This Is Worse Than That Brandon Inge Thing

As you know, one of my annoyances in sports are refs who refuse to admit they made a fucking mistake.

Yes, by in large referees and officials do a good job.
Yes, commentators and douchebags who write on blogs should give refs/ups their due when they call a great game.
Yes, I will repeat that I respect the jobs these individual due and I understand it is difficult to get every call correct.

But this is just straight up horse shit.

During the Steelers-Browns game yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger attempted a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 in the second quarter. It was not clear whether Roethlisberger got the first down or not, so the official, Walt Anderson, called for a measurement.

What you are looking at above is a screen shot of said measurement. For those of you who are unfamiliar with football, the ball needs to be in line with the first down stick. Any part of the ball. If the equivalent of an Ångström of length is parallel to the first down marker, it is a first down. You do not need the whole ball or half the ball or anything significant to pass the stick to be a first down. As long as you don't see any space between the tip of the ball and the maker, it is a first down.

So I ask you, do you see any space?

Yes, yes you do. There is space meaning no first down.

If I'm writing this post, I'm sure you see where this is going.

According to Anderson, it was a first down. Steelers got a field goal to end the drive.

The final score was 27-14, Steelers. I highly doubt this call had anything to do with the final outcome. The Browns offense is anemic (197 net yards) and one of their touchdowns was on a Joshua Cribbs kick return. The game most likely would have ended with a Steeler win.

According to Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, here is Anderson's explanation of the above call:

Anderson told a pool reporter that the tip of the ball penetrated the plane of the marker's stake. He said the angle of the camera shot on TV might not have shown it, but he's sticking to his call.

I mean come the fuck on. That looks like a fairly straight-on shot. I don't know what angle he was looking at but there is no way on God's living earth that the tip of the ball penetrated the marker. The camera was not at some angle above or below where you can blame the photography.

You wanna know why the angle of the camera shot did not show the ball penetrating the marker? It is because the football did not penetrate the marker. Dot it. File it. Tag it. Put a post it on it with the word "done". Your job is to get calls correct. You blew this call. Don't tell me it was a poor camera angle. I'm not a moron, I can look forward and that's more than I can say for you.