THIS IS A TOUCHDOWN??? BULLSH#%!!!

Here's a really good one for ya.  This comes from a college football matchup between the Wisconsin Badgers visiting the Michigan State Spartans in a crucial "Big 10" showdown.  If you follow college ball, then you know all about the money-grubbing conference realignment stuff.  Hell, the Big 10 ain't had ten teams in their conference since I was in school (let's just say that was a looong time ago).  That's another discussion altogether.

Anyways, check the scenario:  Wisconsin showed up in East Lansing (State's home turf) undefeated on their season, and ranked as the #6 team in the country.  Michigan State has been having a helluva year themselves, ranked #16, and looking like they wanna be a Big dawg.  There's plenty on the line here:

• Wisconsin entered the game in serious contention for the Big 10 Title AND the National Championship.
• Michigan State entered the game leading their own division within the conference, looking to make a statement on national television.
• The Winner would be the hands down favorite to take the conference title.

Now the game ended up tied, going into (likely) overtime after the final play.  And this part happens all the time.  A tied game is headed to the extra session, except for the hail mary pass at the gun.  And of course 99 times outta 100 the pass gets knocked down.  That other time...take a look

"Instant replay will have to decide now."  

What....THE FUCK....is that??!!!

I've got a huge problem with how this game ended.  Now I'm not mad at the Spartans.  They Won - cool.  What bothers me is how this game was determined.  The Winner was decided by some unseen, unknown bastard in a booth.  That's bullshit!!!

Wisconsin got robbed.  Consider two points: 1)the ruling on the field was that the guy didn't get in   2)typically under the circumstances, i.e. a tight ballgame, the refs let the players decide the outcome.  Now watch that clip again.  Was the ball crossing the goal line definitive enough to hand Michigan State the game, the inside track on Winning the Big 10 crown, end Wisconsin's undefeated season AND likely dash their National Championship hopes?

There's a whole lot riding on that call; not only does it have to be definitive enough to hand one team victory over another in the moment, it must be solid enough to withstand the avalanche of criticism.  Especially from Wisconsin backers, because it ended their championship hopes.  Do you see my point?

At this juncture of the season, a pivial matchup can have all kinds of implications.  Not just directly on the teams' seasons in the game, but also on the outcome of a given conference race, and even on the National Championship picture.  If Michigan State beats Wisconsin in OT, or the Badgers simply fuck up and hand Sparty the game, that's one thing; we can all live with that.  But such high stakes literally being decided by an arbitrary instant replay call is nonsense.

The solution to this mess is was simple.  Let the call stand on the field, go to overtime, and stand back while the Badgers and Spartans fight as long as they needed to, to settle it on the field.  Now THAT was the right call.  What do you think?