Game's result was never guaranteed

In a lifetime of watching them and nearly 20 years of covering them, I’ve learned three undeniable truths about sports:

n We often take them far more seriously than we should.

n We assign high importance and low importance to events that are often of the same importance.

n It’s like life: Some people get substantially more credit or blame than they deserve, some people have to clean up messes they didn’t create and it isn’t always fair. But you still compete.

That brings us to the week-long discussion that has emerged since Sunday, when it was determined the Los Angeles Rams would be going to the Super Bowl and the New Orleans Saints would not.

Most fans believe it should be vice versa, based on a fourth-quarter non-call. Saints quarterback Drew Brees dropped back to pass with 1:49 left on the clock, and fired a pass to TommyLee Lewis. Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman delivered a punishing hit before the ball arrived, and the pass fell incomplete.

Had the officiating crew called pass interference, the Saints would have received a first down, then run down the clock for a short game-winning field goal. Instead, the Saints kicked a go-ahead field goal, the Rams were able to answer with a field goal of their own to force overtime and the overtime period went to the Rams.

Some of my friends who follow the Saints were beside themselves, and taking it far more seriously than they should. The NFL had robbed the Saints of their hard-earned Super Bowl bid, they said. The league knew the call was wrong, and should have awarded the game to the Saints.

I agreed the call was awful, the NFL had the opportunity to make the right call during the game and didn’t. I didn’t agree the Saints should just be awarded the game, however. That assumes the Saints make the ensuing field goal, which is never a guarantee. I seem to remember everybody going nuts two weeks ago because Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed a game-winning field goal. Granted, the Saints kicker had a far easier attempt than Parkey, but we shouldn’t just discount his chances of making a mistake, or the Rams’ chances of blocking the kick.

Besides, you should know to never assume the field goal if you’ve been a Saints fan for a while. Remember the River City Relay? That’s from 2003, when the Saints needed a win to stay in the playoff race and trailed the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-13. The team executed a miraculous 75-yard play with three laterals. Then Jon Carney, one of the most reliable kickers in league history, booted the extra point wide right.

I also noted the Saints blew a 13-0 first-quarter lead, the defense allowed a late drive for the Rams’ game-tying field goal, and Brees threw an interception after the Saints won the coin toss in overtime. One of those things doesn’t happen, the Saints win and the missed call is an afterthought. But we assign importance to events based on how much we want them to matter instead of how much they did matter.

You know who’s joining the Rams in the Super Bowl? The New England Patriots. That’s the team that won the coin toss in overtime and took care of business. Maybe it’s not fair, but you still compete.

Kevin Wilson is editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

[email protected]