Stephen Brashear / AP
Officials signal a touchdown by Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, obscured, on the last play of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, in Seattle. The Seahawks won 14-12.
And now for something a little different on the blog: some sports.
It happened just last night, and it's already being called one of "...the wildest finishes in modern NFL history," and it's leading many (if not most) to call for an end to the NFL referee lockout.
The Atlantic's Dashiell Bennett does a good job of breaking it down:
Trailing 12-7 with just 8 seconds remaining, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary into the end zone in a last ditch effort to the win game. Green Bay defensive back M.D. Jennings appeared to intercept the pass in a scrum of players as time expired, but Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate — who got away with offensive pass interference just before the ball arrived —managed to get one arm around the ball as the two players went to the ground. While one referee in the end zone appeared to signal interception, another standing right next to him signaled touchdown. Even though Jennings had the greater claim to the catch, the play was ruled a score for Seattle giving them a 14-12 victory.
Willie and Joe discussed the game this morning going into the show.
"That football game last night. What happened to that football game last night?," Scarborough asked the table.
"Egregious," Geist stated. "This has to be the breaking point on the replacement refs…It wasn’t just a bad call or two guys splitting the call. It’s the fact that it took them 10 minutes to look at this and come up with a decision that a lot of people already thought was the wrong one."
The NFL and its game referees can't seem to reach an agreement on such issues as referee retirement benefits, salary and more, so they remain in a lockout and thus the reason replacement refs are currently on the field. And this is causing fans, writers (read: everyone) to freak out.
Check out ESPN.com writer Kevin Seifert's opening salvo from earlier today:
Can we now, in unison and without debate, agree that the NFL's plan to replace its locked-out officials has failed spectacularly and embarrassingly, undermining the credibility of the league and -- after two months of nervous anticipation -- directly affecting the outcome of a game?
Before switching subjects on the show today, Scarborough joked the Morning Joe panel should hold a bake sale for the NFL "...so they could pay the refs to actually call the games."
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