SIAP - Video - 3yr old girl on the 1st down measurement
If you havent seen this, it's worth the 60 seconds it takes to watch the video. Someone recorded his 3 yr old daughter analyzing the measurement that the refs made in the bowl game. The girl basically agrees with Spurrier, although, she's a lot more cute about it.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c4#/video/us/2013/01/03/3-year-old-gamecock-fan.cnn
January 4th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^
Hire her now. Can't be any worse than what we got.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^
In South Bend. She'll need other desk tools like a ruler and 3x5 card to make her transition complete.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
Years from now, that girl will never forgive her father for sharing the family home video with CNN.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
The one thing I must say (even though I would badly have wanted M to pull it out), is that at least with SCarolina winning the game that boneheaded call was made moot.
(Yes them winning and Clowney sending Smith's helmet back to the endzone)
January 4th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
It was moot as soon as they got the ball on the next play. It wouldn't have mattered if they'd won or not.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
I don't think making a good play against your opponent really nullifies an unfair call from a neutral referee. Who knows what would have happened? Maybe SC would have gotten the ball and scored, kicked off to Michigan, and then forced the turnover.
It was a bad call, and of course a bad call affects the game, but I don't think we can't really know the extent of that effect (or call it moot).
January 4th, 2013 at 1:47 PM ^
All in all, it negated one whole play. In fact, the sequence was to their advantage. If we just turn it over it's actually deeper than where they recovered it after the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. So they were closer to scoring than if we had just turned it over. Not to mention all the momentum and excitement from not only being "jobbed", but the massive play after.
I'm not sure how you can say after a whole drive that the situation would be the same (us trailing vs. leading with a 1st down) that everything would happen the same. That's just creating an entirely new storyline, not altering just one play. I could say if the refs marked the ball "correctly" and had the ball an inch more forward then there's no controversy, SC doesn't get fired up, we don't turn it over, drive down and score and win the game easily. But that's creating my own "what if" storyline. It has nothing to do with the actual outcome.
How many bad calls do you really still think about in games you won? And due to the sequence of events this may have been the most inconsequential bad call I've ever seen.
January 4th, 2013 at 3:40 PM ^
How many bad calls do you really still think about in games you won?
If you are the average fan, you rarely remember such a play. If it's brought up, you might even crack a smile about it.
If you are a State fan, you carry on about it excessively.
Exhibit A..... The Pylon TD. If you didn't know better, you might think that MSU lost that game by the way they carry on over that one play. Is there another fan base that constantly complains that they didn't win by as much as they should have?
January 4th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
I don't see the point of all your hypotheticals. It was a bad call, yes, and denied SCar the ball. But they got it (in slightly better field position, no less) on the very next play. From that point onward, that call had no effect on the game. They did not need to go on to win the game for it to become moot; it already was.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
I would hazard a guess that when they got jobbed on the 4th down, S. Carolina amped it up a little bit. The ensuing hit and fumble only heightened the madness. They then used that momentum to drive a stake through your heart.
January 4th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
.....made our defenders not secure tackles twice on that final drive that likely would have forced a field goal try.
As least Phork embraces the fact that he's an ignorant troll.........
January 4th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
For some reason I can picture Bill Snyder making the same exact argument, in the same exact way, if that would have happened to K-State
January 4th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
I wish they would have got the call right. That way Vincent Smith would still have his head attached, the momentum shift would not have been as drastic (although stopping a fake punt would have been big for SC), and hopefully we could have won the game and the legitimate gripes would not have been so obvious.
January 4th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
How big a deal we make, and how much hinges on, the ref just basically taking a "guess" on where the ball ended up, picking it up, moving it to where he thought it was, and sometimes even moving it to another line on the field to mark it? Games, careers, millions of dollars, and outrage and controversy are all based on a guy making a split second estimation sometimes yards and yards away.
Yet we all care about where he finally put it and how it measures, rather than caring a lick about how it got put there in the first place.
January 4th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
You are so correct. I worked on a chain gang for a short time and it is an inexact science. I don't think the average football fan knows just how much estimation is used in the process...just where the ball got to...lining up the chain on a 1st down with a ball in the middle of the field....and the yardline clip that you attach to the chain - for lining up on the field for measurements - which never is in "perfect" placement if it comes down to an inch or less. Throughout every game I would notice a few inches lost or gained here or there based on my view on the sidelines and where the marker was attached to the chain.
In the ref's defense the camera wasn't dead on perpendicular either and all the ball has to do is be flush with the front of the pole...not saying the ref got it right...but I doubt he was out to get SC and he had the best view.
January 4th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
The lesson is, when you're in a 3rd or 4th down situation and you're trying to move the chains, play as if the first down marker is at least a yard further away than it actually is.
January 4th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
Now I think that the official making the call did not agree with the spot, and had already made up his mind about the first down. If I recall, I think he started to make the 1st down motion once or twice earlier, before the chain was stretched. Also, the guy holding the pole seemed to lean it back over the ball to make it look better. There were a few times this bowl season where I noticed officials on each end of plays spotting the balls in different locations. Maybe the guy who placed the ball saw it short, while the guy making the call had already decided first down and did not even want the measurement. Captain Obvious, I suppose.
January 4th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
Yeah it was a bad call, but we've been hosed before on things like that. The Index Card in South Bend comes to mind
January 4th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
even if you're cute, that accent still makes you sound stupid...Glad I'm not from the south.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^
just gave Northerners a bad name by acting like an asshole about an accent. It'd be one thing if it was a 30 year old not using proper language and grammar. It's an accent. You must have a ton of friends.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^
Northerners don't have accents. It's everybody else that talks funny.
Am I right, you guys? I mean, alls I'm saying is that we sound better than everyone else.
Who wants a pop? I'm buying.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:59 PM ^
You betcha, budday.
January 4th, 2013 at 5:11 PM ^
sorry I forgot Mgoblog wasnt the place for jokes in poor taste thats just the rest of the internet.
January 4th, 2013 at 5:05 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 7:02 PM ^
Whaaat? The accent made it, it was adorable. I loved her obsession with the ref's shoes and socks, i'm not sure why she thought those were relevant. As for accents, if you live in the midwest, you have an accent that makes you sound funny too, except its not cute on babies and cute girls like a southern one is. FYI, I'm from california so I don't have an accent and I know its true because I sound like the people on TV, so there.
January 4th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
That was a waste of time. Wasn't funny, wasn't particularly cute, and clearly didn't provide any hidden insight. I get why CNN would waste space with this unnecessary video, but I'd expect better here.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^
I don't think kids are cute. But that was cute.
"Hey Mr. Pole, the football's not TOUCHING you!"
January 4th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 5:17 PM ^
Whoa, she sounds smarter than anyone on BTN.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^
January 4th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
Outback Bowl referee Jeff Maconaghy impressed me with his mad meters-to-yards mental-conversion skillz.
January 4th, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^