One Year Later: This Year We Got Hosed

Adam Markowitz
Saturday June 2, 2007

I’m sure everyone is waiting for my tirade about how bad the officiating was in the Orlando Predators showdown with the San Jose SaberCats on Friday night.  My problem is that I was speechless after James Roe clearly fumbled around the Predators 2-yard line through the end zone in what should have been ruled a touchback, but instead was ruled a touchdown to give the SaberCats a 52-45 lead in the 4th quarter.  So on the same weekend that Clint Dolezel thought he got hosed in the 2006 National Conference title game a year ago, the Orlando Predators can definitively say that they got hosed last night.

Here’s my thing about that… How blind do you have to be to become an official in this league?  I mean, when you’re standing right on the goal line and can’t tell that a ball was popped out a full two yards away from where you’re standing, you need some serious help.  I’m not sure whether it was the line judge or the back judge that blew that call, but the entire Riley Johnson crew should be forced to issue an apology to the Orlando Predators and be punished for a blatantly terrible call that clearly changed how the remainder of the game was played.

That being said, there are plenty of other things that came out of an otherwise entertaining game between two playoff bound teams, both positive and negative.

First off, anyone who has spent any time around me knows that after just about every Predators game, win or lose, I have something to be unhappy about.  But yesterday, in a game that there were plenty of Predators blunders (I must have yelled, “You idiot Gruden!” no less than 50 times), I realize that we played about as well as we could have.

So many times, coaches in all sports say that they have to overcome officiating and that questionable calls are a part of the game.  What more did the Predators have to overcome?  They were a double digit underdog, on the road, across the country, in a place where basically no road team ever wins, against an offense that averages over 60 points a game, and coming off of a tough loss to Utah.  They overcame two turnovers, questionable play-calling, even more questionable clock management, several dropped passes, some pretty lousy throws, a seven to four penalty differential, a tremendous officiating blunder that handed the SaberCats seven points… And still were a split second away from being in a position to beat mighty San Jose.

I can’t complain, but I still have plenty of thoughts.

1)  If I had to guess, if DeAndrew Rubin is healthy next week, Javarus Dudley has played his last game as an Orlando Predator.  Though he leads the team in receiving by a country mile and had another four-touchdown effort in last night’s game, he dropped the last pass of the game in the end zone, which would have put the Predators within either a kick of tying the game, or a 2-point conversion play from taking the lead inside 1:00.  This was eerily similar to the play when he dropped what would’ve been a touchdown in overtime to bring the Preds back within 1 of the Los Angeles Avengers.

2)  Greg White is real good.  Too bad he probably won’t be a Predator next year.  He’ll be playing on Sunday’s in the NFL.  In just nine games played this year, White eclipsed Silas Demary’s single season sack record when he recorded his 14th sack of the year on Mark Grieb in the 2nd half.  Even when White isn’t sacking quarterbacks, he is constantly in the opposition’s backfield causing havoc.  With as many tremendous pass rushers as the Orlando Predators have had in their storied history, Greg White is far and above the best one of them all.

3)  Memo to Jay Gruden: Throw the WR inside handoff out of the playbook.  I can only recall that play being run four times this year for Orlando (though I’m sure it has happened more than just four times).  The first time, Javarus Dudley took the handoff from the 1-yard line and scored on the last play of the half in Tampa Bay.  That was the only time I ever recall the play having a positive outcome.  Both Georgia and Utah managed stops on downs when the Preds ran that play on 4th and short yardage, and against San Jose, not only was the play stopped, but Ron Johnson fumbled the ball, and Omarr Smith raced the length of the field for the touchdown.

4)  Orlando is every bit as good as San Jose is.  I really thought this game had a 72-37 beat down written all over it for the home team when I turned on the television, especially after Shane Stafford was intercepted on the first drive, but the team showed resiliency, overcoming a number of times that they could have folded up shop and gotten trampled by the SaberCats.  However, this isn’t encouraging to me at all, having nothing to do with my Preds…

5)  If Greg White is real good, the Georgia Force and Dallas Desperados are really, really good.  I mean, Dallas and Georgia absolutely manhandled Orlando like no one else has this season, and if San Jose is really one of the best teams that the American Conference has to offer, the winner of the ArenaBowl should absolutely be the winner of the very predictable Dallas/Georgia National Conference final.  Then again, I guess the winner of the previous two ArenaBowls probably should have been the winner of the same National Conference title game as well…

On a night where just about everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for the Preds, at least they can rest easy with this thought in mind.  They are still 7-6, and one of just three teams in the National Conference who currently sit over .500.  The Philadelphia Soul lost to the Dallas Desperados on Friday 59-56, and the 6-6 Columbus Destroyers face the daunting task of traveling to Georgia to take on the Force, who must be thinking payback after losing in Columbus earlier in the season.  However, with New York, Georgia, and Philadelphia left on the schedule, the Preds are going to need to find a way to win at least one of these games if they think they’re hosting a playoff game this season.