The real "offensive" part of that pass interference call

[That's Jake Vol for Life]

(I posted this on substack and was advised that it ought to go here, too. So for those who didn't see it already, here it is.)

Just wanted to point out that I am not generally a “we got robbed” kind of fan who blames the refs for EVERYTHING. In this case, considering that we didn’t lose the game, you might say we were only a little inconvenienced and no robbery occurred.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IN A COMA, I WILL REVIEW: In the Tennessee-Mississippi State football game several players were running down the field bumping into one another, one tripped over his own feet and another caught a pass. Our guy. Official hands attached to arms in striped shirts were thrown into the air. Fireworks went off, Fives were Highed, there was dancing in the end zone, and the crowd was on its feets. Could have been some alcoholic beverages involved.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

But not so fast, my friends. Instead of a TD, it turned out to be a TTD (temporary touchdown). The officials had a discussion in which they determined that what they had seen was not what had actually just been seen at all. Offensive pass interference was called.

A collective sigh was let loose. Curses were cursed. The ball had to be punted. There was no joy in Mudville. More alcoholic beverages were almost certainly involved.

The call was then further reviewed by the whole world, including TV commentators who were about as negative as they are allowed to be. The consensus was “I don’t see it” and “what were they thinking?”

What was actually offensive was the call and how it was handled. I will be the first to admit that I don’t know what pass interference is any more. However, it should be stipulated that nobody else knows what it is, either. It is in that murky area with “traveling” and “charging” in basketball and the “balk” in baseball.

Soccer probably has something like that, too, but who the hell knows what those people are up to?

Anyhow, PI as we sporty types call it, seems to always be a matter of opinion. Sometimes we agree with it, sometimes we don’t. It is IFFY by its very nature. So, why go back and change your opinion if there is no new evidence? Second guessing is a fool’s errand when you were just guessing in the first place.

Now, there is always the argument that this is just a game and that call didn’t matter because we won the game and no harm was done. That might even be what I would have said had my wife and I not visited an old friend in Knoxville a few years ago.

We are both at an age where we are confused by directions, hallways, turns, arrows and elevators. While wandering, we ran into a young man on what we hoped was the way to the parking garage and I believe our clumsiness may have even made him miss his elevator. He could not have been more courteous or friendly. Just a flat-out good kid with a good attitude who didn’t mind taking a little of his time to talk with a couple of confused old people.

It was Chris Brazzell. At that time, he was a moderately unheard-of new football player at Tennessee. We had certainly never heard of him and I might have even thoughtlessly told him so. He modestly said, “well, I hope you will be hearing about me.”

He was the guy who caught the TTD pass in question. A judgment call by someone who didn’t have any judgment took a touchdown away from a good kid. That takes it out of the realm of just being a doofis decision to making it WRONG!

It was unjust, dastardly, an abomination, an affront to the human spirit, a day that will live in infamy, and a crime against basic human dignity! It spits in the soup of fair play. Worse than stealing chickens or taking two pork chops before everybody else has had one. And furthermore, yes, I am going to say it.

WE WERE ROBBED!