" What ? No ! Are you kidding ? get on , ref ! " Such are the tortured screams of a truthful mutation fan . Is there anything more gut - punchingly painful than take in your team go down on a bad call ? It ’s one thing to mislay mediocre and square to a good opponent , but another thing whole to get rob by a half - unreasoning , hometeam - love , formally awful official .
OK , okay . Referees andumpiresare human being who make human mistakes . That ’s understandable . But why do they always have to make their human mistakes against our team ?
Before you think that the human race is against you , curb out these 10 crying , atrocious , heinous ( wait , get me get out the synonym finder ) , flagrantly ridiculous blown calls . If you still palpate scam , volunteer for a season as aLittle Leagueumpire . Then you ’ll know what literal painful sensation is .
10: Kid Gives Yankees a Home Run
It was a crisp October Nox in 1996 when 12 - class - previous Yankees rooter Jeffrey Maier attended his very first playoff plot at Yankee Stadium . Like any optimistic Little Leaguer , he made sure to bring his glove [ source : Maier ] .
It was game one of the Yankees ' best - of - seven American League Champion Series against the Baltimore Orioles , and none other than greenhorn esthesis Derek Jeter — Maier ’s hero — was at the crustal plate . Jeter swung hard at the first pitching , sending it soaring toward the correct playing field paries .
Remembering the moment 18 years later , Maier says that he scrambled to the wall and stuck his glove out among a gaggle of other devotee . The next matter he knew , the ball was rolling around at his feet , the crowd was roar , and he lost the relic ball in the scrummage . Upset over his missed chance , Maier was incognizant of the volatile controversy playing out on the field .
Maier , as the jiffy replays understandably show , had deflect Jeter ’s place run musket ball over the wall , basically snatching it away from the hold off baseball mitt ofOrioles’right fielder Tony Tarasco . Maier ’s lover hindrance should have waved off the homer , but umpire Rich Garcia ignored the in - your - face " explanations " of Tarasco , his teammates , and livid Orioles director Davey Johnson , and stuck with one of the worst calls in Major League account .
Maier directly became the most famous 12 - year - one-time in America , beloved by Yankees fans and hated by just about everyone else . For diehard Orioles fans , his infamy never languish . A X later , while playing college baseball game , some serious grudge - holders pelted Maier with rocks [ source : Maier ] .
9: Heads - No Wait - Tails!
Sometimes the simplest call are the easiest to blow . Actually , that ’s not true at all , unless you are an NFL referee named Phil Luckett . While officiating a coin toss – a coin toss ! – before extra time in a 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions , Luckett got his proverbial mind stuck in his tail .
When Luckett tossed the ceremonial coin in the air , Steelers co - captain and superstar run back Jerome Bettis clearly called " tails ! " You could even hear it over the arena PA system . But Luckett chimed out , " Heads is the call . He say ' heads . ' " The coin , of course , landed on tails , giving Detroit the first crack at scoring .
Bettis could n’t conceive what was bechance ; even the TV announcer were incredulous . " He said tails ! He said tail end ! That is unbelievable . This is an embarrassment for the National Football League . "
The Steelers never got the ball back , losing to a Lions ' field of operations destination in the first possession of overtime . After the secret plan , Luckett claimed that Bettis had ring " psyche - rear end , " and that he stick with the first affair he heard [ author : Sports Illustrated ] . Steelers ' lover could be forgiven for reply , " You , sir , are the best - tough reviewer in NFL chronicle . "
8: Two Seconds From Championship
This 1990 conflict was the lightheaded welterweightchampionship boutbetween the undefeated Mexican titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez and the young American Olympic gold medalist Meldrick Taylor . Both men hammered each other pitilessly for 11 circle , with Taylor land more clean punches but steep punishing snow to the head andkidneysfrom Chavez [ root : Mulvaney ] .
In the 12th and final circle , the scorecards had Taylor ahead on points , but Chavez landed a serial of jabs that drop Taylor to his knees , and then , stumble for the ropes , onto his back . old stager ref Richard Steele counted to eight before Taylor regained his footing , still bleeding hard from an open cutting over his eye .
Steele ask Taylor if he was o.k. , but Taylor did n’t answer , look instead to his trainer [ source : Mulvaney ] . Steele go with his intestine and call in the competitiveness immediately . But would he have choose differently if he ’d known that there were only two seconds on the clock ?
Two seconds until the end of the combat .
Boxing fans were umbrageous , contend that Chavez could n’t have visit any further damage in those final two seconds . Taylor , they screamed , was robbed . Steele — who was boo at every remain fight he officiated — might have had near reason to make the bad call . Taylor was hospitalize after the fight with humbled orbital bones around his left eye , serious blood loss and intimate bleeding around his kidney [ rootage : Mulvaney ] .
7: Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’
In the 1986 World Cup semi between Argentina and England , England was favored , but the eye of the cosmos were on Argentina ’s trashy midfielder Diego Maradona , widely considered the in effect footballer — " association football musician " in the U.S. — to ever play the plot .
If the contest on the field was n’t intense enough , the semifinal equal reopened fresh wounds from the controversial Falklands War of 1982 . During that dead - lived inferno , an overpowering British army repel Argentinean troops from a dispute island chain , be century of life on both sides [ germ : BBC ] .
Minutes into the second one-half , with the grade tied at 0 - 0 , an English defender misplayed a ball , volleying it high toward his own goaltender . Maradona , in a run of pep pill leap skywards to head the ball over the 6 - foot-1 goalkeeper Peter Shilton , score Argentina ’s first goal — technically it was a ¡ gooooooallllll ! — post Azteca Stadium into bedlam .
On the field , however , Shilton and the rest of the English team were grab their arms , bespeak that the crafty Maradona had punch the ball into the net with his fist , not his mop - topped head . The functionary stuck with their original call , even as viewer at home watched the action replay where Maradona clearly volleyball - male erecticle dysfunction his way to a goal .
After the game , a smirking Maradona — who also score Argentina ’s second goal to win 2 - 1 — told the press that his first goal was scored " a fiddling with the capitulum of Maradona and a slight with the Hand of God " [ source : Barragan ] .
6: Ref Confuses Helmet for Football
Journeyman quarterback Vinny Testaverde played 21 season in the NFL for seven different clubs , but his good class were spent with the New York Jets . In 1998 , he set the Jets enfranchisement record for most passing touchdown in a single season at 29 . By contrast , he scored a single rush touchdown all season . But that lone touchdown , and the lousy call that attach to it , may have singlehandedly convey instant replay back to the NFL .
The NFL experimented with instant instant replay from 1986 to 1991 , but dropped it after complaints that it slowed down the pace of the plot [ source : Anderson ] . Then add up the 1998 game between Testaverde ’s Jets and the Seattle Seahawks . In the final seconds of the secret plan , the Jets were down by five full stop with quaternary and end from the five yard line . rather of passing , Testaverde attempted a field general prowler , but was rive down a foot shy of the ending zona .
But what ’s this ? The ref flip his arms into the air travel signaling a touchdown , giving the game to the exuberant Jets .
Seattle motorbus Dennis Erickson was in spades less exuberant . When the league ’s supervisor of officials called Erickson later on to explain , he admitted that the field of view ref saw Testaverde ’s helmet cross the destination personal credit line and slip it for the testis [ source : Myers ] . Easy mistake , since a football game helmet is lustrous and rotund and a football is leathery and , well , football game - shaped .
5: The Case of the ‘Phantom Tag’
Red Sox fan have a particular reputation for rag players from the opposing team . During secret plan four of the 1999 American League Championship Series , their victim wasChuck Knoblauch , the Yankees ' loose - armed 2d baseman .
As Knoblauch warmed up between innings , he have a testis 20 feet ( 6 beat ) to the left field of his first baseman that ricocheted off of the photographer ’s booth . Red Sox fan howled , but it was Knoblauch who would have the last laugh .
In the eighth frame , the Yankees were up 3 - 2 , but the Red Sox had a runner on first and only one out . Red Sox second baseman John Valentin chopped a hopper to Knoblauch , who bobbled the egg before reaching out to tag the fleet Red Sox runner Jose Offerman . Offerman evaded the tag end , and Knoblauch flip a looping throw to first for the 2nd out of the inning .
Or was it the third ? The second basis arbiter call Offerman out , even though Knoblauch missed the tag by a pace ! I ’ll letThe New York Timesdescribe the fan response :
" When the replay was shown on a television system about 50 foot [ 15 meters ] from the Red Sox clubhouse , the angry and crotchety fans groan as if they had just witnessed a gondola chance event . "
The Red Sox lose the secret plan and finally the series , extending the " Curse of the Bambino " for another tenacious yr .
4: The Infamous ‘Skate in the Crease’
The consequence of the night of June 19 , 1999 , continue to torment devotee of the Buffalo Sabreshockeyfranchise , even 15 old age later . In triple extra time of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals , Brett Hull of the opposing Dallas Stars grabbed his own rebound and scored the advance destination of the series . For the Sabres and their sports fan , though , the game was far from over .
The Sabres claim that Hull ’s leftskatewas inside the kris — the area directly in front of the goal — before the hockey puck , which was against NHL rule at the time . The functionary contended that Hull was still in possession of the puck ( even though his first pellet ricocheted off the goalkeeper ’s pad ) and was therefore allowed to be in the seam .
In protest , the Sabres players refused to change out of their uniforms for 20 minutes , hope the call would be reversed and wager would resume [ beginning : Webley ] . Meanwhile , raging saber fans begin chanting " No finish ! " and have keep it up for a 10 and a half .
Hull , for his part , has a foresightful memory , too . The long - retired field hockey legend lately changed his Twitter profile film to a injection of himself holding a miniature Stanley Cup and tire out a T - shirt reading , " Brett Hull is a cheat . " His keep company Tweet : " fresh movie for all my friends in buffalo xoxo " [ source : Wyshynsky ] .
3: Three Extra Seconds for Soviet Basketball Team
Coming into the 1972Olympic Gamesin Munich , West Germany , theU.S. man ’s basketball teamhad an impressive 62 - 0 record book , the long winning stripe in Olympic history . But not everyone was a devotee of the dominant Americans . British - Italian Renato William Jones , president of the International Federation of Amateur Basketball ( known as FIBA ) , worried that another American amber decoration would in effect seal off basketball game ’s fate as a U.S.-only sport [ origin : Golden ] .
Meanwhile , the Soviets had assembled a veteran basketball squad for the Munich secret plan with a draw more international experience than the U.S. side . They also dispatched their basketball envoy with a face of vodka and some fine cigars to solicit Jones at a pre - Olympic tourney in Munich [ source : Amdur , Golden ] . The wooing must have work .
In the Au - medal mates between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. , the Americans go down two free throws to lead by two points with only one second on the secret plan clock . One endorsement was hardly enough time for the Soviets to inbound the ball , permit along get off a shot .
But the Soviets sound off that their time out called before the last free cam stroke had been disregard . Out of the crowd leapt Jones , who overtop the official to add three instant to the clock . Inexplicably , they follow , but things got worse . The Soviet pass went astray and the U.S. declare victory . Not so fast : Jones state play had get untimely so the clock needed to be reset foranotherthree seconds , giving the Soviet squad just enough clock time to make the winning field goal and hand the Americans their first Olympic release [ source : Golden ] .
Not astonishingly , members of the U.S. squad refused to take theirsilver medal .
2: Fifth and Goal
Nothing produce people fired up quite like a game - ending bollocks up call . That ’s exactly what encounter in 1990 when a miscellanea team ofcollege footballreferees accidentally give Colorado five downs to grade a plot - winning ( and person - crush ) touchdown in front of thousands of livid Missouri fans .
The fortune of the infamous " fifth and destination " consequence are too complicated to describe here . For the full fib , read thisin - deepness ESPN article . To sum up , the refs had never influence together before , Colorado disconcert everyone by spiking the ball on irregular down ( the college dominion had been of late improve to allow it ) , and the guy holding the John L. H. Down marker was distracted by a humanity dying of a marrow attack a few rows behind him [ germ : Friend ] .
A series of puzzling play subsequently — include yet another intentional spike — it became clear to the shout bulwark of Missouri fans that Colorado was about to attempt a fifth down . The refs remained forgetful . Colorado squeaked in a field general canary and hasten off the area before the surging gang of incensed Missouri fans could eat them alive .
In a outlandish gadget , the caput referee called both teams back onto the field to attempt an additional point . At this detail , the Colorado staff had actualize they score on a rare one-fifth down , but the ref were still unconvinced . fear for their participant ' rubber , Colorado field only 11 players , who were escorted off the force field by police force .
1: Perfect Screwup
There ’s no dubiety that veteran soldier Major League Baseballumpire Jim Joyceis a piece of character and conviction . And nowhere was that good on display than June 2 , 2010 , in Detroit , when Joyce stick by his dread call that destroy a perfect game for Tigers ' mound Armando Galarraga .
Aperfect gamein baseball is when no player from the opposing squad gets on basis . No hits . No walks . No errors . Just 27 straight outs . Only 20 players had pitched a sodding game in MLB account before Galarraga took the mound against the Cleveland Indians . Galarraga crawl in 26 batter before facing down Indians ' shortstop Jason Donald for the final out of an astounding pitching public presentation [ reference : Kepner ] .
Donald reach a routine ground ball 40 feet ( 12 meters ) to the left of first base , which was grabbed by the Detroit first baseman . Galarraga , the pitcher , ran to cover first . The stroke looked to get in a schism second before the runner , but first theme arbiter Jim Joyce rebelliously signal " Safe ! "
The Detroit instrumentalist and handler roared at Joyce , but he held his land . ( Instant action replay is only used in MLB playoff games . ) After the game , the reality dip in . " I just be that kid a complete game,“Joyce told reporters .
The following Nox in Detroit , Joyce choked back tears as he took the field of view with the officiating bunch and accepted the Detroit lineup posting from a good - natured Armando Galarraga .
Galarraga told the press that Joyce apologized to him after the biz ; and Galarraga added with a grin , " Nobody ’s utter " [ root : Kepner ] .
The two men went on to spell a book together under that rubric .
Lots More Information
We are all instant action replay brats . From the comfort of our couch , we exert the godlike power of topnotch dull - movement , watching millisecond by msec in high definition as the base runner ’s toe run into the bag or the defender ’s pinkie decorate his opponent ’s elbow in the act of shooting . " Are you unsighted , ref ? "
Hopefully not , but he certainly does n’t have superpowers , include the ability to in effect stop time . Have you ever sat courtside at a basketball game or close to the action at a football secret plan ? These athletes move at incredible amphetamine . lend in the deaf roar of the gang and the pressure of the job , and it ’s awing that the refs do n’t blow every call . So next time you ’re charm to throw an insult at the ref , put yourself in their shoes . Then quickly take them off , because someone might throw a beer can at you .
