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Olympic Fan
09-13-2011, 06:40 PM
This is bizarre ...

Anybody else stay up Saturday night and see the end of the Utah-Southern Cal game from the Coliseum in LA?

Here's the situation: USC is up 17-14 with seconds left as Utah lines up for a 41-yard game-tying field goal. The kick is blocked and USC's Torrin Harris picks it up and heads for the end zone. Before he gets there, the clock runs out and the USC team pours onto the field. The officials throw their flags -- clearly before Harris crosses the goalline. After a call to the press box, the officials rule that because of the new celebration penalty, the touchdown doesn't count and the final score is 17-14 USC.

But, wait ... several hours later, after consultation withe the Pac 12 office, the officials claim there was a "miscommunication" and that the penalty should have been unsportsmanlike behavior -- a deadball penalty -- and not the new celebration rule (which declares that if it occurs before the TD is scored, it's enforced from the spot the ball is when the penalty is called). By rule, the TD should have counted. Only thing is, if that's what the officials meant to call, then why didn't they have USC line up for the extra point?

No matter -- the Pac 12 ruled that the touchdown DID count and that the final score is officially 23-14 USC.

Why does this matter?

Well, it turns out that the bettring line on the game was either 8 or 8 1/2 points, depending on the casino in Vegas. So the ruling changed the winner (vs. the line) from Utah to USC.

That's not the end of the story. Apparently, about half the Vegas casinos have rules that postgame forfeits or protests or scorechanges will not impact the bets -- hence those casinos pay out Utah as the winner. The other half of the casinos have no such rule, so they pay out USC as the winner. I wonder how many Utah bettors got paid at that second group of casinos before the final score was changed? And how many USC bettors threw their tickets away before the score was reversed?

What a crazy outcome.

OldPhiKap
09-13-2011, 08:24 PM
The WSJ had a great article on this today. Some casinos paid out Utah tix for two hours, then had to pay out USC tix afterwards.

Some casinos have a rule that subsequent changes in score do not affect the outcome and did not pay out USC. (This rule sometimes comes up in basketball, when a late 3 is converted to a 2 for example).

sue71, esq
09-13-2011, 10:50 PM
Oh this is a disaster of epic proportion out here. You don't mess with the sports books. It's going to the state gaming commission... read this article (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/12/fbc-changed-score-vegas/) and you'll see what's going on, but wow, it's a mess.

Don't mess with our gaming. (I say it tongue in cheek, from my personal perspective, because I'm laughing about it, but wow do people out here take it super seriously.)

Here's another article (http://www.lvrj.com/sports/revised-usc-utah-score-creates-confusion-at-sports-books-129630143.html).

SoCalDukeFan
09-13-2011, 11:48 PM
First of we always stay until the end of the game. The first thing that happened was, with less a minute to go, Utah got a bad spot and the ball went to USC on downs. We started to leave. Halfway out they had a review of the spot and Utah got a 1st down. Pass interference on USC, we are now standing trying to figure out what to do if its overtime. Field goal blocked, TD outta here. Wait flag. There is a rumors sweeping where we are standing that illegal substitution on USC which would have given Utah another field goal try. But no, unsportsmanlike penalty on the bench, game over. Scoreboard says 23-14. In the car going on they said it was 17-14. I played golf without reading the Sunday paper and thought the score was 17-14 until 1 o'clock or so on Sunday.

The latest "explanation" from the Pac 12 is that there was poor communication between the officials and the scoreboard operator. The officials saw the 23-14 and thought everything was okay and left. The referee after announcing the unsportsmanlike penalty did not raise his arms in the air and signal touchdown which was the major problem in my opinion. When the officials came out of their locker room an hour or so after the game, they were confronted by the USC radio guy who asked why the last touchdown did not count and the officials were surprised that it had not counted. So then the Pac 12 was contacted and I guess get it right.

Nice to have been at a historic game.

SoCal