@Fro: Geiles Play, aber...
Before Sunday, the longest play in NFL history -- a 107-yard return of a missed field goal by Ravens corner Chris McAlister -- was sprung by a devastating block by Ray Lewis.
The record-breaker from Sunday's Bears-49ers game, which extended the mark by one yard, also was aided by a key block.
An illegal block.
At least three of them.
That's right, three. The replays of the return show three occasions during which a 49ers player gets hit in the back by a Bear, all in the final few seconds of the run.
Of course, none of the national sock puppets have bothered to point this out, since recognizing flagrant violations of the rules takes away from their ability to pant breathlessly about the greatest . . . play . . . ever.
Part of the problem was that, on field goal attempts, two of the seven zebras (the field judge and back judge) are parked under the goal posts in order to assess whether the try is good. That leaves five officials to cover the rest of the field, with none of them loitering on the other side of the 50 in the event that the play ends up going the other way.
In this case, replays show one of the officials (the head linesman or the line judge) running down the sideline. But let's face it -- these guys are typically, well, old and (with the exception of Ed Hercules) in less-than-NFL-player game shape. The guy who ended up lagging behind this specific play most likely wasn't able to discern the details of the series of efforts to tackle Nathan Vasher -- or the various efforts to thwart the same. Instead, our guess is that the dude was primarily thinking, "Oh sh-t, oh sh-t, oh sh-t, oh sh-t!" as he tried desperately to get in position to determine whether Vasher might step out of bounds.
Here's our suggestion. On field goal attempts, the side judge acts as a second umpire. Why not park him instead, say, 40 yards from the spot of the kick and give him the specific duties of watching for any improprieties if/when the action comes his way? Based on the failure of the Men in Black and White to spot multiple illegal blocks on Sunday, a change of some sort clearly is needed.
Before Sunday, the longest play in NFL history -- a 107-yard return of a missed field goal by Ravens corner Chris McAlister -- was sprung by a devastating block by Ray Lewis.
The record-breaker from Sunday's Bears-49ers game, which extended the mark by one yard, also was aided by a key block.
An illegal block.
At least three of them.
That's right, three. The replays of the return show three occasions during which a 49ers player gets hit in the back by a Bear, all in the final few seconds of the run.
Of course, none of the national sock puppets have bothered to point this out, since recognizing flagrant violations of the rules takes away from their ability to pant breathlessly about the greatest . . . play . . . ever.
Part of the problem was that, on field goal attempts, two of the seven zebras (the field judge and back judge) are parked under the goal posts in order to assess whether the try is good. That leaves five officials to cover the rest of the field, with none of them loitering on the other side of the 50 in the event that the play ends up going the other way.
In this case, replays show one of the officials (the head linesman or the line judge) running down the sideline. But let's face it -- these guys are typically, well, old and (with the exception of Ed Hercules) in less-than-NFL-player game shape. The guy who ended up lagging behind this specific play most likely wasn't able to discern the details of the series of efforts to tackle Nathan Vasher -- or the various efforts to thwart the same. Instead, our guess is that the dude was primarily thinking, "Oh sh-t, oh sh-t, oh sh-t, oh sh-t!" as he tried desperately to get in position to determine whether Vasher might step out of bounds.
Here's our suggestion. On field goal attempts, the side judge acts as a second umpire. Why not park him instead, say, 40 yards from the spot of the kick and give him the specific duties of watching for any improprieties if/when the action comes his way? Based on the failure of the Men in Black and White to spot multiple illegal blocks on Sunday, a change of some sort clearly is needed.
