Ref's asked coaches to take timeouts for commercials????

[Philly Fin Fan]

Wow, just amazing....

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Jeff-Fisher-was-asked-to-call-timeouts-for-MNF-c?urn=nfl-278323
Jeff Fisher was asked to call timeouts for MNF commercial breaks
By Doug Farrar

Our own Chris Chase wondered earlier Tuesday why Chris Johnson was in the game so late when the Tennessee Titans were beating up on the Jacksonville Jaguars on "Monday Night Football." You may have wondered why Jags head coach Jack Del Rio seemed insistent on prolonging the suffering in a 30-3 laugher in which we saw far too little interesting football and far too much Trent Edwards(notes). Titans coach Jeff Fisher intimated in Chase's piece that he kept the pedal to the floor because of the two timeouts Del Rio called after the two-minute warning, but as it turns out, Del Rio had a reason for doing so that went beyond the strategic:

"Jack used his timeouts," Fisher said. "My understanding is they needed network timeouts, and that's why Jack used his timeouts. They came over and asked me to do it, but I said, 'I was hoping to get a first down and kneel on it.'"

Fisher has an interesting sense of humor (you may remember that he tried to break his team's 2009 losing streak by donning a Peyton Manning jersey), but in this case, he wasn't joking. Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com has the real story, based on Fisher's Tuesday press conference with the local media:

"At the two-minute warning in every game in the fourth quarter, there are conversations that go by. There's conversations that take place at the two-minute warning before the first half. But there's conversations that take place, and it's the official's responsibility to give the head coach a status of commercials and TV timeouts," Fisher said. "Yesterday, I was told that they were two short. And they looked at me and smiled, and I said, 'Sorry, I can't help you.' Mike Carey came across and said, 'Here's the deal. We're two short.' And I said, 'Mike, I can't help you. I'm trying to get a first down and I'm gonna kneel on it.'

McCormick told me that he did not know (nor did Fisher) whether Del Rio took his timeouts in accordance with Carey's request, or the league's specific need for TV timeouts.

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about this story -- the part that made it so hard to believe at first -- is the idea of a television network, and the need for ad revenue, deciding the pace of a game (no matter how awful it may be). That Carey would break away from his responsibility as a supposedly objective arbiter of the on-field action to try and wrangle timeouts from coaches in the name of commercial breaks -- well, this is where we truly have gone down the rabbit hole. And judging from Fisher's comments, this happens all the time.

Hmmm. Maybe when we blame Andy Reid and other coaches for all that clock-mangling inside the two-minute warning, it's been another culprit all along?

[jtex316]

I don't have any problem with this - but I'm sure this will get extremely blown out of proportion like every other non-story in sports in the last 15 years.

It's actually neat to get a perspective of what really is discussed on the field - the parts that ESPN or NFL Films won't show you when someone is "Mic'd Up". And - here comes a huge shocker - ad revenues is what makes it possible to have a Monday Night Football - so two timeouts at past 11PM EST in a blowout game at the end of the game may lead to 25 smelly football nerds with nothing better to do bitching about it on message boards. But it makes no lick of difference whatsoever.

[Sunstroke]

As someone who lost multiple fantasy matchups on Chris Johnson's garbage time TD...and one 1-point loss on the Bironas extra point of the aforementioned garbage TD...I think this sucks extreme balls. How dare these network ass-gophers think that their precious million dollar ad revenues are more important than my fantasy glory!!

Fucking sociopathic bitches...all of 'em.

 

[mecadonzilla]

What the NFL execs are missing is that most everyone had either tuned out long before the end of the game or was watching the game on DVR and fast forwarded through the commercials anyway.

I didn't watch one single commercial this NFL football weekend, and I feel better for it.  Thank you, DVR.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

And I thought the Buffalo wings commercials were faked!  Wow, I am a sucker. 

[Spider-Dan]

So apparently this whole story is just Jeff Fisher being Jeff Fisher.

Keep in mind that this is the same guy that wore a Peyton Manning jersey (Colts, not Volunteers) to a charity event in Tennessee when the Titans were 0-6 because he "wanted to feel like a winner."

NFL coaches are informed of the commercial status at the two-minute warning of both halves, but there has been zero corroboration of the claim that anyone asked Del Rio to take (essentially) a TV timeout.  If you watch the video of Fisher's original statement, it's not exactly the most serious conversation in the history of journalism.  He could have been serious, but it's doubtful.

[bsmooth]

I remember when the announcers used to say a tv timeout was called.

[Pappy13]

^^ That's a different issue.  If the clock is stopped, they actually can call a TV timeout and wait till they get back from commercial to restart play.  This is a case where the play clock is running and they wanted him to stop the clock so they could cut to commercial.

[Dave Gray]

I don't have time to comment right now, but this is a very troubling trend.