It's Saturday, Sept. 16 and the Oregon Ducks' fate against No. 15 Oklahoma comes down to an on-side kick. Miraculously, they recover the ball, but the play might not stand. It seems obvious on the replay that a Duck player has touched the ball before it traveled 10 yards, which is not allowed. The Pac-10 crew on the field missed the call, but the replay officials upstairs will probably correct the situation after looking at the play.
If you watched the game, you know they didn't reverse the call. Oregon was allowed to march down the field and after a second blown call by both the referees on the field and the replay officials in the booth, they beat Oklahoma on a 23-yard touchdown pass.
By Monday, those officials were all suspended one game, but that is hardly enough. I find it hard to believe that the media and college football fans were ignorant of the significance of this game. No, not just that the winner won a big game against a ranked opponent. Sure, a win for Oregon means BCS and National Championship talk, but a win for Oregon also means the possibility of two teams in the BCS and lots of money for the Pac-10.
You think the Pac-10 officials calling the game weren't aware of this? Yeah, and Barry Bonds is innocent too.
Not PTI
It's become apparent to me that Tony Kornheiser has a split personality. Kornheiser, one of the few tolerable columnists to appear on ESPN daily, shows up to the Monday Night Football set every week and somehow looks different, sounds different and suddenly knows nothing about football. After 20 minutes of listening to this guy call a football game, it begs the question, ""Is it Tuesday yet?""
The preseason is over
I think Michigan just scored again. The Badgers' defense wants a real challenge? Good luck in the Big House, Bucky.
Back to 1985?
OK, it's only been two weeks, but it is hard to say that there is a better team in the NFC than the Chicago Bears. We know about their defense, but if Rex Grossman is for real, Chicago could be breaking out their old Super Bowl Shuffle routine come January. I could see a Bears-Ravens Super Bowl. Yeah, that will be sweet 6-0 final score with the winner scoring a defensive touchdown in overtime.
Revealed Booty secrets
Southern California accused ABC's Brent Musburger of revealing too much in his broadcast of USC's win over Nebraska Sept. 16. Musburger explained how USC quarterback John David Booty signals to his receivers that he has spotted one-on-one coverage. While Booty seems to be trying his hardest to be everything that Matt Leinart was at USC, he must not be as smart if he is telling the media secret team signals. Let's just keep Booty from trying to get some booty from the girls' basketball team.
Scoreboard stops at 50
Central High School in Connecticut beat Bassick 56-0 Sept. 15 and their head coach Dave Cadelina was suspended one game under the state's new rule that you can't beat a team by more than 50 points. Sounds fair at first, but how fair is it to tell your third and fourth string players who have worked just as hard as the rest of the team that they can't play hard because they are winning by too much? Luckily The Daily Cardinal won't have to abide by this rule when they take on the Badger Herald Oct. 6.
Surprised Hoge hasn't whined about his beloved White Sox yet? Tune in to his radio show on WSUM 91.7 FM Wednesday mornings from 10-11 a.m. or The Sunday Huddle from 6-7 p.m Sundays. He can be contacted at hoge@dailycardinal.com.
