No way around it: Buccaneers were robbed Tom Zucco, The St.Petersburg Times, published 4 December 1989 Criticizing officials is a cheap and easy way to hang a loss on people who aren't actively involved in a game. Everybody knows officials don't win or lose games. Players and coaches do. That said, let me add that I am not a Buccaneers fan. I appreciate the fact that they're here, but I honestly don't care if they win or lose. If I was a fan, I'd probably be under a doctor's care by now. Okay, now I can say it. Sunday, Tampa Bay was beaten and robbed. (Actually, to keep this in chronological order, they were robbed and beaten.) After stopping the Green Bay Packers on fourth-and-16 with 47 seconds left in the game, umpire Ed “Bud” Fiffick threw a penalty flag. It seems that on this particular play, at this particular moment in NFL history, Fiffick had alertly detected Tampa Bay defensive lineman Shawn Lee illegally using his hands. Maybe I'm over-reacting, but in a game in which the object is to club, slap, stomp, jab and otherwise maim an opponent, doesn't it seem a little odd that somebody could “illegally use” his hands? Anyway, here's how Bud explained it: “No. 97 (Lee) came up and gave him (Packers left guard Rich Moran) a shot to the face,” Fiffick told a pool reporter after the game. “It stretched his neck back and held his head back.” Moran was not hurt, but that apparently was irrelevant. The eventual result was a last-second 47-yard Green Bay field goal and a 17-16 Tampa Bay loss. Now, I could point out that Bud Fiffick could've made that same call a dozen times earlier, but somehow chose not to. I could point out that the last time the same penalty was called against the Bucs was Oct. 29 - six games ago - in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That day, Bucs nose tackle Curt Jarvis was caught illegally using his hands and the ensuing penalty nullified an interception by Sherman Cocroft. I could also point out that Bud Fiffick graduated from Marquette University, which is in Milwaukee, which is where the Packers play half their home games. Or I could point out that Bud Fiffick and the other officials, for the first time any Buccaneer could remember, ordered the players on both sides not to speak to members of the opposing team. (If you did, you presumably had to stay after the game and clap erasers.) Instead, I'll just say this: Hey, Green Bay! This Bud's for you. If you're Ray Perkins, and you've just seen your young team completely demoralized by the whim of a referee, you're ready to bite somebody's head off. At the very least, you've called your travel agent and booked a flight to Africa for that zebra hunt next month. All Perkins can do is bite his tongue. When asked if he was going to notify the league concerning the call, Perkins smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, but you know what happens when you do that?” he said. “Not one damn thing. I've been letting the league know every year I've been in the league, and it doesn't do any good. It doesn't change a thing. I will tell you this,” he added. “There is a problem. Officiating in this league has gotten to be a problem. I'm not saying the problem is with the people on the field. And I'm not saying the officiating has cost us any games. I'm just saying there's a problem.” As he turned to walk away, he said, “I've probably already said too much.” That's because the NFL doesn't like it when coaches and players criticize officials. And if they don't like it enough, they can hit you with a fine. Perkins could build a good case that poor officiating has cost him at least one other game. The Bucs had stopped the 49ers back in the second week of the season when cornerback Donnie Elder was penalized for holding. On the next play, Joe Montana scored and San Francisco won 20-16. On the other hand, bad calls are a part of football. They happen. And they'll continue to happen with what seems like increasing frequency. And certainly the Bucs have benefitted from bad calls against their opponents. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay is a young team that's trying to assert itself. The Bucs don't need this now. Green Bay beat Tampa Bay Sunday, but the Packers had help they shouldn't have had. Now they have to figure out a way to put it behind them. “Deep down inside, we know we're better - that we should've won,” said linebacker Ervin Randle. “But when it's taken out of your hands I don't know,” he sighed. “This one really hurts.”