Anatomy Of A Red Flag

There was a fascinating game-within-the-game moment in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh made a real winning gamble and should be commended as such.

With under 8 minutes to play and the Ravens leading 31-29, Joe Flacco found Anquan Boldin on a 2nd & 8. Boldin put his head down and was tackled right around the line to gain. He got a favorable spot, and after the measurement Baltimore was awarded a 1st down.

CBS showed one high-angle, non-definitive replay, and Nantz & Simms went on to a human interest story on Flacco with a token hat tip to Boldin's effort on the play. They made no mention of the spot, and if the crowd was pensive about it we certainly didn't see it.

So what would make Jim Harbaugh, at ground level, challenge the call? He was sticking his neck out in a huge moment in the biggest game of his life, risking a time out he couldn't afford for a possible 3rd down & a half-yard.

Harbaugh obviously trusted his staff, the eyes in the sky. But how does that all work? CBS didn't really give them a definitive look, and they had to challenge before the next play.

Does the team receive access to all 30+ camera feeds that the network uses to broadcast the Super Bowl? If so, do they assign someone to watch each of them? Then how do they get the word to the head coach to pull the trigger on the red flag?

Fascinating stuff.

My guess is that there's a protocol in place. There's a specific assistant coach or quality control or operations guy who has to use the right verbiage (think "code red" or something like that). Then they have to get the word to a higher-up assistant who has direct access to the channel on Harbaugh's headset.

And most of all, Harbaugh has to know the risks and alert the officials that they're going to challenge the play. That triggers a TV timeout, and allows the production team to generate all the pertinent angles.

The call is ultimately overturned and Harbaugh's gambit is a winner. But again, the schematics of the decision is something that can't be underestimated. Leave it to a coach that thinks of everything.

Baltimore converted the 3rd & short, a back shoulder completion to Boldin. The drive resulted in a FG which made the game 34-29. San Francisco's would-be game-winning drive obviously came up short. And you can question Jim Harbaugh's temperament or play-calling. But not his guts, or his command of all phases his team.

Please come to Boston for the Fall Time

"Hey ramblin' boy, why don't you settle down, Boston ain't your kind of town" -Dave Loggins

Despite snowflakes falling outside my hotel window Friday morning, it was a pretty good stay in New England.

I was actually just outside the hub in Chestnut Hill, and my weekend was all work, so I couldn’t attend the Head of the Charles Regatta or frolic in the fall foliage.

But the performance of BC’s Montel Harris (264 yards, 5 TD) against NC State notwithstanding, there were still plenty of significant events.

I met Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and his wife in an elevator in Newton, Massachusetts. Now that’s odd. The Heller School at Brandeis for Social Policy and Management was celebrating its 50th year, and that is where Mr. Mayor got his doctorate. I asked when they’d be flying home. They said they’re driving. So no fiscal shenanigans from Mr. & Mrs. HizzHonor.

Cheering on the Yankees to a pair of wins over the Angels in crowded Boston establishments like Legal Sea Foods always goes over well. A scenic shot of a desolate, empty Yawkey Way during our broadcast which elicited a line from our play-by-play man, “You know your producer is a Yankee fan when…”

I had to interrupt my own production meeting because the reggae music from the hotel bar was so good. What house band plays a deep album track like Sublime’s “Pawn Shop?” I later met the musicians and told them they were great.

Even something as mundane as making out my fantasy football roster had an amusing aside. Joe Flacco is my QB, but I was a little nervous about starting him at Minnesota this weekend. Tony Romo is my other QB, and he’s on his bye week. So I scoured the Free Agent list for another starting option.


Brian Griese? He would have been a poor choice, not just because he’s unaffiliated, not because he can’t get it done anymore. But because he’s with the good guys now. I just spent the weekend with him and I doubt he will be trading in a headset for a helmet any time soon.

Just as well - Flacco threw for 385 and 2 TD.

Life is funny. I guess that’s why you have to write stuff down.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This weblog was written before Mark Sanchez's public self-immolation, and comments regarding such will be ignored.