Bengals heartbreaker will be remembered for one play

Can technology reduce ticket fraud?

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start.

For the Cincinnati Bengals it will be a case of what might have been. The Bengals lost to the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time in four games, 23-20, on Harrison Butker’s 45-yard FG with three seconds left in the game. The AFC title game was seemingly headed toward OT on Sunday, when momentum veered toward the Chiefs. Cincinnati DE Joseph Ossai was flagged for a late hit, when he pushed Patrick Mahomes with his right arm, as the KC quarterback crossed the sideline into out-of-bounds territory.

The penalty put the Chiefs into FG position, where Butker booted his winning kick. However, it will be Ossai’s “shot heard ‘round the world” that will stick in the craw of Bengals’ fans.

After the game, television repeatly showed Ossai sobbing on the bench, as teammates, one-by-one, stopped to console him. Of course, social media went berzerk. Ossai owned up to his crucial error in post-game comments, courageously talking with the media. Teammates came to his defense, and so did his coach Zac Taylor:

"We’re not going to make it about one play," Taylor told CBS Sports. "There were plenty of plays that we left out on the field today that could have put us in a better position.

In reality, the game will be remembered for Ossai’s hit, like it or not. It’s like saying the Brooklyn Dodgers really didn’t lose the pennant to the New York Giants in the famous National League playoff game on Oct. 3, 1951 because of Ralph Branca’s gopher pitch to Bobby Thomson. The real reason the Dodgers lost was because they left seven men on base, blowing several scoring opportunities. In fact, this loss may be worse. Branca had to throw the baseball to Thomson. Ossai did not have to hit Mahomes.

Ossai meets the media

Do not overlook the gutsy performance of Mahomes, playing on a gimpy ankle, or the great defensive schemes designed by KC defensive coordiator Steve Spagnuolo. A combination of factors went into Kansas City going to its third Super Bowl in four seasons and permitting head coach Andy Reid, in his 10th season at the KC helm, to go against his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, whom he coached to a Super Bowl win.

It is not often a coach, who has won a Super Bowl with one team, coaches against another club that he also led to a Super Bowl title. Look for plenty of stories about that in the two-week lead up to the game. Meanwhile, it will be a long off season for Ossai, his coaches and the Bengals fanbase. Credit Ossai, however, for owning up to his error.

Is Lowe’s on to something?

I could not help but notice this story about Lowe’s Companies Inc. testing new technology designed to thwart shoplifters. For openers, shoplifting is a huge problem, costing law abiding consumers billions.

In a nutshell, Lowe’s is testing technology that would prevent power tools from operating, unless they were scanned at checkout. In other words, a stolen power tool would be useless and thus have little value to the thief.

Something tells me the hackers are already working on defeating such a system, but in reading this story my thoughts turned to the counterfeit ticket market, another lucrative scam for cheats. Sporting events, from the Super Bowl to World Series to minor league baseball to pick your sport, as well as other live, entertainment events are beset with such problems, again leading the legitimate customer to pay the price.

Here’s hoping whatever Lowe’s does works and that its system can somehow be shared with organizers of sporting events.

What is going on here?

My home state of Connecticut, which has produced numerous, great high school basketball players for decades, suddenly has a problem, a big problem. Earlier this month, at the end of two games, fights broke out, during the post game handshake ritual

Last week at another game, featuring Bloomfield and New Britain high schools, 17 players were tossed after a fight broke out during the game. Three players on the court engaged in fisticuffs (one player was tackled) and 14 more players came off the bench to join the fray, leading to their disqualification. The game was completed with four players from each team.

So far school officials and the governing body for high school athletics in the state (CIAC) are mum on the latest altercation and for the most part have been tight-lipped on the previous two. The state legislature, however, is taking notice. A bill has been introduced, designed to protect officials, who work these games. Something tells me more legislation might be coming down the pike, if the CIAC does not crackdown on this nonsense.

That is it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.

SPORTSCASTER DAN