German conspiracy?

[tucker rocky]

I don't know if anyone has read or seen it, but I'll post it anyway.

Article:

(April 7, 2005) -- One of the most exciting moments in sports comes when the crowd starts chanting the game-ending countdown, second by second, in whatever language they happen to use. In Cologne, it's German, of course, but apparently, the countdown goes something like this:
" Zehn! ... acht! ... funf! ... zwei! ... kaput!" Or in English, "Ten, eight, five, two ... OVER!"

That's not actually what happened at the end of Cologne's frantic 24-23 victory against Hamburg -- the reality was far more bizarre. The New York Jets thought they had problems with clock management last year? How about problems with the clock itself!

With Hamburg on the Cologne 33-yard line, fourth down and a timeout remaining, the scene was set for a dramatic 50-yard field-goal attempt by Todd France, who already had tied a league record by making five of six attempts, including one from 48 yards and a four-pointer from 54. Hamburg coach Jack Bicknell takes up the story:

"It had gone perfectly -- the way you want it to work when you're down by a point -- and then it all went haywire," he explained. "We held them in their own end, used two of our three timeouts, and the two-minute warning, got the ball back and moved it into field-goal range, and we've got our third timeout."

In fact, the Sea Devils were at the Cologne 33, third-and-9, with 51 seconds left, when they drew a false-start penalty. The clock kept moving, however, as they got four yards back with a run. Then Bicknell called for the kick.

"Our quarterback (Casey Bramlett) told the referee we'd be taking a timeout, and turned to check with me to see how much time I wanted to leave on the clock," he said. "Then the clock went into a sort of freefall, and before we could say anything, it had hit double-zeroes and we're all shouting."

The pictures on DSF, the German equivalent of ESPN, happened to be focusing on the scoreboard, for a countdown, so the free-falling numbers are there to see, moving down suddenly in double-time. With the clock at zero and the Centurion players storming onto the field, the officials crossed their arms and the game ended.

According to the NFLEL's investigation, the problem was caused by a malfunction in the computer program that runs the stadium clock, which is official. Bicknell doesn't question that analysis.

"Oh, the clock definitively malfunctioned -- on the TV pictures you can see it," he said. "It had been acting up all game, and you wonder if the line judge might have had his clock to compare. The poor scoreboard operator was down in our locker room after the game, apologizing to my coaches, and he was honestly gutted by what had happened.

"I can't say we would have won the game -- from that distance it probably was 50/50 -- but my guy had kicked the hell out of the ball, and we deserved the chance to take our shot."


Hamburg QB Casey Bramlet was ready to call a time out, but he didn't have an opportunity.

The loss was particularly hard for Bicknell because the Sea Devils had answered some of the questions raised in camp about the team. They were able to run the ball, and Bramlett got time to throw, spreading the ball around to seven different receivers, with TE Bobby Blizzard leading the way with seven catches for 78 yards. More important, the defense looked better than expected; it held Cologne in check for much of the game.

But Peter Vaas' offense proved the wisdom of something Bicknell said in this column last week about his success against Rhein early in past seasons. Sometimes, before offenses are fully in gear, if a team hits a couple of big plays, it can win them a game. The problem for Bicknell was it was Cologne's Kevin Thompson and Romby Bryant who combined for the game's two biggest plays -- a 51-yard flea-flicker on the game's first play, to set up one touchdown, and a 56-yarder for the go-ahead score with 4:55 to play.

Bicknell himself saw the irony. "Yes, they caught us for two big plays," he agreed. "But the game's biggest play never happened. Make it or miss it, that kick would've been the game's biggest play."

Now Hamburg has to travel to Berlin, as the three teams who lost in Week 1 will match up against the three who won. In NFL Europe's 10-game schedule, 0-2 is a huge hurdle to jump. It's only Week 2 and we already have teams under the gun. And the clock, at least in Cologne.

[Karlifornia]

Cologne players: "We're going to EuroDisney!!!!"