The PAC-10 and ESPN need to get over it: BYU BEAT Washington

Last Saturday was the worst college football coverage ever. It was not found in any Versus or the Mountain channels. It was included in the converges by FSN as part of the PAC-10 package. The commentary would most likely have a Washington slant to it, and I was right. All thru the game it was full of bias. It got very annoying that they constantly jabbed at BYU and Mountain West. It was not surprising when the commentator blamed Washington’s loss on a referee who flagged Jake Locker for unsportsmanlike conduct after the last second touchdown. What was really surprising is the ESPN reporting that followed.

Right after the game on FSN’s postgame coverage was banner at the bottom of the TV screen that reads “Bad Celebration Call” with Jake Locker’s picture next to it. One of the sports analysts was furious, even saying how he was “steaming” over the call. I have a suggestion for FSN producers. Why not make a meme of the image of an extra point being blocked by BYU’s defence line?

Mark May and Lou Holtz took a different angle in analyzing Locker’s “flipped” ball. It took 2.5 seconds of hang time. The way they evaluated the penalty call makes you speculate that they might some nephews on the Husky team.

The way people reacted to this simple call has led me to think that BYU was not supposed to win the game. Up until the touchdown, it was already frustrating to watch BYU being held back to and accused of making an “intentional grounding” on Locker’s fumble few plays earlier. The officials did not make a mistake in penalizing unsportsmanlike conduct but they obviously kept Washington in the game just to make it a close one.

BYU compared to Washington had 183 years more offense. BYU should have been ahead by 2 touchdowns in the last few seconds of the game except for an official signaling in a touchback before checking who recovered in a fumble at the end zone.

I still cannot understand the outcry over the correctly called penalty. The press seem to hate the humble Cougars. Maybe there is some racism in it because they realized the team was mostly white, former LDS missionaries and Eagle Scouts came to Seattle and knocked down a PAC-10 team. Washington hasn’t been playing well for quite some time and it’s not BYU or the official’s task to make them win since Ty Willingham’s coaching staff is on the hot seat. Steve Kelly’s commentary in a Seattle newspaper said that a call that bad could affect the program’s long term future.

The official who made the call must have that impression going on in his mind while he watched the ball that was flipped was going to land. Perhaps the Huskies should file a lawsuit against that ref and ask for damages. If they had the PAC-10 on jury duty, they could collect some damages or even overturn the score.