11/20 If you want to know about "The Play", go to http://espn.com. It's the front
       page article atm.
         \_ Cal is gonna lose. In the history of my paying attention to Cal
            football they never won so why now? They'll choke.
          \_ So *you're* the one.  Stop watching so's we can win, would you?
       \_ The articles said there was only four seconds left, yet the run
          before the touchdown in the video clip seemed to last a lot longer.
          Why?
          \_ The last play of the game can be as long as it wants, as long
               as it starts before time runs out. They could be running for
               an hour and it'd still count.
       \_ SJ Mercury had a sidebar where they showed the play was illegal
          to begin with, claimed that there was a forward lateral, and claimed
          that someone was already down.  Must be a stanfurd grad.
          \_ The call always stands despite video in Pro Basketball also.
             I remember Clippers vs. Spurs 1989, Charles Smith hit a last
             second shot 2 feet behind the 3 point line that was called as
             a 2 pointer.  The fact he landed *after* shooting in front of
             the line was missed by the officials.  They lost by a point.
             If video could undo a game after the fact, people would not go.
             \_ Actually basketball is doing some instant replay officiating
                now.  But certainly college football wasn't, then or now.
                In any case, there are no forward laterals--it is easy to
                ascertain this from the video replay.  It is not so easy
                to ascertain whether Garner's knee touched down before he
                pitched it to Rodgers, but it appears that his leg is on
                top of a Stanford player's leg.  By today's NFL replay
                rules, the call made on the field would definitely stand.
                In addition, Stanford was penalized for illegal participation
                (for the players and the band on the field), and the penalty
                at the time for illegal participation was to award the other
                team a touchdown.  -tom
                \_ Didn't the band come on the field only after
                   (they thought) his knee went down?  In which
                   case the illegal participation call still
                   hinges on that result. [ reformatted - motdformatd ]
                   \_ No, the band can't go on because they think his knee is
                      down, even if he is down.
                   \_ The whistle hadn't blown, so The Play wasn't over. -tom
                \_ one of SJ Mercury's arguments was that the formation was
                     illegal.  There were only four Cal Players within ten feet
                     of the ball before the kickoff.  The forward lateral
                     reminds me of the Music City Miracle play in the NFL.
                   \_ It would be min of 10 yards, and there are no illegal
                      formations for the defense.  Only applies to offense.
       \_ I'm still trying to figure out why any of you care about things like
          Cal football.  Any of the players would piss on you and rape your
          girlfriend for fun and then laugh about it after at practice.
          \_ When I used to hang out at my gf's place at Clark Kerr all the
             time, I would see some of the same football players every day
             and it got to the point where after a while they'd even
             acknowledge me on campus.  Clearly this means that they're not
             all bad, right?
             \_ No, how do you figure that?  Because they didn't beat you up
                or gang rape your gf in the stairwell?
          \_ girlfriend.  what is that?
               \_ for most of us, yermom.
          \_ I feel thoroughly rebuked. I apologize. Let me go back into
               my cubicle and discuss the latest Enterprise episode with
               all my Magic buddies.
             \_ Clearly ducking the issue.  Nice try but no points for that.
                GO BEAR!  WOOT!  Ya know, the phrase "football player rapist"
                didn't appear out of thin air.  Or maybe you've spent too
                much time in your cubicle?
               \_ don't we go over this every year?  and i thought
                  it was the basketball players. - danh
                \_ You are right. All football players are thugs and rapists.
                   There's not a good man among them. Thanks motd! --dim
                   \_ Yawn.  Take the grade school level debate tactics some
                      place that cares.  The rest of us outgrew this sort of
                      childish "take their point to the ridiculous extreme"
                      nonesense by junior high.  If you''ve got nothing to
                      say then don't bother.
                      \_ You obviously haven't listened to the Rush Limbaugh
                         show or Ann Coulter lately.
                         \_ Which still has nothing to do with anything.  Why
                            can't you make the simple effort of sticking to
                            the topic?  Don't bother posting if you're on drugs
                            and going off into la-la no-brains land.
                  \_ I'm a fan of rape.
                   \_ Come over here and sit on uncle aspo's lap
                \_ Or maybe you haven't watched enough football.
                   \_ This has something to do with the price of tea in China?
       \_ Did that Stanfurd quarterback Elway ever mention why he called the
          timeout when there was eight seconds remaining?
            \_ Yep, he admits it was a stupid thing for him to do. He got
               caught up in the moment.
             \_ How does the timing work?  What would have happend if Elway
                didn't call timeout at eight seconds left?  I don't know much
                about football.
                \_ Basically, he would've called it with 2-4 seconds left.
                     Then the field goal would've been the last play of the
                     game. Instead, the field goal took 4 seconds, so they
                     still had to kick the football back to Cal.