touchdown nullified
latest NFL Ref call ..
are you kidding me?

I was in a car driving back from Atlanta to our home in the Low Country with only the ESPN play-by-play texts to follow the Detroit Lion game yesterday.

I was reminded of the stories of how baseball games back in the day would be ‘re-created’ by studio announcers based on a pitch by pitch account that came across by telegraph connections.

Ronald Reagan would tell stories of recreated Chicago Cubs games when he was an announcer at WHO-AM (The radio voice of Iowa) and one time the lines went and he had no update for 5 minutes or so.

Reagan recounted that in his version of the game, he had the batter foul off 27 pitches in a run until the connection was restored.

Anyway, there I was with my phone on my knee waiting for each new update to appear on the screen … and wait.

12 plays.

In realtime it was about 15 minutes.

In game time it was all after the 2 minute warning.

I thought my phone locked on the next to last play.

A little playing field was shown on the screen of my phone with endzone in pink.

I read the last update, 3 & Goal at the 9 about 20 times and finally looked off through the window.

In the reflection I could just see my phone and I figured it would finally refresh and the pink screen would be gone which would mean the Lions scored or didn’t score and the game was over.

3 & Goal at the 9.

3 & Goal at the 9.

Wait some more.

3 & Goal at the 9.

Finally my screen flashed and when it reloaded all is showed was the final score.

I had to click a few buttons to finally read the last play and to read for the 2nd time in the drive, Touchdown Nullified.

Twice in the same drive.

Touchdown Nullified.

The complete burst of text for that final play was (shotgun) J. Goff pass short left to A. St. Brown to Put 8 for 1 yard. Lateral to J. Goff for 8 yards. TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty. PENALTY on DET – A. St. Brown. Offensive Pass Interference. 0 yards, enforced at PIT 9 – No Play.

No wonder it took so long for my phone to refresh.

Without there being a play, the time was over so the game was over, so said the Refs.

And the Refs had a lot to say.

In the last 12 plays, 5 penalties were called.

Lions had the ball at the 1 and two penalties later, the Lions were back on 16.

Some will argue it was bad football by the Lions.

But it certainly seemed like there was more than just football going on down there.

Much later I was able to read that what happened on the last play was:

“It is a pretty complex play. We had the original player who had the ball, lose possession of the ball. So, we had to decide if that was a fumble or a backwards pass because of course we have restrictions on the recovery of a fumble inside two minutes. We ruled that it was a backward pass, so the recovering player was able to advance it and that recovering player advanced it for a touchdown. We had to rule on that and then because of the offensive pass interference, it negates the touchdown. Because it is an offensive foul, we do not extend the half. Therefore, there is no score and there is no replay of the down. That’s the way the rule is written,” [Head Ref] Cheffers said.

I hate to same old Lions but much the way the same old Lions have done all my life, they somehow, someway find a different way to lose a football game.

Was it a bad call?

Was it a bunch of bad calls?

It certainly was a bunch of calls.

As Head Coach Dan Campbell said, “I don’t even want to get into it, because it’s not going to change anything. We still lost,” Campbell said. “It’s — I mean, you think you score, you don’t score, and then you think you’re going to have another play. Replay it or back it up, one more shot. And it doesn’t. And that’s just, I guess that’s the way it’s written in the rulebook. So, that’s frustrating. But there again, it should never come to that.”

You want to be good.

You want to lucky.

But as Lefty Gomez said years ago, ‘I’d rather be luck than good.’

unique and complex
don’t know that you can prepare
for something like this

“Unique and complex, obviously,” Poggi responded. “Multiple levels of complexity that our young people are dealing with and our university is dealing with, our athletic director, Warde Manuel, is dealing with. And our team, our coaches and our kids. I don’t know that you can prepare for something like this.”

From the article, Biff Poggi says Michigan players feel ‘betrayed’ after Sherrone Moore firing by Alex Valdes, Dec. 15, 2025 (NYT)

more importantly
what do you believe? and what …
what will you become

“To be able to tap into that source, that part of who you are that transcends thinking — that’s what I’m talking about. We’ve all done it; we’ve all seen it.
Faith is belief without proof. Something deeper than your own thoughts. Giving your all, win, lose, or draw—that takes some version of faith, whatever that means to you. And sometimes that faith is the only way you’re going to win that game, or the only way you’re going to get that contract. It’s the only way to reach a new level of excellence.
So I ask you: What is your big dream?
More importantly, what do you believe? And what will you become?”

Excerpt From Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive
by Greg Harden.

Greg Harden was known as Michigan’s Secret Weapon.

According to Wikipeda, Assoc Athletic Director Harden was best known for his work with 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady. He also worked with Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard, and 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. Brady, Howard, and other athletes credit Harden with inspiring them to overcome obstacles and achieve success in their professional and personal lives.

Harden began work as a student-athlete counselor in 1986 when Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler brought him in after hearing of the work Harden was doing in Ypsilanti, helping people deal with the challenges of everyday life and work. In the years since, Harden has been named associate Athletic Director and Director of Athletic Counseling for the University of Michigan Athletic Department.

Sorry to say that Dr. Harden died a year ago.

Seems like his role and importance in that athletic program, was somehow, greatly underestimated.

When I was a student, I had one Art History Professor who could not resist a Monday morning comment about that weekends game.

One week he approached the lectern and popped open a can of Coke and took a big swig, then said in a VERY HOARSE voice … “I mean really … 72 points.”

Then Michigan lost to that team down south.

This Professor stood at his lectern that next Monday and stared out at us a while then said, “It is good to remember there are all just kids like you.”

So I ask you: What is your big dream?

More importantly, what do you believe? And what will you become?”

And always remember, Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.