Ball Spinning

[BlackMetalNinja]

Amongst various complaints I've seen about the refs doing their best to lend a hand to the Skins yesterday (these are all debatable of course and we have a slanted view I'd say), there is one thing that definitely stood out to me.

One of the points of emphasis this season for refs was supposed to be players spinning the ball after a play. Early in the season I saw it called a handful of times, and actually noticed a lot less people were doing it this year.

Yesterday however, it seemed like every decent play Santana Moss or Clinton Portis had they got up and spun the hell out of the ball, but it didn't get called at all.

Yes, I know I'm knitpicking, but if the league puts emphasis on a particular rule, and then the refs just throw it out the window late in the year, what's the point?

Am I the only one that noticed this or what?

[DMBcrew36]

Re: Ball Spinning

I noticed it and kept thinking, "hey isn't that supposed to be a flag?"

[DraftBoy]

Re: Ball Spinning

I didnt notice and honestly I know you said your nitpicking, but who cares? I mean we won the game, we played above expectations, and I really hate seeing fans whine about the reffing bc it never really decides a game bc there are always 50-100 other things that could of gone differently which would of changed the outcome too. Its just a copout for the most part, not saying thats what your doing BMN, just as a general principle.

[Historian]

Re: Ball Spinning

It's a small point, but it's tantamount to taunting, IMHO.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Re: Ball Spinning

I didnt notice and honestly I know you said your nitpicking, but who cares? I mean we won the game, we played above expectations, and I really hate seeing fans whine about the reffing bc it never really decides a game bc there are always 50-100 other things that could of gone differently which would of changed the outcome too. Its just a copout for the most part, not saying thats what your doing BMN, just as a general principle.

Yeah, I'm definitely not whining on this. Like I said, many are complaining about the officiating, and I can see how some would think some of the calls were crap... but it's our perogative to see it that way as Bills fans I suppose, but we won the game, it's done and over with, and it really doesn't matter.

I was just using a specific example of the ball spinning thing to address the overall problem where refs will emphasize a particular rule for a while, then all the sudden it dissapears again. There needs to be some consistancy in my book, is the point I'm trying to make.

If you say, "no more spinning the ball after the play and slowing the game down", then when players do just that, and blatantly in some instances (Portis spun it so it stood perfectly on end and it kept going for a good 3-4 seconds and the ref couldn't pick it up), something needs to be called. On that instance I just mentioned, you could see Portis go right up to the referee and apologize for spinning it when he realized it could have been called.

[Meathead]

Re: Ball Spinning

i thought it was against the rules and if it is it should have been called no question. if somebody is going to tell me the refs didnt call it due to the tragedy the redskins have endured well not calling it for that reason is actually an insult to both the skins and taylor. what are these fragile twelve year olds

the only thing i noticed which might explain it is every time the player was on the ground not standing up. i dont know if that makes a difference but its the only possible explanation i could see

[DraftBoy]

Re: Ball Spinning

Yeah, I'm definitely not whining on this. Like I said, many are complaining about the officiating, and I can see how some would think some of the calls were crap... but it's our perogative to see it that way as Bills fans I suppose, but we won the game, it's done and over with, and it really doesn't matter.

I was just using a specific example of the ball spinning thing to address the overall problem where refs will emphasize a particular rule for a while, then all the sudden it dissapears again. There needs to be some consistancy in my book, is the point I'm trying to make.

If you say, "no more spinning the ball after the play and slowing the game down", then when players do just that, and blatantly in some instances (Portis spun it so it stood perfectly on end and it kept going for a good 3-4 seconds and the ref couldn't pick it up), something needs to be called. On that instance I just mentioned, you could see Portis go right up to the referee and apologize for spinning it when he realized it could have been called.

I think the celebration rules are out of hand and if the ball spun for 3 or 4 seconds on end thats kind of impressive to me. If they want to talk about not slowing down the game then how about the ref figures out the spot of the ball when a play is challenged and overturned instead of having to go back under the tent to figure out its spot. But thats me nitpicking.

[Jeff1220]

Re: Ball Spinning

I noticed it too, and thought the same thing. The refs were being softees, knowing that the Skins were just being emotional due to the circumstances.

[G. Host]

Re: Ball Spinning

The referees were afraid that they would cry if penalized or Gibbs would claim he did not know that rule.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: Ball Spinning

They spun the ball about 20 times. It was like the refs said oh they had a guy die we are going to let them do whatever they want to.

[Coach Sal]

Re: Ball Spinning

Spinning the ball in itself is not a penalty.

The penalty occurs if the ball is spun (or flung, or spiked, or whatever) and gets "away" from the refs (and the area of the end of the play), causing them to have to retrieve it, thus delaying the game.

They have called a penalty for much less, I agree, and was pissed they didn't call it. But it basically stayed in that area and didn't roll away from the officials, which was a good "out" for not flagging anyone.

[HAMMER]

Re: Ball Spinning

I was getting pretty pissed that Moss kept doing it, I was yelling for his head.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Re: Ball Spinning

Glad to know I wasn't the only one that thought they were overboard with this.

[scott51]

Re: Ball Spinning

Ya know what, I am sick and tired of hearing people complain about celebrating in the NFL. I am not just talking about this thread, frankly, I agree if its against the rules then a flag should have been thrown. This is about the NFL requiring a flag being thrown. Okay, if the celebration delays the game then that is different but if someone spins the football after a play, I frankly don't care. When they score a touchdown, I think they should be able to do whatever they want. I would love to see a TD Celebration Competition some week between TO, CJ, & JH! Who knows maybe RM could get into it too but then again having fun is against Belicheeks rules which is why the NFL caters to him! Anyways, I digress, LET THESE GUYS HAVE FUN AND PLAY THE SPORT THEY LOVE!

[BlackMetalNinja]

Re: Ball Spinning

LET THESE GUYS HAVE FUN AND PLAY THE SPORT THEY LOVE!

I might agree... except they are paid exorbitant amounts of money to play said sports, and thus some degree of professional conduct is expected.

In general i don't care about celebrations, but when they get out of hand or cause delays in the game that already tends to be too long and drawn out, then it's a problem.