How loud was it? The loudest EVER, that's all. Stadium videos of the replay call. Herbie & Musky deserve kudos

Two days after, and the ES has watched the last minute drive at least 50 times.  AT LEAST.  What an amazing story by Wojciechowski at ESPN.com.

I have ripped on Herbstreit & Co. for their blanket endorsement of Wisconsin, something that you don't expect out of someone as talented as he and the Game Day crew.  But, I have to give credit to Herbie and Brent Musburger for the post-game analysis, which I've just watched for the first time (since I was at the game, then at the Roadhouse to celebrate).  Musky called it "one of the great football games that I've been around.... It was unbelievable, I mean the whole game.... Oh, what a ball game, and what an unbelieveable ending."  Herbstreit: "and that's saying something... This is what makes college football so special."   Looking at the video, it is amazing how thousands of fans just wouldn't leave after the game, everyone just stunned celebration.  Several bloggers, including yours truly, are ranking it among the greatest college football games EVER PLAYED IN HISTORY (or try this) (dating back to Princeton & Rutgers in 1869).



I want to share with you below several clips that I've found from within the stadium of the timing of the announcement. Seriously, it must have hit 140 decibels in the stadium (ie a jet engine) -- the loudest single sound I have EVER HEARD in Spartan Stadium.  I have been attending Spartan football games for 25 years and never, NEVER, had it been as loud as on Saturday night. These all give you the sense of how AMAZING the experience was -- I'm not lying, it was truly one of the greatest single experiences of my entire life.

Thank you THANK YOU to everyone taking video in the Stadium.  It was historic, an amazing climax to one of the best games ever played.

Here is the announcement - just a BANG like an atomic bomb blast. Swear to the good Lord above.



Here is a video from the student section, right where the ES was standing, everyone in the stadium with their arms up signaling TD, when IT HAPPENED:







Here is a clip of the entire last drive, including the announcement:



Here is an amazing video of "Rocket," front row seat - ROW 3 to be exact:



Finally, a clip taken by the ES of the celebration of the players running to the corner of the endzone to celebrate with the student body:

The Case Against Instant Replay. Verdict: Execution.

The ES is now an avid hater of instant replay, particularly this year after seeing Michigan State get screwed royally time and again late in games. Mind you, Sparty still should have made plays to win the games, but if it is a "game of inches" then it really makes it a tough break when the replay refs overturn correct calls on the field. I'm gonna lobby against it unless something drastically changes. My arguments? Let us start with three exhibits, as follows.

Exhibit A: Michigan State vs. Iowa. 2009. With the game tied at 3-3 late in the 4th quarter, on a third and nine, Iowa QB Stanzi hangs his RB out to dry by floating a ball into the right flat. Spartan safety Marcus Hyde unloads on the RB and knocks him out with a clean hit. After lying on the carpet for two minutes, replay officials call down to the field and tell the ref to throw a flag for a personal foul. Replays clearly demonstrate Hyde's clean hit, yet… if the QB didn’t hang out his RB to get clobbered, and if the RB would have popped back up quickly, there would have been no foul. It is a physical game, and it goes both ways, yet the time the RB spent on the deck allowed the referee (who was bored and had nothing else to do, I guess) to call a penalty. Iowa drove the field and kicked a FG to take the lead. Screwed. MSU loses, 15-13.

Exhibit B: Michigan State vs. Minnesota. 2009. Minnesota QB Adam Weber throws a ball to RB Tow-Arnett who takes two steps before being stripped of the ball, recovered by MSU DB Chris Rucker and returned to the Minnesota 20. Replay officials review the call and miraculously overturn it, calling it incomplete. The very next play, Minnesota scores on a flukey ping-pong play in which the Weber throws to a receiver, who bobbles the ball, hits the ground, it pops back up in the air and into the hands of RB Bennett who goes the distance for a score. Replay officials fail to overturn it (ok, not the correct call on the field, replay still didn't do its job). Royally screwed. MSU loses 42-34.

Exhibit C: Michigan State vs. Michigan. 2008. Michigan QB Threet throws a ball to RB Brandon Minor on a 3rd and 11, who hits the pylon in mid-air (see it for yourself at right). The referees on the field call it out of bounds, as is the rule. The replay official overturns the call, and says the pylon is part of the field which it is not. Michigan scores a phantom TD. Screwed. MSU still wins, 35-21.

When replay refs give away first downs for legal hits (Iowa) or take away turnovers as clear as day (Minnesota)... it makes you wonder, what is the Big Ten doing? Last year, the replay refs gave a TD to Michigan when the player's foot hit the cone. Remarkably blind and dumb. And, that's just Michigan State taking it on the chin from the replay.

I'm now convinced the replay is relied upon too much (after virtually every TD) and more often than not, they do NOT use indisputable evidence but instead take their time to make the call they way THEY see it, which is not the rule. It just doesn't work.

Either take it away (and save money), or implement it only where coaches can request a replay - allowed one call a half at most, and you lose your opportunity for a second call if you lose the first; plus, if you lose any call, you lose a timeout. Don't make it automatic after everything.

Instant replay must be overhauled or it must die. With these seeing-impaired and mentally-challenged jokers in the Big Ten replay booth, mistakes will continue. The ES misses the good ole days, when ALL the action was on the field – good and bad.