tbrandel said, "While I agree that the officiating mistakes in the OU-Oregon game did not reach historical or biblical proportions, when you examine what's potentially riding on that game, I can't help but agree with the OU people. Because there's no playoff system in college football, one loss essentially means you're out of the running for a national championship. Not that I think OU has the firepower to contend for a national title this year, but they are certainly among the top 15 or 20 teams in the country. That loss effectively dashed their hopes at a national title, and seriously dented their hopes of a BCS bid -- and all of the money/exposure/hype/recruiting value/alumni support/etc. that come with a BCS bid."

One loss eliminates a team from the BCS title game except when it doesn't. Since 1998, 4 of the 8 BCS title games have included a team with one loss (and both teams in the 2003 season, a game that included Oklahoma, no less, and a season with two champions, each with one loss).

Hey, everyone wanted replay, right? That's why we've got it now. Perhaps we need to take this a step further. I remember back in the Little League I played in, when a coach disagreed with rulings on the fields by officials, he could note that the game was being played under protest. The game was played out, then sent to those above for review. To keep from having too many protests, a team lodging the protest had to put down a financial stake in the protest.

If the protest was upheld (the call reversed, or whatever), the team got their money back, the part of the game after the protest was erased, the rest of the game rescheduled, the teams met again, and played the rest of the game from that point on. If the protest failed, the rest of the game stood as played.

Think of the excitement this could generate. We could have a special event to see Oklahoma/Oregon play out the last 1 minute 9 seconds again with Oklahoma getting the onside kick and running out the clock. Will they be able to run out the clock, or will a freak fumble derail their plans. LSU and Auburn could possibly meet again, if so ruled. On the NFL side, we could see Pittsburgh and Miami from week 1 replay from the missed Miami instant replay flag thrown but missed by the officials. Think of the TV promos: "This time we'll really get it right (unless there is another screw-up, then we'll have to do this all over again)"

In general, I mean. Specifically, it's a toss up.

I live in Oregon. This column is the first I've heard of this controversy. Oh, I knew Oregon won the game, because I overhead someone mention it at my son's soccer game.

Now, obviously I don't follow college football. But that only illustrates my point. It's not important. When important things happen, I actually hear about them. I'm not uninformed. I just have priorities. Blown call in a football game? Not so important.

Is this situation disappointing for the Oklahoma team and fans? Certainly. Is it worthy of some kvetching? Probably. People kvetch. I kvetch. No problem. Kvetch away football fans.

The coach is obviously an idiot, and frankly based on his pouty reaction and his million-to-none non-equivalence notion I'm glad his team lost. What a joke.

But beyond him, is this unfortunate sequence of errors worth an embarrassing public hissy fit by the president of a university? Any university, even Oklahoma?

And is it worth a single death threat against anyone?

People are insane. There's a reason why I quit following sports with any real energy (though I still enjoy watching all kinds of sports -- I just don't care who wins anymore), and it's at least partly because of insane nonsense like this.

Death threats?

It's great to have King back to inject a little sanity into what has become a sea of craziness. Before replay was used there were bad calls all the time in football, several every game, often huge calls possibly turning wins into losses. Testaverde being called accross the goal line against Seattle, Rob Lytle being called down by contact in an Oakland-Denver playoff game, Mike Renfro being denied a touchdown in the AFC championship. This used to happen all the time, fans of the losing team would be incensed for a few days, and then you would settle down into your perpetual state of bitterness about the loss and the game would become part of sports lore.

As King points out with the advent of the replay review system we expect every call to be perfect and accept no error. But what the Oklahoma people have completely forgotten is that without replay the outcome of the game would have been the same. They have no reason to be more outraged than any other fan whose team was robbed by a bad call. And anyone who has watched sports long enough has had their team robbed at least a few times. This was garden variety stuff. Please calm down and shut up!

It's a football game. Get over it, and yourselves.

I think we need to shut down sports for a while and investigate this travesty of justice. Every other sporting event has been officiated perfectly, and settled only by the skill of the teams! We weep for you, Oklahoma.

Sincerely,

The '85 Cardinals

The '05 Colts

The last-week Football Giants

The '96 Orioles

The '99 Sabres

The '90 Missouri Tigers Football Team (and Georgia Tech too)

The '98 Roy Jones, Jr.'s

I don't think it is "standard policy throughout college football" to have officials from the home team's conference officiate non-conference games. If I recall correctly, for example, an SEC crew worked the Alabama/Oklahoma game in Norman one year followed by a Big XII crew that worked the Oklahoma/Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. Perhaps this policy, and not the one you stated as a matter of fact, is more widespread? If so, is it possible the Pac 10 policy is non-standard? The replay review of the onside kick at the end of that game in Eugene was egregious and inexplicable, and Oregon's "victory" leaves a sick hole inside many Oklahoma football fans. We'll get over it. But don't patronize us.

Brandon Matheny

Worcester, Mass.