Bad sports, good sports: Officials hand Syracuse a win in the Pinstripe Bowl

Posted on January 3rd, 2011 by Alan Spoll

It is very easy to complain about officiating. I have done so in this column several times. As a fan, it is much easier to blame a loss on a bad call than it is to accept that your team may just not be good enough. Occasionally, a call is so egregiously bad, though, that you can’t help but yell and scream and know your complaining is justified. One of these instances occurred in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Considering the supposed offense, the point in the game at which it occurred, and the enormous significance to the game situation at the time, this was one of the worst calls I have ever seen.

With just over a minute remaining in the game, Kansas State had just scored a touchdown to close the gap to 36-34. The touchdown was accomplished on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Carson Coffman to receiver Adrian Hilburn. After catching the ball, Hilburn continued running through the end zone, tossed the ball aside and saluted the fans sitting in the nearby seats. Immediately, two flags were thrown. The penalty was for excessive celebration. The touchdown counted, of course, but the ball would be put on the 17-yard line for the point after, rather than the 2-yard line. If Kansas State had been behind by one point, this would not have been that big a deal, as a kick from the 17 is still a very high percentage play. The Syracuse lead was two, though, so the Wildcats had no choice but to attempt a two-point conversion. I don’t know if there are statistics on this, but I am certain that the odds of being successful on a play like this from the 17 are far lower than those from the 2. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Syracuse won the game.

Check out this video of the play. Does this look like excessive celebration to you? Things like this occur in virtually every game, college and pro, and no penalty is called. In fact, I was watching the Tennessee-North Carolina game shortly after the Pinstripe Bowl ended, and I saw several players salute in a very similar manner and there were no flags. The inconsistency is the thing that bothers me the most. I understand the difficulty in determining what exactly is excessive and what is acceptable, and I don’t think I would like it if players were allowed to do just anything they wanted. Terrell Owens’ Sharpie and Joe Horn’s cell phone from a few years back showed what would happen if there were no celebration rules. That said, in a game situation like this one, how does an official (or two officials, in this case, which is even more astonishing) throw that flag after that salute? It would never have occurred to me to see that as excessive in any way. Honestly, even if Hilburn had done something that I thought was a bit over the line, I don’t agree with throwing the flag in that spot. The refs should never be the focus of the game. If the offense were something like holding, then the call needs to be made. For something like this, that is entirely subjective, there is no way you make that call. Although the Wildcats still got a chance to tie the game, the 15-yard penalty was too much to overcome, and the 2-point conversion attempt failed. The whims of this referee crew caused Kansas State to lose, simple as that. That’s really a shame.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Alfredo Simon, a relief pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, allegedly shot and killed a man in the Dominican Republic on Friday night during a New Year’s Eve celebration. Dominican police are still searching for Simon.

3) A mere two weeks after being hired as the new head football coach for the University of Pittsburgh, Mike Haywood was arrested for domestic violence against the mother of his child. Pitt subsequently fired Haywood.

4) Garrett Wittels, a star college baseball player from Florida International who has an active 56-game hitting streak, was arrested this week, along with four of his friends, and charged with the rape of two teenage girls in the Bahamas before Christmas. His ability to break Robin Ventura’s record of 58 games is certainly in question.

5) The Seattle Seahawks won their division and are going to the playoffs despite a 7-9 record. That is the first time a team with a losing record has ever made the NFL playoffs. Bleah.

Good sports:

1) Tyreke Evans, a guard for the Sacramento Kings, hit a spectacular 50-foot game-winning shot to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. There’s something you don’t see every day.

2) I think, and let me stress that this is far from certain, that Brett Favre really is done this time. If he had retired even a year ago, his legacy would have been that of an incredibly accomplished quarterback who did things no one had ever done. Now, our last images of him are as an old, washed-up quarterback on a losing team who sullied his name with a sex scandal. I am glad to see him go.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02