Timeout

We've reached another point in the nation's evolution where we try to explain the inexplicable, make sense of something that once seemed impossible. A black man being elected president of the United States - how did that happen? Through sports, more than a few explanations have been offered. America learned how to live together and to see our similarities instead of our differences because of the likes of Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Sports paved Barack Obama's path to the White House, the theory goes.

No question that game officials came up small in the Ravens' 13-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on the roughing-the-passer penalty against linebacker Terrell Suggs on third-and-10 with 5:50 left in the game. The zebras failed to stop the play on Tennessee's false start, and referee Bill Carollo simply missed the call on Suggs' alleged blow to the helmet of quarterback Kerry Collins. But that didn't cost the Ravens the game. The Ravens flat-out squandered an opportunity to knock off an undefeated opponent, and it was a team effort - defense, offense, special teams and coaching.

Part of the appeal of the NCAA basketball tournament is the drama of a tight game in the closing seconds. Each possession becomes precious. Each shot could be game-changing. So Mr. Flip can put up with the seemingly inexhaustible supply of timeouts and the constant parade to the foul line. But do we have to see the buzz-killing commercials every time? Mr. Flip implores you, CBS, to stick with the game instead of breaking away for a commercial every time there is a timeout in the last minutes of a back-and-forth contest.

North Carolina had a decided home-court advantage in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C., this past weekend. Given what transpired, it could be foretelling what might happen in this year's NCAA tournament as well. Seeded first among the four top seeds, the Tar Heels won't have to leave the state unless they make it to the Alamodome in San Antonio for this season's Final Four that starts April 5. They make a trip this week to Raleigh and a potential return trip to Charlotte in the East Regional.

In the moments after the New York Giants tore up the final chapter of Brett Favre's storybook season Sunday night, a buddy turned to me and asked an obvious question: Why didn't Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy call a timeout to ice kicker Lawrence Tynes before he booted the 47-yard field goal in overtime to put the Giants in the Super Bowl? The answer was not quite so obvious, but I'll venture a guess. Because McCarthy probably figured Giants coach Tom Coughlin already had done it for him. Of course, because the Giants were celebrating instead of commiserating at the end, not much attention was focused on what happened after Tynes missed a potential go-ahead field goal with 6:49 to go in the fourth quarter.

Mike Pereira, NFL senior vice president of officiating, agreed with all the controversial calls made by the officials during the Ravens' 27-24 Monday night loss to New England. In addressing Samari Rolle's accusation that head linesman Phil McKinnely repeatedly called the cornerback "boy," Pereira said McKinnely's "interpretation" of the situation was different from Rolle's. He also found no fault in how McKinnely handled the situation. "Phil, in my mind, acted as he should," Pereira said on the NFL Network.

The Ravens nearly stopped the NFL's most dominant juggernaut last night at M&T Bank Stadium -- nearly but not quite. On the brink of the season's biggest upset, the Ravens lost to the New England Patriots, 27-24, before a frozen and frustrated crowd of 71,382, when Tom Brady hit Jabar Gaffney on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds remaining. The game ended with Kyle Boller's desperation heave into 35 mph winds being gobbled in by wide receiver Mark Clayton, who was tackled at the Patriots' 2-yard line.

The Ravens' defense couldn't cement what might have been a landmark win for a struggling team. A unit renowned for its unwillingness to surrender points and knack for compelling offenses to make mistakes found itself on the receiving end as the defense wilted, helping the New England Patriots stay undefeated with a 27-24 victory at M&T Bank Stadium last night. "It's frustrating," defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. "That's part of the game, but we've just got to move on to the Colts." The Patriots' game-winning drive might haunt the Ravens for a while.

The Ravens were on the brink of a historic upset. Instead, they had to deal with one of the most heartbreaking defeats in their history. Hurting themselves in the fourth quarter with questionable decision-making, the Ravens fell short in a painful 27-24 loss to the unbeaten New England Patriots last night at a blustery M&T Bank Stadium. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady capitalized on the Ravens' mistakes, throwing an 8-yard touchdown to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds remaining.

Landover -- The killing of Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor last week was a true tragedy. But the way the Washington Redskins lost yesterday's game at FedEx Field was still sad - because of how they lost and the day on which they lost. Rian Lindell's 36-yard field goal with four seconds left gave the Buffalo Bills an improbable 17-16 victory in a game in which the Redskins had never trailed. The most improbable part? Lindell's kick should have been from 51 yards, but it was moved 15 yards closer when Joe Gibbs, the Redskins' Hall of Fame coach, called two timeouts in a row to ice Lindell - against NFL rules and punishable by an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.