Sunday night, Bears at Packers. Illegal contact is called by the referee. NBC’s cameras replay the source of the action, which was a near-interception by a Green Bay cornerback.
Al Michaels asks, with a bit of indigence, “Where was the illegal contact?”
Probable John Madden (or pretty much any other “analyst,” especially one who played offense) response: “I don’t know, Al, *I* certainly don’t see any illegal contact. I can’t imagine what the officials were thinking.”
Chris Collinsworth response: “It was downfield.”
Mr. Collinsworth, seemingly alone among announcing booth denizens, knows that illegal contact is ANY contact that occurs more than 5 yards downfield before the ball is thrown, even away from the eventual focal point of the play. I appreciated how Collinsworth’s quick, concise response refocused the broadcast on the game rather than on the purported incompetence of the officials.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
A note about Troy Palamalu's hair
A note from last night's NFL opener, Titans-Steelers:
On the crazy-sick Polamalu interception, the Tennessee receiver’s leg touched Polamalu’s hair. I read a couple of years ago that the hair is considered part of the uniform for the purposes of “touching.” Therefore, Polamalu should have been ruled down after the interception, and his ~10 yard return should have been disallowed. I’m surprised Jeff Fischer didn’t challenge. I’m also surprised that the most astute commentators on television, Michaels and Collinsworth, didn’t notice.
P.S. Isn’t it great to have Collinsworth in place of Madden? I’m enjoying the announcers, which is a highly unusual state for the Nachoman.
P.P.S. I sighed to myself as I headed to bed last night, "Be prepared for the onslaught of lazy sportswriter columns decrying the NFL overtime system." Sure enough, SI.com had one at 11:39 a.m. Come on, folks, just deal with it. If you don't want to lose in overtime because the other team won the coin toss, you have two options: (1) win the dang game in regulation, or (2) make your defense and special teams stop the opponent. If you can't do either of those things, TS.
On the crazy-sick Polamalu interception, the Tennessee receiver’s leg touched Polamalu’s hair. I read a couple of years ago that the hair is considered part of the uniform for the purposes of “touching.” Therefore, Polamalu should have been ruled down after the interception, and his ~10 yard return should have been disallowed. I’m surprised Jeff Fischer didn’t challenge. I’m also surprised that the most astute commentators on television, Michaels and Collinsworth, didn’t notice.
P.S. Isn’t it great to have Collinsworth in place of Madden? I’m enjoying the announcers, which is a highly unusual state for the Nachoman.
P.P.S. I sighed to myself as I headed to bed last night, "Be prepared for the onslaught of lazy sportswriter columns decrying the NFL overtime system." Sure enough, SI.com had one at 11:39 a.m. Come on, folks, just deal with it. If you don't want to lose in overtime because the other team won the coin toss, you have two options: (1) win the dang game in regulation, or (2) make your defense and special teams stop the opponent. If you can't do either of those things, TS.
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