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Anybody remember the personal foul on Pat Toomay?


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i remember it like it was yesterday. i was watching the game in the bar off the terrace entrance of the aud before a sabre game. the whole place reacted in total disbelief. as a life long bills die hard, i can remember where i was, and who i was watching the game with, throughout my lifetime. two things strike me as slightly worse, "home run forward pass" and "just give it to them". but that call certainly seemed suspect at the time .

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i remember it like it was yesterday. i was watching the game in the bar off the terrace entrance of the aud before a sabre game. the whole place reacted in total disbelief. as a life long bills die hard, i can remember where i was, and who i was watching the game with, throughout my lifetime. two things strike me as slightly worse, "home run forward pass" and "just give it to them". but that call certainly seemed suspect at the time .

I wasn't alive yet for this Bills/Fins game, but boy do I remember the 'just give it to them" game with vivid details. So many horrific calls in that game, I was probably never more angry as a Bills fan than I was for that one.

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I wasn't alive yet for this Bills/Fins game, but boy do I remember the 'just give it to them" game with vivid details. So many horrific calls in that game, I was probably never more angry as a Bills fan than I was for that one.

well my friend, it can be a tough ride being a bills fan . the "just give it to them " game has probably been discussed on here quite a bit and the sting just never goes away. the only other agony that was not referee related was the fergy playoff game in san diego in 80. chas romes drop a sure pick just before fouts connects with ron smith for the game winning TD.

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I was too young, but I remember my dad telling me about this game and Ralph saying he would not let the Bills take the field if Bergman worked any of their games in the future. I wonder what that kind of outburst would cost him today?

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I was too young, but I remember my dad telling me about this game and Ralph saying he would not let the Bills take the field if Bergman worked any of their games in the future. I wonder what that kind of outburst would cost him today?

you know, that is an interesting point. bergmann was person-non grata and wilson made no bones about it. boy, today, who knows?? heavy fine i am quite sure, to say the least.

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There was a horrible call in a playoff game v. Cincinnati....on 4th down Lou Piccone caught a ball for first and goal, and they called Delay of Game (after a timeout) and nullified the gain. But the problem was, they called Delay of Game AFTER the play had concluded....the flag hit Piccone in the back on his way out of bounds. The next play was an incomplete pass and the game was over.

 

Lotta money on that game, I suppose.

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What's amazing is that his SON is just as bad! (although ****ing the 'Fins is not the worst thing to ever to happen).

 

Talk about the apple not falling far from the tree.

 

Here's a funny bit about Bills fans response to the Toomay call...

 

 

"Jerry Sr. is among the most respected officials in the league. He has been chosen to officiate four Super Bowls, more than any of his active peers. Still, the elder Bergman is not without his critics. When a call by him negated what appeared to have been a fumble by the Dolphins' Mercury Morris in a crucial 1975 game with the Bills, Bergman, who lives in Pittsburgh, received 1,500 letters. "An envelope addressed to 'Blind As a Bat Bergman, Allegheny County,' found its way into our mailbox," says his wife, JoAnn."

Edited by Lurker
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Was that the game when, as the Bills were just getting settled into their defensive set after arguing that call and were still distracted, Don Nottingham took a handoff and went up the middle for a long TD run, sealing the game for the 'phins?

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Was that the game when, as the Bills were just getting settled into their defensive set after arguing that call and were still distracted, Don Nottingham took a handoff and went up the middle for a long TD run, sealing the game for the 'phins?

 

He didn't score a TD, but set them up for an easy score by getting down to the redzone. I was 11 when that happened and still can't believe it. We were behind, but the score was close, a turnover and a TD would have put us ahead. We also had momentum on our side so there's no telling what would have happened. Ralph was beyond livid over that one. So much so that the Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom offered to pay his fine when it came down stating that bad officiating had cost his team some games as well!

 

The real upshot was that $%^** so and so Bergman sending pictures of the supposed penalty to the Currier Express a year later with a snarky letter trying to defend the call.

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Was that the game when, as the Bills were just getting settled into their defensive set after arguing that call and were still distracted, Don Nottingham took a handoff and went up the middle for a long TD run, sealing the game for the 'phins?

 

He didn't score a TD, but set them up for an easy score by getting down to the redzone. I was 11 when that happened and still can't believe it. We were behind, but the score was close, a turnover and a TD would have put us ahead. We also had momentum on our side so there's no telling what would have happened. Ralph was beyond livid over that one. So much so that the Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom offered to pay his fine when it came down stating that bad officiating had cost his team some games as well!

 

The real upshot was that $%^** so and so Bergman sending pictures of the supposed penalty to the Currier Express a year later with a snarky letter trying to defend the call.

Thanks. You are right. Referencing Sal Maiorana's Relentless - the Hard Hitting History of Buffalo Bills Football, p. 228, "The Bills were the victims of a poor official's call. Trailing 24-21, the Bills' John Skorupan appeared to recover a Mercury Morris fumble at the Miami 28 with nine minutes remaining, but referee Gene Barth ruled it wasn't a fumble. The Bills argued vehemently and Pat Toomay was penalized 15 yards for brushing an official. On the next play, Don Nottingham broke a 56-yard run to the 1 and on the next play, Norm Bulaich scored the clinching TD."

 

I even seem to recall Curt Gowdy called the game. He liked to call Don Nottingham a "human bowling ball" because of his short, stocky build.

 

Seems like just yesterday, for sure.

Edited by Cap'n Crunch
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What's amazing is that his SON is just as bad! (although ****ing the 'Fins is not the worst thing to ever to happen).

 

Talk about the apple not falling far from the tree.

 

Here's a funny bit about Bills fans response to the Toomay call...

 

 

"Jerry Sr. is among the most respected officials in the league. He has been chosen to officiate four Super Bowls, more than any of his active peers. Still, the elder Bergman is not without his critics. When a call by him negated what appeared to have been a fumble by the Dolphins' Mercury Morris in a crucial 1975 game with the Bills, Bergman, who lives in Pittsburgh, received 1,500 letters. "An envelope addressed to 'Blind As a Bat Bergman, Allegheny County,' found its way into our mailbox," says his wife, JoAnn."

 

Imagine if the internet was around back then.... :devil:

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