Last Night in MACtion, Miami (OH) Scoreboard Operator Flagged For Unsportsmanlike Conduct For Putting "Depictions of Field Goal Uprights" on Big Screen
"Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon... you know... cause I've worked a lot of scoreboards, and I tell you people do that all the time." – Miami (OH) Videoboard Operator when he sees Head Coach Chuck Martin in the hallways today
Giphy Images.I mean, the Patriots did it, right? I didn't see the Patriots scoreboard guy get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That's true. The Patriots did it for years. However, once the internet caught on, the NFL responded by banning it forever.
Yet if there was one place in college or professional football where I'd think a videoboard operator might still get away with it, it's in the MAC. But not on this guy's watch. There will be NO videoboard shenanigans on Tuesday night when his crew is working.
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Death, taxes, Tuesday night MACtion giving us brand-new sequences never before seen in the game of football. Only during a mid-week MAC game in November will a doink off the upright be the third most notable thing to happen on a single down.
Ohio electing to go with the fake field goal and dropping a wide-open pass in the end zone was the icing on the cake. A storybook ending to the first half of a MAC football game.
Whoever was working the videoboard last night, or whoever made the executive decision to engage in videoboard trickery… he must have been ready to puke at this moment right here:
Then let out the biggest sigh of relief of his life one second later:
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At the end of the day, it's only a MAC game. A majority of the Miami (OH) student population probably didn't even realize a football game was being played last night. But imagine if the videoboard operator at an SEC school did that? And the opposing team scored a touchdown on the fake field goal? He would have needed a police escort out of the stadium. His name, his family's names, and the home addresses of every person he loves would be plastered across the message boards before the second half kicked off. He'd have needed to go into witness protection.
But as luck would have it, that moment proved to be a turning point in the game. At the time of the play, Ohio led 17-7. From there, Miami (OH) went on a 27-0 run and won the game 34-17. They dealt Ohio its first conference loss of the season.
All's well that ends well, ball don't lie, etc. I hope the Miami (OH) videoboard operator slept well last night. He made an important contribution to a piece of mid-week MACtion lore. That's what's most important.