boygenius88's Take on Rampage/Sabercats Game

I was watching a majority of the Rampage/Sabercats game today. I was in disbelief at how many times I saw the referees screw up!

With 22 seconds left to go in the first half, the Sabercats led 35 to 14. Rampage QB James MacPherson threw the ball to Jason Shelley in the endzone on a 4th and goal play. A Sabercats defender tripped up Shelley, and the ball landed in the back of the endzone. Should it have been pass interference? The announcers on ESPN thought so. The Grand Rapids players thought so. I thought so. Did the referees think so? Nope. They said that the ball was uncatchable, but it was evident that had Shelley not been interfered with, illegally for that matter, he would have caught the ball. This no-call ultimately led to a Sabercats field goal at the end of the first half.

With San Jose leading 61 to 42 midway through the 4th quarter, MacPherson found a leaning Shelley in the endzone. Shelley leaned forward out of the endzone, but after seeing a replay, it was evident to see that Shelley had possession of the ball in the endzone after the catch. The referees didn't agree, and the Rampage had to find the endzone AGAIN just to score six points. Had the referees made the right all at the start, the Rampage wouldn't have wasted a whole minute to get the ball in the endzone. And if that wasn't bad enough, after the Rampage finally scored a touchdown, Sabercats players starting pushing and shoving to eat up the clock (because in Arena Football, the clock keeps going even after a touchdown unless the game is inside the final minute of a half). There should have been a penalty for wasting time in my opinion. Was there? Nope.

And finally, with the score at 68 to 55, Sabercats QB Mark Grieb throws an interception, giving the ball back to Grand Rapids. On the insuing play, MacPherson threw the ball to Cole Magner, who jumped and almost went over the wall to catch the. Although Magner came back into the field of play, the referees called the pass incomplete even though Magner had a foot inbounds after the catch. Would it cost the Rampage? Yes. MacPherson would throw his fourth interception of the game, and it ended Grand Rapids' hopes of making it into the ArenaBowl.

Could Grand Rapids have had a chance to win had those calls been overturned? Definitely yes. The no-call on the pass interference gave three points to the Sabercats and took away seven from the Rampage, which resulted in a 10-point swing-around. The incomplete pass call on Cole Magner would also have changed the outcome of the subsequent play. I saw MacPherson slam his helmet to the ground after he threw his fifth interception of the game when time ran out. He wasn't upset because he lost (because MacPherson already did this much for his sixth-seeded Rampage squad to get to the American Conference Championship Game considering his team started the season 3-10!), but because of the horrible reffing in a game that meant so much to him. Now, because of referees, James MacPherson and his Rampage teammates will have to watch the ArenaBowl back in Grand Rapids as opposed to playing in it in New Orleans. I guess the look on the Rampage logo can describe MacPherson's feelings after the game.

Now I'm not saying that the Sabercats stole the game, but had the referees done their jobs right, the Rampage would definitely have had a legitimate shot at winning the game.

Just another example of referees sucking at their jobs.