The issue of crowd noise got louder last Monday night when referee Gene Barth penalized the New Orleans Superdome fans four times for disrupting the signals of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Barth, invoking a new rule for this season, took away each of the Saints` three timeouts in the first half and then walked off a 5-yard penalty that was half the distance to the goal line and set up the Bengals` first touchdown.
There were only 51,000 people in the Superdome, about two-thirds capacity. If the incident didn`t get the attention of the national television audience, it woke up coaches.
Washington`s Joe Gibbs, whose Redskins visited the Superdome Friday night, called for an immediate repeal of the rule, unlikely because it would require a unanimous vote by owners who passed it by a three-fourths majority in March.
Gibbs took note of Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason mischievously inciting the crowd on the sidelines, then hiding behind teammate Brian Blados and smiling while officials got coach Sam Wyche to warn him.
”It`s really a step back, a joke, a travesty. It`s gone bonkers. We`ve got a quarterback hiding on the sidelines. It`s like pro wrestling,” Gibbs said.
The Saints` crowd proved that loyalty to the home team takes a far bleacher seat to the fan`s desire to express himself.
”It`s the first time I can yell at the fans for giving up a touchdown,” Saints defensive back Dave Waymer said. ”They`ve been yelling all these years. I hope they learn a lesson.”
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It was early in training camp that Wyche had warned: ”That rule will be fun to watch. Is an official going to turn around to the crowd and say: `Okay, that`s enough. Put that $20 ticket back in your pocket and be quiet so we can keep this game going?` You can`t legislate fans. They are there to enjoy the game, and spontaneous reaction is just going to happen.”
Houston coach Jerry Glanville, whose Oilers could be hurt by a noisy Astrodome, advocated decibel meters for the officials.
”They need a meter to determine what`s loud and what`s not,” Glanville said. ”Referees are all different. The guy (Barth) working the New Orleans game talks very soft and low, so everything is loud to him. But if you get Red Cashion, you have to scream in his ear. Even then, he still can`t hear you.” With electronic ears added to electronic eyes, are robot officials next?
– Dallas owner Jerry Jones would pay for some crowd noise, and did. He bought the final 200 tickets in his own stadium to assure a televised sellout for Saturday night`s game against Houston, which will be the home debut of coach Jimmy Johnson.
”I wouldn`t mind seeing us get a couple penalties for crowd noise,”
Jones said.
Texas Stadium has not sold out for a nonreplacement home game since 1986. The Cowboys are not within 10,000 of a sellout yet this year.
– The comment by ABC-TV`s Dan Dierdorf that 13 steroid suspensions was
”vindication” for the players neglected to consider that a test with four months warning can`t possibly measure the extent of steroid use, as the league itself admitted. Unscheduled testing, prohibited at this time by an arbitrator`s ruling, is the only way to control drug use and ensure the
”public confidence in the game” the league desires.
One of the sad cases was Green Bay tackle Keith Uecker, who has had 10 operations on his left knee and is ”not out of the woods at all,” according to team physician E.S. Brusky. ”I think some people can`t function without steroids.”
Atlanta nose tackle Tony Casillas admitted he tried steroids at Oklahoma. ”They made me stronger, but they changed my personality. They made me more aggressive, but after two weeks I had enough,” Casillas said.
– Ickey Woods reported to the Cincinnati Bengals` training camp early and a little overweight, but Wyche said he was displaying the kind of attitude that should help him avoid a sophomore slump. But after three preseason games and only 55 yards on 24 carries for a 2.3-yard average, Wyche decided:
”Ickey definitely does not look like the player he was last year, when he should have been in the Pro Bowl. He`s not picking the right holes, not cutting back, and not putting his head down and exploding into people when there is nowhere else to go.”
– When they play host to Tampa Bay and New Orleans, the Packers will wear white jerseys instead of green at home for the first time since 1952.
”Just in case it`s a real hot day,” said coach Lindy Infante, who has been trying to change exaggerated notions of Green Bay`s cold weather.
Reminded that Vinny Testaverde, who will be Tampa Bay`s quarterback on opening day, is color blind, Infante said: ”Oh, good. That will help them. If it does help to confuse him, fine.”
– Buddy Ryan surprised some of his Philadelphia Eagles players by allowing Randall Cunningham, Keith Jackson, Keith Byars and Todd Bell to leave an exhibition game against Atlanta two weeks ago at halftime to attend a birthday party for Whitney Houston.
”It`s like your kids,” Ryan`s explained. ”If you get an invitation and have to bale hay, you can`t go. If you don`t have to bale hay, you can go.”