and university big-wigs, for equating a sporting event with life and death. Long ago, we started living through our sports heroes and teams, with predictable results.
This time, the result is that a decent man who did his job as best he could, given the limited tools provided him, is on the verge of a stroke because he made a mistake at a football game.
At the very least doesn’t he, too, deserve an apology?
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