Sideline Warning

In browsing the various sports network sites for different takes on the Alabama game I noticed Fox Sports committing an egregious bastardization of mathematics, one which is a specific pet peeve of mine. Specifically? They have Alabama as being ranked #26 in the AP Top 25 poll. There is no such thing as being ranked #26 in a Top 25 poll. You are either ranked or you are not ranked. Mathematically speaking, you simply cannot draw enough information out of a top 25 poll to rank 26 spots.

For those of you who are skeptical, let me break down the math for you.

(more…)

You might, by now, have heard about the OU-Oregon game in which the Sooners were screwed on two different reviewed calls (both of which, even on review, were decided wrongly) but one of them, the most egregious, was not even reviewed properly. Here’s the setup…

Oregon scores to draw the game to within 6 points with 1:12 left in the game. They line up for the onside kick. The ball was kicked and was touched before it went 10 yards. After the play there’s a big controversy over who touched the ball first, the replay officials decide (wrongly) that it was OU, so they award the ball to Oregon.

There’s only one problem, which is demonstrated fully by this video:

Yep, that’s right… they didn’t even recover the kick but they were awarded the ball. This is the worst call in recent memory… possibly the worst call ever.

Our friendly Mississippi State bloggers are up in arms over the NCAA giving the SEC special permission to ban artificial noisemakers at football games.

From Mississippi State Sports Blogs:

This rule definitely biased and targets only one school, Mississippi State, and the tradition of fans bringing and ringing cowbells to cheer on their team. Never mind the fact that opposing fans could bring cowbells of their own, ring them, and cause the other team to receive a penalty.

I have never seen any rule so ridiculous that would allow someone off the field to cause a penalty to the players on the field. How many other conferences have received special permission to retain this rule?

I say “Bring ‘em and Ring ‘em!”

Jeremy says “I have never seen any rule so ridiculous that would allow someone off the field to cause a penalty to the players on the field.” He conspicuously ignores the penalty for which this blog is named, one which carries the same penalties as this new noisemaker penalty does. You might also consider, in basketball, a technical foul on an agitated coach.

He also talks about the fact that this is “targeting” MSU, which was also expressed by Hail Dear Ole State when Travis wrote “What I don’t get is, what’s the point? Mississippi State hasn’t had a winning season since 2000. What is the rest of league so afraid of?”

Nobody is scared of MSU. Nobody is scared of their cowbells. But think about what would happen if 90,000+ fans in Baton Rouge brought air horns or other loud noise-makers to Death Valley… and if you let MSU bring cowbells, how are you going to stop LSU fans from bringing air horns?

There’s enough disparity in home-field advantage garnered by teams like Alabama, Tennessee, and LSU by virtue of their huge stadiums… why would we want to allow them to double it just by bringing a noisemaker to the stadium?

To take it one step further… imagine if, to counter that, MSU then installed hundreds upon hundreds of 16″ speakers surrounding the grass at Scott Field and played to white noise (or, if they were feeling ornery, Slayer) when the opposing team was on offense. That wouldn’t be very fair, but that’s a potential offshoot of this “why not let us use our cowbells” whining.

As it stands MSU fans can still bring cowbells, they’re just not allowed to make significantly more noise with them than they can without them… and that seems pretty fair to me.