There was a time in the NBA when you could smoke marijuana, insult the commissioner and receive dozens of technical fouls without worrying about a stiff fine.
BUT, if you hinted that the Boston Celtic’s Larry Bird got favorable treatment from the referees, you were subject to financial retribution from the league.
Just ask Charles Barkley.
With that as background, the SportsEye wonders how the National Football League will respond to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter’s comments following his team’s 21-18 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
“I know they wanted Indy to win this game; the whole world loves Peyton Manning. But come on, man, don’t take the game away from us like that,” said Porter, in reference to several pivotal calls that went against the Steelers.
The worst was an obvious interception by safety Troy Polamalu with the score 21-3 that was somehow overruled by the referee after reviewing the play. Had the call stood, there would have been no feverish comeback by the Colts.
So Porter pretty much said that the refs were cheating in favor of the Colts. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello had no comment on Porter’s statement as of Tuesday.
Maybe it is the NFL’s way of admitting that Manning is no Bird when it comes to winning big games.
Speaking of big games and big mouths, Manning’s thinly veiled attack on his offensive line was straight out of the Tiki Barber School of Postgame Comments.
Remember that Barber ripped his coaches and the New York Giants game plan following the loss to the Carolina Panthers last week. He was French fried by many media members – and head coach Tom Coughlin – and quickly came back with the classic “my word were misinterpreted” and “it looked different after I watched the film of the game.”
Manning prefaced his comments on the lack of protection from a fierce Steelers’ rush with “I’m trying to be a good teammate here…”
Manning was being anything but a good teammate by even saying those words, and the offensive line and the team’s coaches should have been quick to remind Manning that he is 0-For-Everything in big games, including his collegiate years at Tennessee and in high school.
