The year of the Blown call

Once again the attention of the sports world has been drawn to the officiating of the games as opposed to the games themselves. The games of week 1 of the NFL season thrilled many fans, but the officiating and a seemingly faulty rule overshadowed the excellent contests on the gridiron. Pittsburgh and Atlanta were locked in a defensive struggle until Rashard Mendenhall scampered for a game winning touchdown. 10 of the 16 games this past weekend were decided by a touchdown or less, but one of these games took attention away from all the others.

I'm talking of course about the controversial decision that decided the Lions, Bears game when Calvin Johnson seemingly caught a touchdown, but it was ruled incomplete because Johnson did not finish the catch. The problem is that Johnson landed and had complete control of the ball when he hit the ground. While it appears to be the right call according to the rules, it proves that the rules need to change because the call decided the game and now hurts the Lions chances of having a good season.

This is far from the first overwhelming botch by an official this year in sports. everybody remembers the failed call that robbed the Tigers Armando Galarraga of a perfect game on a play where the runner was clearly out by a full step.The worst part of this is that bud Selig refused to overturn the call days later. (My complaints about Bud Selig will have to be saved for another blog because they are too numerous to fit in this one.)

These two major botches raise the question of how the leagues need to alter rules and institute instant replay. I Believe the NFL needs to alter the rules to ensure that catches like the one Calvin Johnson made Sunday are ruled catches. However, instant replay in baseball is something that cannot happen for the sake of the game.If instant replay is introduced on calling outs, then it will only be a matter of time before we use it on balls and strikes. This would drag out the game and make every decision under scrutiny. The game of baseball needs the human element of the umpire. However, when an umpire clearly makes the wrong decision it, the league needs to overturn it especially when giving Galarraga a perfect game would not have altered the outcome of the game. the Tigers would have still shut out the White Sox. It does not matter to the White Sox if their hit total was one or zero.

NFL rules commission change that rule. Major League Baseball needs to keep the human element but get rid of its commissioner in the worst way.