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Jak pravidla zabíjejí radost z fotbalu.
V posledních kolech došlo k několika vraždám, oběťmi se stal entuziasmus tisíců fanoušků fotbalu a důvodným podezřelým jsou komplikovaná a neprůhledná pravidla fotbalu
Výbornej článek z Rochesterských novin. Pravidla nfl začínají být tak strašně složitá, komplikovaná, výkladově variabilní až nesourodá, popletená, díky dodatkům si jednotlivá pravidla vzájemně odporují, takže sledovat hru s opravdovým zájmem je dneska nemožné. Podle posledních průzkumů žádný fanoušek nezná dobře pravidla, více než polovina hráčů nezná dobře pravidla, asi čtvrtina trenérů nezná pravidla a co je nejhorší asi osmina kvalifikovaných rozhodčí nezná dobře pravidla fotbalu. To je doloženo.
Můj osobní komentář: Pravidla jsou pravidla a musí se dodržovat. Já sám se o to také snažím. Ale zároveň si občas říkám - co je moc to je moc.
Já se už vůbec neraduju v okamžiku, kdy Bills zaznamenají na hřišti jakýkoliv úspěch, protože trpělivě čekám, až bude ze všech stran potvrzen. Mezitím si zajdu na záchod, namažu si chleba, otevřu v klidu konzervu, přečtu si něco zajímavýho v novinách, zkontroluju barák a teprve když se vrátím je čas, abych se mohl radovat. Opravdu paráda.
Had Buffalo found a way to lose Sunday's game to Baltimore — and there were moments when it sure seemed like it would — Bills fans would have spent a good part of their Monday morning quarterbacking on the insidiousness of instant replay.
Because the Bills held on for a 23-20 victory, their misfortune with the replay judge was glossed over, but it should not be ignored that the NFL has a serious problem, and it needs to be rectified: The rulebook is too big, and too many rules need to be either changed or eliminated.
"I'm all about streamlining things," Bills safety Jim Leonhard said when asked his opinion about the gargantuan NFL rulebook, and whether it needs to be cut in half.
Mike Pereira, the former NFL czar in charge of rules enforcement, agrees, and he made his position official last week during an appearance on FOX Sports 1.
Reacting to three incidents in the first three weeks of the season where game officials failed to properly enforce rules, Pereira said it has become "a very big deal" that even the highly trained NFL officials can't keep all these rules straight.
"The question has to become, has this manifesto become a little bit too big and too confusing?" Pereira said as he held up the rulebook for all to see. "For the third time now in three weeks, we have the officials mis-enforcing a penalty."
What is most frustrating for fans is that no one really knows what's a legal hit, or a legal catch, or a legal block, or a legal touchdown anymore, so blurred have the lines become.
It seems like every time a big play is made, fans have to mute their excitement until it is confirmed by replay that a big play is actually a big play.
This happened three times in Sunday's game; the Bills had three positive results that were turned into negative ones by questionable reversals as loud boos rained down on the field.
Scott Chandler's fantastic sideline catch was originally ruled good on the field, then overturned by replay because it was determined that he didn't get his second foot in bounds. Unless I'm blind, replay showed one foot in, and the other foot landed on the first foot, in bounds, not out of bounds. So why wasn't that a catch?
The Robert Woods non-touchdown was deemed a score before replay revealed that he was bobbling the ball ever-so-slightly as he went out of bounds. Here's my contention with that: Yes, he bobbled it slightly, but his feet were in, and he never lost possession of the ball despite the bobble.
If it's OK for a player to run toward the pylon and touch it with the ball and have it ruled a touchdown even though he loses control once the pylon was touched, then it should be OK for a receiver to bobble a ball in the end zone, providing his feet are in bounds. After all, he had it for a brief second in the end zone, thus breaking the plane of the goal line, just like the player trying to hit the pylon. What's the difference here? Detroit's Calvin Johnson is still trying to figure this one out three years after one of the most egregious overturned touchdowns in NFL history.
The Bills also lost an apparent forced turnover when the replay booth determined that Ravens receiver Tandon Doss didn't have possession before he fumbled and Leonhard recovered. Sorry, but in any other level of football, that looked like a sure-fire fumble. Seriously, does anyone truly know what a fumble is anymore?
At least replay upheld Kiko Alonso's game-saving interception, but there was even some doubt about that call.
"There's a lot of subjectivity, but as long as the refs themselves are consistent, calling it both ways, that's fine," said center Eric Wood, being as diplomatic as he could be.
Leonhard was a little more direct in his opinion. "I think it is pretty thick, there's a lot of rules and a lot of little things that players and coaches probably don't even know because they never come up," he said.
Penalties are at an all-time high in terms of inconsistency. Are there any two officiating crews who call holding, or pass interference, or personal fouls the same way? The answer is no, and the lack of uniformity is a big problem.
"You have to get a feel for the game," said Wood. "The first drive they got an illegal hands to the face, so we said to ourselves, 'This is what they're going to call.' We got popped for some holdings, Cordy (Glenn) got an unnecessary roughness, so you have to pay attention to how the game is going to be called."
Leonhard and his fellow DBs have it the worst because of the new emphasis on player safety. It's bad enough they can't breathe on receivers in coverage, now they can't tackle them, either.
"There's certain hits that are impossible," he said. "Either you let the guy catch the ball, or you hit whatever's there. The problem is, safety for a receiver is the ground, so they tell you to lower your aiming point. But he's trying to get to the ground as fast as possible because he knows he's vulnerable, so it's a natural reaction and some things are completely unavoidable. Some of them are obvious, they're blatant and they should be fined, but some of them are bang-bang plays and there's nothing you can do."
As for the delays the replays create, the players don't seem to be as irritated about that as the fans who have to sit and wait for the outcome. "At times it's frustrating, but it's more frustrating after the game when you find out they blew a call," said Leonhard. "With all the TV timeouts we're used to all the stopping, but sometimes it gets a little ridiculous with how long it takes. It's part of the deal, you can't let it bother you too much."
But it is bothersome, especially when NFL games are now taking three and a half hours to complete, such as the Bills-Ravens game. There's enough down time in every game, we don't need any more.
"As long as they're sure they're getting it right, that's the name of the game," said Wood. "You always want a fair game, and that's what they have to do, then we're in favor of it."
It would have been interesting to hear Wood's opinion had the lost points on the Woods non-touchdown cost the Bills the game.
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Go!Go!Buffalo!
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