Most negotiators will tell you that when you've won a point, stop talking and quickly move onto the next one. Don't wax eloquent about why your winnning that point was necessary, don't lecture why you were right, don't thank the other side. Just shut up and move on.
And don't give the other side any ideas about changing its mind.
Sounds simple, right?
Then there are the Pittsburgh Steelers and LB Joey Porter, in particular.
In case you're one of the people who had a power failure on the East Coast or missed the games to watch either figure skating on the 42,229th replay of "The Battle of the Bulge," the referee working the Indianpolis-Pittsburgh game made a hellacious reversal of an on-field interception ruling that would essentially have iced the game for Pittsburgh with about 5 minutes to go, a 21-10 lead and the ball in Colts' territory. In something that only could be explained to theoretical physicists, he ruled that Troy Pohlamau didn't have control over the ball and therefore what all thought was an INT was actually an incomplete pass. That decision gave the Colts the ball back and, well, give Peyton Manning a second chance like that and he turned it into a touchdown and a pretty amazing two-point conversion.
21-18, Steelers, plenty of time left, and, well, you know the rest of the story.
If you stop it right there, there would be no issue. Sure, some Steelers' players would have said the referee's decision was unfortunate, but that they won the game anyway, so who cared. Clearly, had the Steelers' lost, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R, PA), one who never misses an opportunity in front of the cameras, would have launched a full, frontal Congressional assault (err, inquiry) into what happened on the play. The pundits, who were pretty tough on the refs this morning anyway, would have had a field day. Farm animals would have been subpoenaed to determine if they ever had been photographed with members of the officiating crew. H.J. Heinz & Co. would have declared an embargo on all products going into Indiana. There would have been calls for full-time officials, for a Judge Landis equivalent to rule on disputes among referees calls. Lots of funky stuff.
But the Steelers won. And Joey Porter had to say this.
Had Joey Porter not said anything, I'd submit that in the collective psyche of NFL officiating crews everywhere, the Steelers would be worthy of some break somewhere. Not, of course, that they'd ever get it, or that they should get it, but the Steelers themselves were good sports, didn't make too much a deal out of it, even where they did get shafted on a call at a key time in a crucial game and almost lost because of it. That thought would circulate in the atmosphere and, because referees are human, it might do some good for the Steelers this coming weekend.
The Steelers took it like men and didn't embarrass us. Or so the thought would be.
But because referees are human, they now have heard the roar of a tough cuss of a linebacker who basically has called out the brotherhood of officials by suggesting that they wanted Indy to win. No doubt that Commisioner Tagliabue's office will lighten Porter's wallet up a bit, but, more importantly, the officials could, event though they're not supposed to, remember that too. And my guess is, because they're human, their being called out will eclipse their memory of one of their membership's bad call. Which means that were the Steelers to need the right spot under the right circumstances with the wrong official, they might not get it.
That's not to say, of course, that any official would act other than according to the highest standards of professional conduct. But in the event that certain of them are human (the way MLB and NBA refs have proven to be), the ball, or, actually, the call, just might not go the Steelers' way.
Which means that instead of having an intangible on their side, the Steelers don't, precisely because one of their vocal leaders drew a line in the sand.
Joey Porter's right: it was a terrible call.
He didn't need to say anything more than that.
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4 comments:
I definitely agree with you. Anyone watching that replay can see that it was an interception, and knows that the subsequent call was attrocicous. The final result was not affected, but still. Porter should learn the benefits of brevity, and let the media focus on the blown call instead of his comments.
Thanks for your comments, guys.
It was an awful play, and thankfully the NFL admitted it. They do have a quality control issue with their product, but it's hard to predict how to solve it.
For Goodness' Sake, yes, a loss would have been very hard to take. I'm not sure I'd paint the significance of the game as dramatically so you do, and the good thing about humans is that they can heal from massive disappointment. It wouldn't have been fair, true, but thankfully the unfairness was in the context of a football game and not something that is a more fundamental part of your life, even if you're a Steelers' fan, which, in and of itself, is a way of life.
Would the League have issued their statement that the refs messed up had Indy won the game?? I think not.
The real issue they need to investigate was whether the fix was on. I mean, the calls were so one-sided it almost begs an extra look. We all know how much money is on the line on these NFL games. If it's happening in College sports, is it that much of a stretch to think it's happening in the Pros??
I was really hoping that The Saints made it to the Super Bowl this season, the played a hell of a season.
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