SAN ANTONIO - – If New Orleans Saints fans are looking for support in their effort to try and force a replay of the final minutes of last week's NFC championship game, they should look to the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs.
After the Saints' controversial loss to the Rams last Sunday -- in which officials whiffed on a late pass interference call and helmet-to-helmet hit -- the New Orleans faithful have every reason to be irate. They've filed two lawsuits against the National Football League, which has fined Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman for his hit on Saints wide receiver Tommy Lee Lewis. The NFL has also openly admitted that their officials missed the call.
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Back on Nov. 30, 1982, the Spurs faced a similar predicament, hosting the Los Angeles Lakers at Hemisfair Arena. Late in the game, at the free throw line, Norm Nixon faked his second free throw. Referee Jack Madden called a double lane violation and ordered a jump ball.
The Lakers won the ensuing jump, tied the game at the end of regulation and went on to beat the Spurs in double overtime 137-132. Quick-thinking Spurs general manager Bob Bass consulted the NBA rule book and filed an official protest with the league office, saying if there was no free throw attempt made, there could be no lane violation.
In December of that same year, then-NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien upheld the Spurs' protest and ordered the last three seconds of that game to be replayed in the two teams' next regular-season meeting in San Antonio.
That did not happen until April 13, 1983.
In the rematch, officials reset the game at the free throw line, and this time the Spurs prevailed, 117-114. The Spurs then beat the Lakers again that same night, 114-109, in what is believed to be the first doubleheader in NBA history.
Unfortunately, the NFL has already responded to Saints fans' lawsuits, and a redo appears unlikely. The league's chief financial officer, Joseph Siclare, said forcing a replay of the final two minutes of the NFC title game would delay the Super Bowl -- an event that demands an investment of more than $100 million.