[youtalkfunny]

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The refs made an unprecedented call in the Oakland game which everybody outside of NE thought was bogus and even shocked Tom Brady, and then made the same ruling the following year in a few games so they wouldn't look like hypocrites...

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I never understood anyone who has a problem with that call.

The rulebook describes precisely when it should be called, and Brady did precisely what the rulebook described.

What, the refs should ignore the rules that YOU have never heard of?

Don't be embarrassed that there are rules you've never heard of. At the time, I had never heard of that rule. I was working in a sportsbook, part of a crew of guys who had, combined, about 200 years of experience booking the NFL--we were all at least 30 years old, and had watched the sport passionately for our whole lives--and none of us had ever heard of it.

But this is the league that changes ten rules per year, on average. That's hundreds of rules in my lifetime. I openly laugh at anyone who confidently boasts, "I know the rules!"

I don't think the players know the rules.
I don't think the coaches know the rules.
I *know* the announcers don't know the rules.

But I'm reasonably confident that the officials know the rules.

One last thing: if the officials were trying to "hand that game to the Patriots", couldn't they have helped the offense get a little closer on that final drive, so Adam Vinatieri didn't need to come up with THE GREATEST KICK IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME?