Being an old official, I tend to cut them the benefit of several doubts at the various sporting events I work at or attend. Today I make an exception to that: the guys who worked the Detroit Lions game against the Vikings at the Metrodome absolutely, positively stole the game today. As bad as the Lions are, they played as well as they could today and deserved the win.
There was a pass interference penalty against Minnesota that was ignored that even the Vikings fans around me admitted was awful. This was followed by a questionable fumble call that wiped out a long gain and then a horrific pass interference penalty that led to the winning field goal.
Judgment calls are part of the game. You live with them. And when you haven't won a game, you know going in you are not likely to get any breaks. But this crew, led by referee Tony Corrente, apparently decided they needed to do all they could to give Minnesota chances to win. Eventually, the Vikings did so, 12-10. They were a disgrace to officials everywhere. If I didn't know better, I would say they had visited my favorite decadent western town earlier in the week. Since the spread was 13-13 1/2 points, their utter incompetency didn't change that part of the game. It wasn't for lack of effort.
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