Refs missed the call on ‘dribbled’ kick
If a referee blows a call and no one – not coaches or TV analysts or fans of either team playing or bloggers for that matter – notices until hours after the fact… Is it still a blown call??
Well, actually it is.
In the 2009 CFL rule book, under kicking article five the rules are clearly stated for a “dribbled” ball like what happened near the end of the first half in the Roughriders / Lions game:
A dribbled ball occurs when the ball is kicked while not in possession or control of a player, i.e. a loose ball following a fumble, a blocked kick, a kickoff or a kick from
scrimmage. Such a dribbled ball may be touched by the kicker or an onside player without penalty.
If touched by an offside player: PENALTY: Ball awarded to opponent at point ball touched, or option.
Replays it clearly showed Lions Safety Jason Arakgi was on the Saskatchewan 51 yard line the moment linebacker James Yurichuk kicked the ball forward at the 49 yard line. Arakgi then sprinted forward and was the first person to touch the ball at the Saskatchewan 31 yard line. By rule the ball should have been blown dead because Arakgi was 2 yards offside and it should have been Riders ball 1st and 10. Instead the call was missed – and maybe even more importantly it was not challenged by Riders coach Ken Miller – and the play stood as it was, a touchdown for the Lions.
The CFL had reportedly called both teams Saturday afternoon to acknowledge that the correct call was missed and it was discussed at length on TSN’s broadcast at halftime of the Bombers/Stampeders game, but the CFL has yet to release an official statement – maybe in hopes that if they don’t bring much attention to it, it’ll blow over. Although truth be told the CFL and the officials should get a pass for missing that call simply based on the fact it was a very chaotic play and no one that night seemed to catch the small detail of an offside player.
While the Riders and their fans won’t come out and say that it was that blown call that led to their loss, it sure would have changed the complection of the game had it been called correctly. And much like the horse collar tackle on the Staps Ken-Yon Rambo wasn’t called by officials when it happened, you can be sure the CFL will be paying much closer attention to detail if this kind of situation happens again.
Week #6 picks
(I’m gonna continue the weekly CFL picks that I started on my other blog starsscene.com. To recap my picks from last week, click here.)
Am I not supposed to be getting better at these picks instead of worse? After a few weeks of 2 and 2 efforts, I spent last week going 1 and 3! I’m now exactly .500 on the season at 10 right and 10 wrong.
Ouch.
Just a reminder, I’m just picking straight up winners and losers here… Now that I’ve reminded myself of who I am supposed to pick, lets get to it:
Friday August 7th
Toronto @ Montreal (Montreal -14)
My pick: Montreal – I have a hard time believing that Calgary (as you’ll see in a moment) has a slightly bigger spread against a more difficult opponent than the Als do against Toronto. Montreal is at home (only unbeaten team at home by the way) and should be focused and ready to amke amends for last weeks loss on the road. The last time the Als were dialed and and wanting to get a bit of revenge was back in week one where they stomped out the Stamps on their own turf. I can’t see the Argos having a chance at all in this one.
Saskatchewan @ BC (BC -1 1/2)
My pick: BC - I refuse to believe that the Lions are as bad as their 1 and 4 record indicates. Honestly I see a lot of good for the Lions and the additions they’ve made this week make them that much better. Meanwhile the Riders have been consistently inconsistent. Will coach Ken Miller keep running the QB rotation that seemed to work decently enough against Calgary? Andy Fantuz should be back for this game for the Riders (UPDATE 3:05 pm MST: Or maybe not… Chris Getzlaf will be starting in his place again on Friday), but still I just can’t see the Lions falling to 1 and 5 with a loss at home.
Saturday August 8th
Edmonton @ Hamilton (Hamilton -1)
My pick: Edmonton - I’ve done pretty well picking Hamilton most of the time this season and I truly do believe they are for real, but I also think the Eskimos have gotten it back together somewhat as well and I think they’ll go into Hamilton very focused and prepared. Of the four games this week, this is the one where I could flip a coin to figure out who I’d pick and either way I’d be ok with it. I like that the Esks offense is starting to click again, I like that they are using RB Calvin McCarty more and there defense looked very good keeping Montreal unbalanced last week..
Winnipeg @ Calgary (Calgary -14 1/2)
My pick: Calgary - I can’t believe the Stamps are this heavily favored against the Bombers who granted didn’t have the greatest of games in Toronto, but at least still won and showed some promise with Mike Bishop at QB. The Bombers O-Line has been pretty good as well this season only allowing 9 sacks in the first 5 games (Only Montreal has fewer sacks allowed with 3) so it can’t be the fact that Calgary’s defensive line may run roughshod over them. I still think the Stamps will win this game, but it won’t be by anything more than a seven point margin at best.
Riders strike late and hang on for last minute win
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The turning point: The Stampeders had a six point lead and the ball at about midfield with a little over two minutes to go and could have easily locked up the game with a first down to either kill more time or get kicker Sandro DeAngelis closer for a field goal that would have given the Stamps a nine point lead. Coach John Hufnagel though called two very conservative running plays that gained all of four yards. Sandro – who was a perfect nine for nine on the season in FG attempts up to that point – then lined up on the right hash mark for a 49 yard field goal attempt that was somewhat wind aided, but pushed it wide left. The Riders Weston Dressler ran it out of the endzone and to the Stamps 45 yard line giving them excellent field position. Two plays later Sask QB Darrian Durant hit Chris Getzlaf with a 65 yard TD pass and run to put the Riders up by one with a little over a minute left in the game. Calgary couldn’t muster a first down in the next two drives they were given and it was game over.
The game ball goes to: Before the game Roughriders coach Ken Miller said that unless it was obvious that QB Durant had a hot hand, he was going to put in backup QB Steven Jyles in after four or five series and despite an early TD pass from Durant he did just that, but Jyles was mostly ineffective in the second quarter and Durant was put back in at the start of the second half. Good call by Miller as Durant went 17 of 28 passing for three touchdowns and one INT.
Random game thoughts: Stamps linebacker Odell Willis picked up another sack for his league leading 7th of the season. Amazing when you consider he wasn’t even in the lineup for week one … Riders WR Andy Fantuz was a late scratch forcing Chris Getzlaf into the starting lineup, obviously Chris stepped up big time with five catches for a total of 101 yards and 2 TDs … Joffrey Reynolds ran for 112 yards off of 14 rushing attempts.
Final grades
Riders Offense: B-
Riders Defense: B
Riders Special Teams: C
Stamps Offense: B-
Stamps Defense: B-
Stamps Special Teams: C+
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