What's the Single Worst Call You've Ever Seen?

Tuck rule.

 

I'll take the 72 Olympics, only because it was such a drawn out clusterfuck.

 

Roy Jones getting robbed in the Olympics was the worst decision I have ever seen in 30+ years of watching boxing. And that's saying something considering how messed up that sport is.

Little closer to home: Kerry Fraser looking the other way when Gretzky high-sticked Doug Gilmour in Game 6 of the 1993 Western Conference final.

 

How about Cleveland Gary's goal line fumble against Notre Dame in 1988? Probably cost Miami another national championship in the '80s. I don't think that it would have been overturned on replay, because the angle was pretty bad, but it seems pretty certain that the ground caused it.

 

It was fighters from countries other than the U.S., I forget who, but in Barcelona in 1992, when they first instituted the points system, I saw a boxing match judged to have been a scoreless tie. All in all, for atrocities in officiating, you can't beat Olympic boxing.

 

Probably not the worst ever, but the phantom offensive pass interference call on Charles Gordon in 2004 when his catch would have sealed an upset for Kansas versus Texas was plenty bad, and notable because it led to this.

That's right, dollar signs.


The fifth down doesn't count because all the repeated, hilarious bad things that happen to Missouri are karmic justice, therefore can't be considered negative.

 

I would go with Munich '72, 5th Down, the kicked Nebraska ball in '97 and last night's call. Those were "final play" situations.

Denkinger was bad but Jack Clark still dropped a pop fly and Darrell Porter let a pass ball go. There were no outs in the inning.

Honorable Mention to phantom PI calls against Arizona State in the '96 Rose Bowl vs Ohio State

 

Tuck rule

 

For all those posting about the tuck rule, and I've seen it in other places this morning, too, where this is being discussed: Wasn't it the correct call under the rules? That seems different to me, and disqualifying.

Which reminds me. When is BYH going to post, "Calvin Johnson's non-catch against the Bears on opening weekend a couple seasons ago"?

 

Oh yeah, and The U against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, 2003. Pass interference, my fucking ass. [stillbitterCanesfanboilooser]

 

Roy Jones' defeat in the 1988 gold medal boxing match was as awful as it gets. The amount of punches thrown/landed and percentage landed were grossly in Jones' favor. Then the look on everyone's face when the decision was announced ... wow. The referee looked stunned. The Korean looked like someone just told him he won a contest to bang the crap out of any woman in the world. Roy Jones almost looked like he was waiting for the punch line.

The medal ceremony was classic. The Korean actually raised Jones' arm when they placed the silver medal around his neck. And to make things worse, two officials were later proven to have been bribed. A third official who voted for the Korean, if my memory serves me right, only voted for the Korean because he felt sorry for him.

And, yes, the 1972 basketball clusterfuck. How much controversy could have been avoided had the referees given the timeout to the Soviets before Collins' second free throw? If you listen closely, you can hear the horn sounding before Collins gets the ball, as someone at the table was desperately trying to get the refs attention because the Soviets were trying to call timeout.