Who gets blame? Not the referees
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 25, 2003
We’ve already heard the rumblings. Heck, the Seahawks aren’t even eliminated from playoff contention yet, and already players are starting to look for excuses.
We don’t want to hear it. We’ve got once-used wrapping paper stuffed in our ears.
Don’t talk to us about Tom White’s inability to tell time. We’ve heard enough about Greg Steed’s two left feet. And for Pete’s sake, let the Phil Luckett thing go.
No matter what happens this weekend, when the Seahawks face possible playoff elimination, don’t blame the season on the refs.
We’re tired of hearing about it. We’d rather be propositioned by Joe Namath. We’d rather listen to some hot-air radio clown explain the playoff possibilities.
Heck, we’d rather accompany Matt Millen to a Gay Pride Parade on Capital Hill.
Keep the zebra talk to yourselves.
Referees in this area get almost as much publicity as Tim Eyman. Both are a waste of valuable news space. Better seen but not heard.
Five words: fade into the background, boys.
Not that the refs have been seeking any kind of notoriety. Steed, the back judge who tripped up Bobby Engram in St. Louis, could probably go another 450 years without watching that highlight again. And White, the head official from the Baltimore-Seattle game, has undoubtedly heard enough clock jokes to last a lifetime.
(Hear the one about Tom White at an NBA game? He was called for a 24-second violation. Or the one about Tom White’s favorite Styx song? “Too Much Time On My Hands”)
When an official costs you a game, not to mention a pivotal one, it sticks in your craw longer than usual. Just ask Dennis Erickson.
The former Seahawks coach was on a conference call with Seattle media earlier this week, and the subject eventually came around to Luckett.
“I know it wasn’t personal,” Erickson lamented, “but I still think it is.”
He was joking, of course, but the sting is still there.
Die-hard Seahawks fans will remember Luckett as the official who botched the Vinny Testaverde call in 1998, eventually costing the Seahawks a playoff berth – and Erickson his job. Luckett, meanwhile, was demoted from head referee to a back judge.
If the Seahawks are to win in San Francisco on Saturday but still not get into the playoffs – Minnesota, Green Bay and/or Dallas would have to lose to give them a shot – the talk will undoubtedly turn back to White and Steed.
Had White restarted the clock in Baltimore, the Ravens wouldn’t have had enough time to force overtime. Baltimore eventually won that game 44-41 on a field goal in the extra session.
Had Steed not fallen down, taking Engram with him, perhaps the Seahawks receiver would have had a chance to catch the game-winning touchdown pass in St. Louis.
It’s all water under the bridge, folks. To borrow a phrase used by coach Mike Holmgren earlier this week: “Here’s a quarter: phone someone who cares.”
You want something to complain about? We’ve got plenty.
How about Damien Robinson fumbling the football just before he crossed the goal line in Washington? A touchdown there could have led to a blowout win rather than a nail-biting 27-20 loss.
Speaking of that Redskins game, how about somebody – anybody – not falling for the ball fake when receiver Rod Gardner threw the game-winning touchdown to a wide open Trung Canidate?
Or Darrell Jackson hanging onto the football on the potential tying drive?
Then there’s Baltimore, where the Seahawks might have won if Reggie Tongue had wrapped up Marcus Robinson instead of bouncing off him in the open field. Or Shawn Springs could have knocked down one of the thousands of passes Robinson plucked out of the air.
That’s not enough? Well, let’s go to St. Louis, then.
Maybe if the Seahawks ran a sideline pass with 24 seconds left, instead of a 5-yard dump over the middle, they could have had time to get a first down. Or the Seahawks could have stopped Marshall Faulk once or twice during a key drive late in the game.
And we haven’t even mentioned the Cincinnati game, which included so many batted balls that you were waiting for the Reds’ Ken Griffey Jr. to pull a hamstring.
Wouldas, couldas and shouldas.
“A game here, a play there. A ref here, a ref there,” linebacker Anthony Simmons said this week. “A number of things happened where we could go back and say, ‘If we could change this or that.’ But there are 31 other teams who can say the same thing.
“There’s nobody to blame but ourselves.”
Now that’s an excuse we can live with.
Kickoff: 2 p.m. Saturday
TV: Channel 13
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Stars to watch: Seahawks – After throwing 11 touchdown passes in five November games, QB Matt Hasselbeck has thrown just two in three December contests. RB Shaun Alexander has rushed for 125 yards or more in three of the last four weeks. TE Itula Mili has caught 11 passes over the past two weeks and needs three more to break his own team record for receptions by a tight end in a season (43). DE Chike Okeafor ranks sixth in the NFC with eight sacks, including two last Sunday.
49ers – QB Jeff Garcia has thrown eight touchdowns and no interceptions over the past three games. RB Kevan Barlow has rushed for 393 yards and four touchdowns over the past three weeks. FB Fred Beasley is making his first Pro Bowl appearance in February. S Tony Parrish, a University of Washington product, is tied for the NFL lead with nine interceptions.
Breaking down the game: On a neutral field, the Seahawks would probably be the favorite in this game.
But considering their road problems, not to mention San Francisco’s success at home, the Seahawks have a difficult task ahead of them.
Not that Seattle has been pathetic on the road, where four of its six losses have been by a touchdown or less. But something always seems to go wrong at the least opportune time.
The 49ers are without star receiver Terrell Owens this week, but quarterback Jeff Garcia has been lights out. Garcia should have enough other options to continue his hot streak this week.
Pick: 49ers, 27-24.
Injury report: Seahawks – G Jerry Wunsch (ankle) is doubtful. S Reggie Tongue (hamstring) is questionable. LB Chad Brown (illness), QB Matt Hasselbeck (shoulder), WR Darrell Jackson (ankle), CB Ken Lucas (ankle), DT John Randle (knee), LB Anthony Simmons (neck) and CB Willie Williams (foot) are probable.
49ers – WR Terrell Owens (collarbone) and S Zack Bronson (neck) are out. RB Garrison Hearst (knee), CB Ahmed Plummer (back), G Ron Stone (knee) and CB Jimmy Willams (knee) are questionable. DT Bryant Young (groin) and WR Tai Streets (quadriceps) are probable.
Little-known fact: The last time the Seahawks won 10 games, in 1986, they failed to make the playoffs.
Dallas (10-5) at New Orleans (7-8), Sunday, 10 a.m.: Go for two, Jim Haslett. Go for two. If the Cowboys are the only NFC wild card contender to lose this weekend, things will get very confusing. Fortunately for those of us who weren’t math majors, the roll-up-the-tent Saints will make this scenario a simple one. Pick: Cowboys, 20-10.
Minnesota (9-6) at Arizona (3-12), Sunday, 1:05 p.m.: Anyone who watched the Cardinals play Seattle last week has to believe that the Vikings will win handily. But Minnesota is 1-15 in its last 16 games played on grass. This one has upset written all over it, but we’re not going to bite. Pick: Vikings, 24-20.
Denver (10-5) at Green Bay (9-6), Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: The big question is whether Mike Shanahan lets any of his starters play. The Broncos’ playoff fate is already sealed, so they have nothing on the line. The Packers, however, have a lot at stake, and that’s when Brett Favre shines. Pick: Packers, 31-24.
