Colorado 30 for 30 - it still kills me...

[stu4don]

Worst call in the history of college football! ; ) Hey, I'm a fan but damn, Rocket was the man! And a typical ND fan who takes a moving story about Colorado and turns it into a story about ND. But it is a great 30 moving story!

But it is also pretty cool how dominant ND was to college football those years... Holtz had the horses and was a great coach. Watch the show -- see how ND dominates and the respect this Colorado players have to Rocket. He was -- and remains - the most exciting player I've ever seen.

Great story, Colorado during that time. But that Rocket punt return...

(*My story that night: I was back east from Los Angeles for the holidays and drove up to Dobbs Ferry, NY from my sister's house in Southern Jersey to watch the game with my grandfather who was 80, great man a lawyer who had gone to Fordham and had watched the ND/Army games at Yankee stadium in the 20s -- he was dying of cancer and my grandmother had gone a few years before. Somewhere in the third quarter with ND in the lead he was feeling tired and needed to go bed. I drove his 83 year old brother to his house nearby and started the drive home alone to New Jersey. Somewhere on the Garden State Parkway -- listening to the game and bumming out that we weren't going to win -- Rocket ran that one back. I started screaming and honking the horn, we did it we did it! Then, a voice... "Wait, there's a flag... " I screamed again. Louder! How many memories during the years before every game was on tv -- listening to the radio -- sneaking out of weddings while Reggie Ho beat Michigan, etc, listening to ND tie Michigan St when I was ten and win it all.. Cheering for Montana and yes, Rudi when I was a student. Being at the Cotton Bowl and the Feista bowl to get the last two. Great memories. But that night was special. When my Grandfather went to bed, ND was winning....)

There is something about this year's team... I have this feeling... I wonder. Go Irish...

 

[perseverare]

yep
Colorado
BC
USC(20-17)

3NC's a play away!

 

[twalsh]

Worst call in the history of college football! ; ) Hey, I'm a fan but damn, Rocket was the man! And a typical ND fan who takes a moving story about Colorado and turns it into a story about ND. But it is a great 30 moving story!

But it is also pretty cool how dominant ND was to college football those years... Holtz had the horses and was a great coach. Watch the show -- see how ND dominates and the respect this Colorado players have to Rocket. He was -- and remains - the most exciting player I've ever seen.

Great story, Colorado during that time. But that Rocket punt return...

(*My story that night: I was back east from Los Angeles for the holidays and drove up to Dobbs Ferry, NY from my sister's house in Southern Jersey to watch the game with my grandfather who was 80, great man a lawyer who had gone to Fordham and had watched the ND/Army games at Yankee stadium in the 20s -- he was dying of cancer and my grandmother had gone a few years before. Somewhere in the third quarter with ND in the lead he was feeling tired and needed to go bed. I drove his 83 year old brother to his house nearby and started the drive home alone to New Jersey. Somewhere on the Garden State Parkway -- listening to the game and bumming out that we weren't going to win -- Rocket ran that one back. I started screaming and honking the horn, we did it we did it! Then, a voice... "Wait, there's a flag... " I screamed again. Louder! How many memories during the years before every game was on tv -- listening to the radio -- sneaking out of weddings while Reggie Ho beat Michigan, etc, listening to ND tie Michigan St when I was ten and win it all.. Cheering for Montana and yes, Rudi when I was a student. Being at the Cotton Bowl and the Feista bowl to get the last two. Great memories. But that night was special. When my Grandfather went to bed, ND was winning....)

There is something about this year's team... I have this feeling... I wonder. Go Irish...

I was sitting on about the 40 yd line at the end where Rocket caught the punt. Sometimes I think I was the only person who actually saw the flag thrown. I was slumped in my seat before he ever got to the end zone. Without that flag, McCartney punting to Rocket with just a minute left to win a national championship would go down as one of the biggest coaching boffos ever. That flag saved his butt.

 

[schadenfreude]

I was sitting on about the 40 yd line at the end where Rocket caught the punt. Sometimes I think I was the only person who actually saw the flag thrown. I was slumped in my seat before he ever got to the end zone. Without that flag, McCartney punting to Rocket with just a minute left to win a national championship would go down as one of the biggest coaching boffos ever. That flag saved his butt.

In the 30 for 30, McCartney claimed he told his All American punter to kick it out of the end zone. Don't understand why an All American punter can't aim to kick it out of bounds aiming for the 10 yard line. Hell, we routinely were able to do that in high school.

 

[SwlaDukie]

I was like a little kid and started following Notre Dame and sports in general then. It killed me to see Colorado win that championship. I still hate their school for that reason. I dont totally know if I really understood what actually took place, but I know it sucked. Till this day Tony Rice is still my favorite college football player of all time, but Tommy Frazier is a close 2nd. But I have to admit Eric Bieniemy had one of the coolest names of all time, and he was a pretty decent back too.

 

[South Bender]

In the 30 for 30, McCartney claimed he told his All American punter to kick it out of the end zone. Don't understand why an All American punter can't aim to kick it out of bounds aiming for the 10 yard line. Hell, we routinely were able to do that in high school.

That's just foolish. Like telling him, "Hey, I'd like a 70 or 80 yard punt on this one".
Or telling your quarterback "Why don't you go out and throw a touchdown pass on
this next possession". Just because you ask for it, doesn't mean your going to get it.

Anything could happen in that situation, why take the chance that your punter could
execute a perfect punt - especially with a Natty on the line.

You're right - the flag saved him.

 

[Classic Irish]

Worst call in the history of college football! ; )

Nope. That would be southern cal's game-winning phantom TD in the 1982 ND-southern cal game. Atrocious.

 

[theskibro]

Nope. That would be southern cal's game-winning phantom TD in the 1982 ND-southern cal game. Atrocious.

Don

Great story. Yes, worst call ever. That Colorado guy would have zero impact on the punt return and I will always not like Greg Davis for his stupidity. There is no excuse for that clip or phantom clip - Davis should give Rocket a wide berth, he does not need any help. To even try to block from an angle from behind is stupid STUPID That is why when you google Greg Davis, it is almost like he has vanished. The guy cannot be fondly remembered.

 

[echowaker]

Don

Great story. Yes, worst call ever. That Colorado guy would have zero impact on the punt return and I will always not like Greg Davis for his stupidity. There is no excuse for that clip or phantom clip - Davis should give Rocket a wide berth, he does not need any help. To even try to block from an angle from behind is stupid STUPID That is why when you google Greg Davis, it is almost like he has vanished. The guy cannot be fondly remembered.

i had no problem with the call. that's all on davis. NO reason to engage the Colorado player. officials are instructed to react to what they see. McCartney certainly dodged a bullet there but I don't blame the official one bit. he did what he was trained to do. nothing phantom about it.

 

[twalsh]

Nope. That would be southern cal's game-winning phantom TD in the 1982 ND-southern cal game. Atrocious.

I was at that game too. I witnessed all sorts of unfortunate moments I guess.

 

[Toby Smart]

What was worse. The "penalty" vs Colorado or the "penalty" vs FSU? The phantom USC TD was pretty bad also. On a much lesser note, so was the penalty on John Carlson when he signaled for a first down after a catch. I have only seen that that done by players in college and the NFL about a million times with no flag thrown. The "Bush Push" was a penalty but the refs decide what penalties they will call and what penalties they won't. Rule book be damned.

 

[ivan brunetti]

What was worse. The "penalty" vs Colorado or the "penalty" vs FSU? The phantom USC TD was pretty bad also. On a much lesser note, so was the penalty on John Carlson when he signaled for a first down after a catch. I have only seen that that done by players in college and the NFL about a million times with no flag thrown. The "Bush Push" was a penalty but the refs decide what penalties they will call and what penalties they won't. Rule book be damned.

The refs never call the Bush Push. ND used one to tie Pitt and eventually win in 2012.

 

[HDK]

I'd say the Colorado call was the most disappointing, but when I saw the replay it looked like a clip and he didn't even need to make the block because Rocket was past that potential tackler. I remember when Colorado punted, I stood up and starting shouting, "Oh my God! They're kicking to the Rocket!!!" over and over as the play unfolded.

Another very painful call came in the '78 USC game after we roared back with three fourth quarter TDs to take a 1-point lead. On USC's last drive, one of our players knocked the ball out of the USC QB's hand, but they ruled his arm was going forward so it was an incomplete pass. On the next play he completed a pass for about 20 yards to set up the winning field goal.

I remember when Haden announced for NBC, he often said that John McKay used to say whenever USC played ND that the referee's name was O'Reilly. That may have been true, but if so, it was pretty obvious O'Reilly was a USC fan.

But I can remember a fair number of calls that went our way too. When Bob Davie was coach we got an incredibly generous spot on a fourth down pass that actually allowed us to continue a game-winning drive against Navy one year.

 

[IowaIrish1]

The reason they didn't win the game is because they couldn't score more than 10 points! They also missed a PAT! But, I'd rather see that than a 42-14 beat down.

 

[raburgard]

Enjoyed this 30 for 30, was only 9 and didn't have a clue about the Sal story - what a heart breaking story. Crazy that he got the coaches daughter pregnant! Almost seems fitting to have part of him continue in that awkward circumstance giving his life was cut short a year later.

I remember also thinking Enberg was calling him The Enemy unstead of Bienemy

 

[WhySeperateKnob]

Enjoyed this 30 for 30, was only 9 and didn't have a clue about the Sal story - what a heart breaking story. Crazy that he got the coaches daughter pregnant! Almost seems fitting to have part of him continue in that awkward circumstance giving his life was cut short a year later.

I remember also thinking Enberg was calling him The Enemy unstead of Bienemy

Even crazier is that three or four years later, his daughter had another son by a different player. That son is currently on CU's roster, defensive lineman Derek McCartney. For all his Promise Keeper bluster, McCartney sure had some issues going on at home with his daughter. This was curiously omitted from the 30 for 30 show, probably did not want to pile on............

 

[Toby Smart]

And no one questions the fifth down play that eventually led to a Colorado split title? That was the single worst idiotic mistake by any officiating crew. And, the pollsters had no shame as they didn't even consider that without major help, Colorado doesn't win that game. And, to go one step further, what the hell was the Missouri staff doing before that play even happened? Were they even paying attention? If McCartney kept on coaching, he could have well developed the Buffs into the Miami / FSU of the Rockies.

 

[twalsh]

What was worse. The "penalty" vs Colorado or the "penalty" vs FSU? The phantom USC TD was pretty bad also. On a much lesser note, so was the penalty on John Carlson when he signaled for a first down after a catch. I have only seen that that done by players in college and the NFL about a million times with no flag thrown. The "Bush Push" was a penalty but the refs decide what penalties they will call and what penalties they won't. Rule book be damned.

In looking at the replays, the clip call vs Colorado was the more questionable call. To a large degree because the play was already past the point of the penalty. IMHO, in that case, unless it's a blatant foul, you let it go. It was not blatant. I thought the FSU penalty was one that is seldom called, but was not necessarily a bad call after looking at the replay. Fuller and Prosise just didn't sell it as well as they could have.