This is not so much Brian Kelly making excuses for himself as it is giving the ND administration a somewhat-veiled shot across the bow. If he was doing any fundraising, it wasn’t because he wanted to, it was because the powers that be in development (and possibly head administration) told him he had to.

It’s interesting that you didn’t want to use his last name, but 2 minutes of work on the Google machine and you can track his history down easily. As though he actually _did_ want to be found out, in the end.

Sharapova wouldn’t make the main draw? Nah, Forget about it.

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but this brings up a point of philosophy - is the ultimate goal of a franchise (really, in any sport) to win the championship? Or is it to maximize profits? Or a combination of the two? I would suspect that most owners, coaches, and GMs try to run their franchises under the…

No, the game can be extended as well at the request of the offended team in that instance.

Not here. The penalty was on the offensive team. The rule specifies only fouls committed by the defensive team. However, if the referee determined what the offense did was a “palpably unfair act,” the down could be repeated at the request of the offended team.

The gist of the issue here is that in the NFL, only accepted defensive penalties can extend the game with an untimed down. This is different from NCAA and HS where an accepted penalty against either team extends the game (with the exception of penalties that include a loss of down).

Rule 1 of the working world: the person who signs your paycheck is NEVER your friend, and you would be wise to never think otherwise.

You can't be serious. Next you’re going to tell us that Roger Goodell hears appeals of his own punishments.

Only tangentially related, but am I the only one who's noticed that the attitudes of Trump supporters and Paterno defenders are frighteningly similar?

Pitch #5 just barely caught the corner of the zone, but a pitch caught that horribly is going to be called a ball 99.9% of the time. The manager isn’t going to bitch at the umpire if he calls a ball there (unless it's an absolute cock shot) - he’s going to bitch at either his pitcher for crossing up the catcher, or…

The 1B umpire wasn’t ruling an infield fly, he was ruling an intentionally dropped ball by Kinsler. In that case, the ball is dead, the batter is out, and the runners return to the bases occupied at the time of the pitch. To have that situation, though, the fielder has to actually touch the ball, and it doesn’t look…

Great googly moogly.

I’ll be honest - I was expecting more “hurr durr the officials suck” in this article, but you pretty much hit this on the nose. Not only is the NFL rule book complex, but it’s significantly different from the NCAA rule book, which is essentially the only training ground for NFL officials now.

Translation: We suck, I’m tired, and we just won at home, so I’m out.

True, but there’s also no guarantee that he even comes back next season. Unlike other leagues, the NFL can terminate officials who are not performing up to standard at the end of a season. As an official myself, I understand the mindset, and I’m pretty certain he’s not happy to have an unexpected one-game vacation.

Losing a game is actually a pretty big deal for a football official. It’s less about the pay and more about being on the field and actually working. This mistake probably also cost him any chance at postseason assignments.

It’s from the MLB Umpire’s Manual, which has the mechanics for how umpires set up and move, as well as rules interpretations approved by the league office.

My wedding reception was at our local pub (they had a second-floor event space), and after the time allotted for the reception had elapsed, we all went downstairs and watched baseball. People still remark that we had the best wedding reception ever.