The scene was ugly at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday afternoon. And I'm not talking about the uprising of fans towards the end of the game.

I'm talking about the officiating, or lack thereof, during the final minutes of the Browns/Jaguars game this weekend. For those of you who have been living under a rock, here's what took place: Browns quarterback Tim Couch had apparently completed a fourth-and-2 pass to wide receiver Quincy Morgan and the Browns, who were out of timeouts, quickly rushed to the line of scrimmage. On first down, Couch spiked the ball with 48 seconds to go, and was headed to the sideline when the officials began to discuss Morgan's catch.

After several confusing minutes, referee Terry McAulay announced that the officials were reviewing the play. When McAulay emerged from the TV review monitor, he announced that Morgan did not catch the ball. Chaos ensued, as Browns fans pelted the field below with plastic beer bottles and other various projectiles.

Let's review some fundamental things here. First and foremost, under NFL rules, a challenge must be made before the next play takes place. The officials claim that their belt buzzers went off before Couch spiked the ball. However, look at the replay - the referee signaled an incomplete pass when Couch spiked the ball with 48 seconds left. The stories just don't match.

And second of all, why would the officials not have stopped the play in the FOURTEEN SECONDS between plays??? And you know how long fourteen seconds is in football terms... it's an eternity. The NFL and the officials made the rules before the season began, and that's that. Rules are rules - stick by them. Maybe the officials need to get their brains examined so that their reaction time won't be so delayed next time this happens.

After the game, Browns President Carmen Policy defended the fans, saying that Cleveland and the Browns organization should not receive a black eye from this incident, and that the action came from ardfent fans showing devotion for their team. And still, the man was criticized for these comments by his peers. Sure, it's not easy to defend violence, but when the quality of the officiating was this poor, how could you not defend the fans? People are comparing this incident to an incident in 1995 at the Meadowlands, where Giants fans pelted the field with snow and ice balls on the last game of the season. The only problem with this comparison is that the Giants fans threw snowballs just because they are idiots, not because of any poor officiating. I commend Policy for standing behind the city of Cleveland and the fans of the Browns, who are some of the most devoted in any sport anywhere.

I know if I was a Browns fan in attendance on Sunday... I'd have done the same thing.

That's my two cents... enjoy the game, folks.