Social (Media) Justice: Patriots Poking Referees, Courtesy of LeBron James
The New England Patriots' season wasn't doomed by bad officiating, but more so an anemic offense, a slew of injuries and general dysfunction.
But that doesn't change the fact that human referees suck. Possibly more than ever.
In our rapid trend toward tech assisting every aspect of our daily lives, the mistakes of flawed, flesh-and-blood officials are becoming more stark. Tennis has done away with human linespeople. Robot umpires will rule minor-league baseball this season. And seemingly everyone's vocabulary these days includes "Siri", "Alexa" or "Hey, Google."
But over the weekend blatant missed calls in the NBA and NFL stole the headlines from otherwise fantastic finishes. LeBron James was fouled. DeVonta Smith dropped it. Patrick Mahomes was pushed ... but flopped?
It may be offseason for the Pats, but the team's social media department is still hard at work. And the snarky, savvy group jumped on the chance to remind followers about a certain controversial call that went against New England last season.
Thanksgiving night. Hunter Henry. Touchdown. Replay. Incompletion.
Said Henry, "I caught it!"
Ring a bell?
Given the inexplicable vagueness of the NFL's catch rule, it's still to this day difficult to say that it should have been a touchdown. But it's equally difficult to say that it shouldn't have been a touchdown. Surely, evidence exists to make either case ... which isn't really ideal in a league the purportedly strives to have black-and-white rules.
With that touchdown, maybe the Pats beat the Minnesota Vikings. With that win, a 9-8 Patriots team definitely would have made the playoffs. From there ... who knows?
Regardless, the social media post was pure genius. It drew upon the obviously missed foul call against LeBron in the Los Angeles Lakers' overtime loss to the Boston Celtics Sunday, during which Patrick Beverly approached referees with a camera showing a still-shot of Jayson Tatum clearly whacking his teammate's shooting arm.
In this version of Pats' reality, however, Beverly was also showing officials that they were wrong about Henry's catch.
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