Poll Bill Vinovich has not officiated a Saints game since the "no-call". Are there other officials who do not officiate certain teams? (1 Viewer)

[Saintslfc13]

First, Im over it at this point. But second, I wasn't mad at Vinovich anyway. It wasn't his call. Sure he's the white hat and it's " his crew", but that was not his call to make. People on here can talk til they are blue in the face, the white hat doesn't make PI calls. Period! Be mad at the 2 officials on the side because that's their call. It's like being mad at your friend, but it was actually your other friend that did you wrong. Be mad at the right person.
Now the OT blow to the head on Brees, now you have a case. But not the PI.

Kudos to you for being over it. I’m probably never getting over that honestly. I hear you though that it wasn’t his call to make but as we’ve seen multiple times before and since then the refs will take 3-5 minutes to discuss a situation and then throw a flag or announce why it wasn’t a flag. We didn’t get that, we got next play right now and then when you add the OT BS into it, well naw I just can’t give Vinovich a pass. It’s been said thousands of times at this point but if the vast majority of us failed to do our job correctly, whether in a managerial role as Vinovich was or the person actually responsible, did it as bad as that crew did that day they would’ve been fired on the spot. The level of incompetence was so bad that the idea the situation was rigged or at the very least heavily favored towards one outcome is easily seen.

 

[saintfan1972]

Kudos to you for being over it. I’m probably never getting over that honestly. I hear you though that it wasn’t his call to make but as we’ve seen multiple times before and since then the refs will take 3-5 minutes to discuss a situation and then throw a flag or announce why it wasn’t a flag. We didn’t get that, we got next play right now and then when you add the OT BS into it, well naw I just can’t give Vinovich a pass. It’s been said thousands of times at this point but if the vast majority of us failed to do our job correctly, whether in a managerial role as Vinovich was or the person actually responsible, did it as bad as that crew did that day they would’ve been fired on the spot. The level of incompetence was so bad that the idea the situation was rigged or at the very least heavily favored towards one outcome is easily seen.

As my post stated, the OT non call by Vinovich can be debated, it shouldve been called in my opinion. But why would he have went down the field to discuss a call there was no flag thrown on. They didn't call him in to discuss anything. So my point is is the being mad at him is crazy for that call. Be mad at the refs on the side and in the back. Like I said, agree to disagree here is fine.

 

[Saintslfc13]

As my post stated, the OT non call by Vinovich can be debated, it shouldve been called in my opinion. But why would he have went down the field to discuss a call there was no flag thrown on. They didn't call him in to discuss anything. So my point is is the being mad at him is crazy for that call. Be mad at the refs on the side and in the back. Like I said, agree to disagree here is fine.

I think we, roughly agree, certainly more than we disagree. We see late flags happen after contentious non-calls all the time though so yea I would’ve expected something from that one other than it all seeming kosher.

 

[black_floyd]

My vote is sort of in line with "Vinovich is scared" but tweaked a tiny bit. I feel like the NFL might be protecting him knowing that scheduling him for a Saints game gives the team 60 minutes to "accidentally" lay him out if he were to somehow end up in the middle of a play.

 

[Zztop]

That call screwed the team out of another superbowl win. I'm 100% convinced to this day that they would have scored more than 13 points ( NE won 13-3 in that superbowl). After that screwjob, I quit being so invested in the game and sport. I'm too old to go through that sheet again

 

[Scott B]

Vinovich didn’t do anything wrong. Another official made the infamous call.

Saints play eight road games every year. If he did nothing wrong, he could officiate any one of those and not feel “threatened”. There is more than safety at play here. Look, I respect your position, I just disagree and not gonna be convinced otherwise. The way the NFL responded confirms it for me.

 

[Bill]

Saints play eight road games every year. If he did nothing wrong, he could officiate any one of those and not feel “threatened”. There is more than safety at play here. Look, I respect your position, I just disagree and not gonna be convinced otherwise. The way the NFL responded confirms it for me.

The NFL has heard the hate spewed toward him... even though the venom has been misdirected. Most Saints fans don't even realize that it was Cavaletto that made the error, not Vinovich. It's just a 'lynch mob' mentality who doesn't even realize they are wanting to hang the wrong person. Frankly it makes Saints fans look stupid.

So naturally the league isn't going to put the guy through such an experience... and rightfully so.

 

[First Time Poster]

Just not sure why this particular situation and not countless others. The Saints are far from the only team to be on the wrong side of season altering officiating shenanigans.

I think this is the part you are downplaying and which explains why they would want to avoid the PR. Although I agree with you it's a mistake on their part.

That call was THE biggest reffing blunder of all time. Comparing it to other reffing mistakes, like last year's Super Bowl, doesn't carry weight. It's universally regarded as the biggest mistake in sports history, no hyperbole.

The only thing I can think of, off the top of my head, that comes close is Jim Joyce's blown call that took away Galaragga's perfect game. And while a perfect game is one of the rarest feats in sports, in the words of Paul Allen, this isn't Detroit man it's the Super Bowl.

It's the most popular sport with a berth to the biggest game in sports on the line. And there was no subjectivity to it. It was wrong. And while I agree that the NFL normally operates on an any press is good press model, I just don't think they want any part of reliving that moment and it being relitigated (court of public opinion, not actual) all over again. That and I do think Bill setting foot in the Superdome will be problematic.

Now, I agree they are making a mistake. You handle it the way MLB handled the Joyce-Galarraga situation.



But, the NFL would NEVER acknowledge that error like this. So, c'est la vie.

 

[KingBarkus]

Remember the movie Animal House when the Belushi character sees Dorfman on the movie screen of pledges? That’s my reaction when I see Vinovich on the screen in an NFL game.

 

[Saint Jack]

I think this is the part you are downplaying and which explains why they would want to avoid the PR. Although I agree with you it's a mistake on their part.

That call was THE biggest reffing blunder of all time. Comparing it to other reffing mistakes, like last year's Super Bowl, doesn't carry weight. It's universally regarded as the biggest mistake in sports history, no hyperbole.

The only thing I can think of, off the top of my head, that comes close is Jim Joyce's blown call that took away Galaragga's perfect game. And while a perfect game is one of the rarest feats in sports, in the words of Paul Allen, this isn't Detroit man it's the Super Bowl.

It's the most popular sport with a berth to the biggest game in sports on the line. And there was no subjectivity to it. It was wrong. And while I agree that the NFL normally operates on an any press is good press model, I just don't think they want any part of reliving that moment and it being relitigated (court of public opinion, not actual) all over again. That and I do think Bill setting foot in the Superdome will be problematic.

Now, I agree they are making a mistake. You handle it the way MLB handled the Joyce-Galarraga situation.



But, the NFL would NEVER acknowledge that error like this. So, c'est la vie.

I think an umpire blew a call that cost the St. Louis Cardinals the World Series in the 80s.
The Dez Caught It Game comes to mind too.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I remember seeing this at the time. Lombardi is a pretty knowledgeable NFL guy.



I agree that he will never set foot in the Dome ever again. They might let him ref an away game (like in Germany LOL) at some point but I kinda doubt it.

 

[Bill]

I remember seeing this at the time. Lombardi is a pretty knowledgeable NFL guy.



I agree that he will never set foot in the Dome ever again. They might let him ref an away game (like in Germany LOL) at some point but I kinda doubt it.

That's a shame because he is still one of the best NFL head officials.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

That's a shame because he is still one of the best NFL head officials.

You just like his first name.

I hear what you're saying about it not being his call, but that was a penalty so obvious and flagrant on both the pass interference and unnecessary roughness level that yellow flags should have rained in from all directions. BV did have an unobstructed view of the play from a very favorable vantage to see the hit well before the ball arrived. I don't know the rules, but could he have called a ref huddle to discuss? It's not officially his call, but he could've righted the wrong. He's not blameless, IMO.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

You just like his first name.

I hear what you're saying about it not being his call, but that was a penalty so obvious and flagrant on both the pass interference and unnecessary roughness level that yellow flags should have rained in from all directions. BV did have an unobstructed view of the play from a very favorable vantage to see the hit well before the ball arrived. I don't know the rules, but could he have called a ref huddle to discuss? It's not officially his call, but he could've righted the wrong. He's not blameless, IMO.

That, and the NFL already had the "replay assist" system in place back then - you see it more and more now where they get word from NYC that they got a call totally wrong and fix it before even going to commercial/replay booth. Could've easily gotten together and had the correction wired in from NY and then throw a flag after the conference.

They knew it was wrong and didn't do squat about it.

 

[mr.t]

Interesting. Not even a preseason game?

Didn't he ref a playoff game yesterday.