First it was Jim Joyce, one of MLB’s Three Blind Mice, and his not-so-perfect game and now it’s ‘the process call’ and the game that will haunt Lions fans all season long. For ruining a game winning drive and giving Detroit another reason to despise officials, the Bitch Slap of the Week goes to the NFL zebras.

What seemed to be the go-ahead touchdown catch for Calvin Johnson and the Lions turned into the most heated topic of opening weekend.

With 25 seconds left in the game, Johnson caught the football and landed in the end zone, only to have the play called an incomplete pass. Why? Because after Johnson landed, his right hand smacked the grass and the ball hit the ground or as the referee put it, Johnson didn’t maintain possession throughout the entire process of the catch.

Are you kidding? The man practically did a summersault before the ball was out of his hands.

Calvin Johnson caught the ball with both feet in bounds, braced himself with his left hand, and landed on is rear in the end zone. As he was getting up to celebrate, only then did he let go of the ball.

Sticklers can argue that the officials made the right call, but every sports fan knows that this ‘rule’ is ridiculous.

Die-hard Bears fan Michael Wilbon had this to say about the call:

“Get rid of the rule. Get rid of it today… This was wrong and the NFL officials ought to be embarrassed about it… The NFL has failed the Detroit Lions and it fails any team that loses with this.”

Wilbon’s statement seems to reside in the minds of most Chicagoans. In an online poll conducted in the Chicago newspapers, The Sun-Times and The Tribune, roughly 70-80% of their readers said it should have been a TD.

When Chicago fans are willing to forgo a Bears victory, then you know something is wrong. Zebras should never change the outcome of a game on a call like this. With 95% of the nation unaware of the rule, odds are Calvin Johnson didn’t know about it either. And even if he did, then I’m sure his rush of adrenaline kept him from thinking ‘hold onto the ball for 10 more seconds’.

The on-call referee during this play was Gene Steratore and he is sticking to his incomplete ruling. Steratore can line up and be the first to get slapped and maybe a severe beating courtesy of Vanden Bosch and the Lions defense should follow.

The NFL zebras should have learned from the Tiger’s Armando Galarraga incident or the 2008 Ed Hochuli’s debacle that handed a game away.

Since they didn’t, we honor them with our Bitch Slap of the Week.

Used with permission of the author.

Logan Rhoades is a Los Angeles-based writer and contributor to Sports Climax. With an extensive knowledge of ESPN topics and celebrity gossip, he is known for mixing sports and pop culture to entertain his readers. Check out his blog and Follow him on Twitter @loganrhoades.

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