Hey, don't blame the referees Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 7 November 1994 The Tampa Bay Bucs feel picked upon, and they have a point. Most of the time, it is by the other team. They think they get bad calls, and they do. Usually, they come in from the sideline. They feel mistreated, and they are. By the rest of the NFL. This is life with the bullied of pro football. The Bucs have been stepped upon so long now, they no longer realize exactly the soles of their assailants. And so it was on Sunday, when the Bucs retreated to the locker room after a 20-6 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bears for a 45-minute symposium on how to rip officials. Yes sir, it was a steamed gaggle of Buccaneers who gathered in the post-game autopsy of another loss. The thing was, no one was particularly peeved at his performance, or at the Bears, or at the sorry state of affairs that has led this team to a 2-7 record. Players were angry at the officials, and darned glad there finally was someone else to blame except those in the room. Not that they were necessarily wrong. The officials - henceforth known as the Gordon McCarter Seven - were dreadful Sunday. As a group, they were the Tampa Bay Bucs of officiating. They tossed out Mr. Clean, tackle Paul Gruber, after Gruber took it personally that Alonzo Spellman would go after quarterback Trent Dilfer's knees. They flagged Thomas Everett for a vicious hit on Bears wide receiver Tom Waddle. Imagine. Flagging a Buc for playing too aggressively. They tossed out tight end Tyji Armstrong, who by now knows the routine, for another scuffle. They ignored pass interference on the goal line against the Bears' James Burton when he was all over Courtney Hawkins. In sum, the officiating was ripe. But, uh, who exactly are the Bucs to point fingers? Yes, the Bucs got some bad calls. Every team does, and the worse the team, the worse the calls seem to go. By earning their reputation, the Bucs have earned the short end of the stick. Is it fair? No. But to turn around the impression that the world has of them - yes, officials are from this world - the Bucs have to start by playing better. This is the point. The Bucs don't need to stand around looking over their shoulders at the officials. They have their hands full with the other 11 guys on the field. Getting upset at officials merely obfuscates that. Look, take all of the calls, and reverse them in the Bucs' favor. Does it change the game? Does it make the Bucs better able to run the ball against the most run-impaired defense in the league? Does it make the Bucs' defense able to shut down the Bears' offense on crucial plays? Shortly after the first half, the Bucs were behind 6-3 and had the ball at the Bears' 35. They didn't score. Soon afterward, they were behind 13-6 and the Bears were at their own 20. They didn't hold. Were the referees to blame in either case? Again, bad calls are a shame. What is Everett supposed to do as a receiver is catching the ball over the middle? Catch him in his arms and nestle him to the grass like Rhett clutching Scarlett? Of course not. He is supposed to give him a shortcut into next week. "That call was a bunch of bull," Everett said. "I've hit players like that all the time. It was a clean hit. I'm going to keep playing like that. They may have to ban me." Conversely, what is Gruber supposed to do? Allow his quarterback's knees to be reversed? "I was protecting our quarterback," said Gruber, who never before had been called for unsportsmanlike conduct, let alone ejected. "I didn't throw any blows. But going after another team's quarterback is intolerable. No offensive lineman in the league would put up with it." You can understand Everett being upset. If he were still a Cowboy, this would not have been called. You can understand Gruber being upset. But the entire team seemed to focus its disdain on the officials' inabilities rather than their own, which is not addressing the problem. "Does Tim McDonald get flagged (if he made the same play as Everett)?" linebacker Hardy Nickerson said. "No. Does Ronnie Lott get flagged? No. If a lineman goes after Dan Marino's knees, and Richmond Webb shoves him, is Webb thrown out? No. If someone even touches Steve Young and Harris Barton shoves him, is Barton thrown out? No. It seems to me we're talking about a double standard. There's the Bucs, and there is everybody else." Sam Wyche was so upset after the game that he could talk about little else than how players are so confused by officials that this could "destroy the game." "There is something wrong with the game now, and it's not the coaching, and it's not players, and it's not the field maintainence," he said. This is all smoke and shadows, covering the real problem. It is easier to rail about curing the league than it is curing your own team. For Wyche, the more pressing concern should be that there is something wrong with the team, and it is the coaching and it is the players. The officials were bad, but they were not the worst team on the field. Want to talk about a rotten call? Talk about running Errict Rhett on third and 1 and being thrown for a 4-yard loss when the team has proven it cannot run. Want to complain about the refs? Complain they aren't lifting their hands to signal more touchdowns. Want to gripe about the linesman? Pick anyone from the Bucs' lines, from guard to end, offense or defense. After that, you can ask the officials for a little help. Uh, you think any of them can tackle?