$#@%ing Saints... Oh well, since this contest is premised on having bigger numbers than everyone else, I can only assume that ascending into 18th place means I am on a roll.

Larry Legend is still perturbed that a bogus call on the Calvin Johnson TD catch in week 1 has kept him from being 2 for 2... grrrrr.

It's going to be another good week to keep Nicking away at the competition, I can just see it.

Is there an underdog prize in the underdog league if I go o' fer 20.

Bogus call? No. Bogus rule? Probably.

Bogus call AND bogus rule, IMO.

If refs called every play to the exact letter of the law, there would be holding called on every play, and pass interference called on every other pass play. It's asinine in the extreme for the ref to make that call on the last play of the game.

I heard a great example the other day that made a lot of sense to me... the commentator was explaining that according to a strict interpretation of the rule, every time a receiver catches a TD pass and then immediately spikes the ball, that that should also be deemed an incomplete pass... but obviously isn't.

I think that example is wrong. The rule:

"If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."

Immediately spiking the ball means that he had enough control to actually spike the ball, not that his hand was on top of the ball as it was coming down and then bounced off the ground ... though I totally understand the arguments against THAT interpretation of Johnson's catch. Problem is that to argue against that interpretation, you're arguing against the standard of review of the ref's who ran over and overturned the first call before it went to replay booth.

RE: the argument that review should be de novo - see http://www.slate.com/id/2239018/.

It's a fun read.

Second (and this should probably have been first): I'm a Bears fan. We got screwed by the rule in a 2004 game against Detroit of all teams. See http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears/09000d5d801b2e55/Lions-19-Bears-13. The score in that game ended up 19-13. The score in the recent game was 19-14. It wasn't as spectacular as Calvin Johnson's catch (he was pretty well perfectly covered) nor was it in the waning seconds, but it affected the outcome all the same. Some people believe in karma, others believe in Ditka.

I never get why "it's the end of the game" should hold any more persuasiveness in an argument, except from a fan's perspective: "let 'em play" or to otherwise get a particular result.

But yeah, I'm a Bears fan who made all his apologies for that call to my buddy who was rooting for Detroit right next to me. PLUS, you and I are competing, so there doubly won't be an apology for your loss. [/snarky emoticon]