Bmwolf21 Posted March 29, 2008 Report Posted March 29, 2008 Although I was pretty superstitious when I played high school and college sports, I don't believe much in curses. That said, I wanted to clarify and debate a couple points from the last post. Wide Right was 47 yards, not 48. The Home Run Throwup - like Labatt mentioned, was close enough to call either way live, but not enough visual evidence on replay to overturn. I agree that Flutie got the shaft when RJ was named starter, but I refuse to speculate as to whether the mighty midget would have played better, worse or the same. Fact is when it happened Rob Johnson (for as badly as he played for much of the game) did enough to give the team a lead with :16 to go. Maybe a squib kick would have been a better call instead of pooching it. Phantom Goal - what happened afterward is irrelevant, IMO. Playoff games are hard enough to win without handicapping one team and giving an advantage to the other. We've complained before that tying the league's replay capabilities to the individual arena and the number of cameras and angles offered by the networks is bush league, but it's something the NHL continues to do. Some games have cameras in the nets, some don't. Some arenas have an overhead view of the nets, some don't. Even in 2000 there is no way that a playoff game should be decided on a goal that doesn't go in the net, but the league can't review it because they didn't have access to the best replay angles. No Goal - it's the change in standard that pisses most fans off. Really, did Hull's skate being in the crease impact Dom's ability to stop the rebound? No. The rule, as per NHL standard, was piss-poor to begin with, was overly broad and encompassed situations that were irrelevant to the act of scoring a goal. But to drop the ball in the biggest game of the year and then BS the world about a memo that supposedly went out before the playoffs? Complete and utter BS. Could the Sabres have impacted the outcome by playing a little better earlier? Sure. But don't steal a game away from a team on a completely blown call. These weren't judgment calls - safe/out, ball/strike, onside/offside, hi-stick/below the bar - these were scoring plays that were either clear violations of league rules or goals allowed/awarded based on incompetency.
Mike Oxhurtz Posted March 29, 2008 Author Report Posted March 29, 2008 My alltime favorite..The New England fiasco..I turned my hatred from the Dolphins to the Pats in this sequence..Wr catches the ball out of bounds..The sideline judge is asked if his feet were in and on camera is heard just give it to them..Then the pass interference :angry: on the hail mary..Never before called and never since.. I remember that, it was bullsh*t!!!!!
Mike Oxhurtz Posted March 29, 2008 Author Report Posted March 29, 2008 I have to admit, I've never been a fan of blaming either luck of the refs for the outcome of a game. Wide right - that one is one that really bugs me. It's not bad luck - it was a 48 yard FG! Seriously, the best offense in the history of the world can't get it past the 31? And really, the great Buffalo defense with Smith, Talley, Bennett, etc. couldn't get any stops to keep the Giants from having the ball for more than 40 minutes??? Forward Lateral - This one ties to Johnson as QB. Why wasn't Flutie in the game? If Flutie's in the game, Wycheck's great play makes it a 37-20 Tennessee loss. They get bombed if Flutie is in there. No Goal - The game went to 14 minutes into 3 overtimes, the Sabres had 54 shots on goal against a good defense and against a goalie that hadn't been a big game performer and proven that until just 10 days earlier when he outdueled Roy (quick aside, what a classy guy that guy is!!!). I understand that the Sabres weren't the greatest offensive juggernaut ever but to only score 1 goal in 117 minutes is bad. If the Stars had lost, they would have been just as embarrassed to have only scored 1 goal in that much time. Phantom Goal - this goal happened with 5 minutes left in the 2nd period. And it tied the game at 1-1. Clearly, the last two pissed me off, but if the Sabres can't score a single goal the remainder of the game against Brian Boucher, then they didn't deserve to win. In the football examples, I understand the bad luck, but I have NO feelings of curses - PLAY BETTER and YOU WIN! In the hockey examples, clearly, the Sabres had to overcome things that were beyond their control. But to put things in a place beyond your control is why I'm usually against blaming the refs, curses, etc. The Cubs haven't sucked for 100 years because of some billy goat. They have sucked for 100 years because they have had garbage players. The Red Sox weren't horrible for 80 years because of Babe Ruth - it makes a great story but it's because they were not as willing to put the emphasis on winning that their division rival the Yankees were. And for many years, only one team in the division made the playoffs. The Cardinals aren't cursed by the fact that they stole the 1929 (I think?) football championship from Pottsville. They suck because of Bill Bidwell and his horrendous management skills. I guess I'm just not into curses. You could potentially talk me into thinking about it from a hockey standpoint but to put the football examples in there just makes me mad because the Bills were the better team on both days and either didn't execute or made dumb decisions and at the end of the day got exactly what they deserved - and that hurts to say... Flutie got screwed big time. Flutie brought us to a 10-5 record, and was told he was being rested for the playoffs. Rob "I fallen and can't get up" Johnson scores 31 points in a meaningless 16th game against the Colts, and is all of a sudden the starter for the playoffs. The 1st half of the wild card against the Titans, there were a ton of false start penalties against us, due to the line being used to Flutie, and it cost us a safety. Everyone knocked Flutie because of his height, and his QB rating, but he was 21-9 as a starter for the Bills. I'll take a better win percentage anyday than height & a good QB rating. If Flutie would have played, and if we had to kick a FG to go ahead in the game, Flutie would have took the game clock down to 4 or 5 seconds, that way once we kicked the FG the game would have been over. That's the difference between a veteran and a inexperienced QB. Phillips & Butler should have been fired right after that game. I think Marv Levy should have had the team better prepared to play the Giants. I don't blame Norwood for the loss, I blame the whole team including the coach.
Sweet Baboo Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Flutie got screwed big time. Flutie brought us to a 10-5 record, and was told he was being rested for the playoffs. Rob "I fallen and can't get up" Johnson scores 31 points in a meaningless 16th game against the Colts, and is all of a sudden the starter for the playoffs. The 1st half of the wild card against the Titans, there were a ton of false start penalties against us, due to the line being used to Flutie, and it cost us a safety. Everyone knocked Flutie because of his height, and his QB rating, but he was 21-9 as a starter for the Bills. I'll take a better win percentage anyday than height & a good QB rating. If Flutie would have played, and if we had to kick a FG to go ahead in the game, Flutie would have took the game clock down to 4 or 5 seconds, that way once we kicked the FG the game would have been over. That's the difference between a veteran and a inexperienced QB. Phillips & Butler should have been fired right after that game. did you watch any of the games that season? holy crap it was painful...granted it wasn't as painful as the bills offenses now, but the offense sucked! If it wasn't for the #1 defense in the league, we wouldn't have even qualified for a wild card spot. All I remember from that year was 3 and outs and alot of footballs thrown into the back of Ruben Brown's helmet. Flutie was good for 1 or 2 seasons in Buffalo. After that, his tricks wore off and defenses figured out how to defend him. He was basically a slower Michael Vick and they learned to deal with him. He did get hosed though...after starting an entire season, it's pretty crappy to get pulled before the playoffs...but that's how bad he was. Tennessee probably would've wrecked Buffalo even worse if he had started. Fans just look at the record and assume that he deserved to start. The team won despite him that year, unlike the previous 2 years.
Mike Oxhurtz Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Posted March 31, 2008 did you watch any of the games that season? holy crap it was painful...granted it wasn't as painful as the bills offenses now, but the offense sucked! If it wasn't for the #1 defense in the league, we wouldn't have even qualified for a wild card spot. All I remember from that year was 3 and outs and alot of footballs thrown into the back of Ruben Brown's helmet. Flutie was good for 1 or 2 seasons in Buffalo. After that, his tricks wore off and defenses figured out how to defend him. He was basically a slower Michael Vick and they learned to deal with him. He did get hosed though...after starting an entire season, it's pretty crappy to get pulled before the playoffs...but that's how bad he was. Tennessee probably would've wrecked Buffalo even worse if he had started. Fans just look at the record and assume that he deserved to start. The team won despite him that year, unlike the previous 2 years. If we had a better QB than Rob "I fallen and can't get up" Johnson, then I could see your point. We didn't have a great offense that year either, so Flutie did enough to win the games, just like Trent Dilfer did in Baltimore when he won the SuperBowl.
Guest Sloth Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 4.Too close to call. The refs could have called it either way on the field and the team on the short end of the stick would not have been happy. There was not enough there to overturn the call with replay. A math professor at Rochester proved it was a forward pass.
Bmwolf21 Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 4.Too close to call. The refs could have called it either way on the field and the team on the short end of the stick would not have been happy. There was not enough there to overturn the call with replay. A math professor at Rochester proved it was a forward pass. Good thing the NFL employs quantitative scientific analysis in addition to video instant replay. Buffalo bias aside, I agree that it was too close to call from either looking at the tape or watching it live. It's no wonder it wasn't reversed.
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 Good thing the NFL employs quantitative scientific analysis in addition to video instant replay. Buffalo bias aside, I agree that it was too close to call from either looking at the tape or watching it live. It's no wonder it wasn't reversed. What about the block in the back on the return?... Look at it again... Gets lost in the controversy... Well, that is what I see! ;) ;)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.