By now, everyone is aware of – and still justifiably upset about – the pass interference non-call during the Jan. 20 NFC Championship game that more than likely cost the New Orleans Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.
But the Who Dat Nation extends far beyond the Big Easy, and teachers at Petal Upper Elementary School are having a little fun channeling their frustration with the game into a positive learning opportunity for the students.
Tyler Shows, a fifth-grade math teacher at the school, recently sent his students home with math homework that included a two-part problem directly referencing the officials who missed the call when Los Angeles Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman slammed into Saints wideout Tommylee Lewis in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of the game.
“We all just like having a little fun over in our department; we always look for fun and engaging things,” Shows said. “And obviously, we’re all big Saints fans over in our department, so I think those two things just kind of came together, and we realized this would be a fun idea.”
Part A of the problem reads “There were 1,680 people seated in Section B last Sunday at the NFC Championship game, where the Saints were cheated out of a victory to the Los Angeles Rams. (Thirty-five) people were seated in each row. How many rows are in Section B?”
Part B follows that up with “Because the refs blew the entire game, each member of their crew was fined $9,245. If there are 12 referees on the crew that missed the most obvious pass interference call in the history of football, what is the total amount in fines that the referees owe?”
Lacy Dykes, librarian at the upper elementary, said the students had a good time with the homework.
“They loved it; they thought it was really funny,” she said. “When the students got home from school, the parents started posting it on social media, and those posts were shared and shared.”
The posts gained so much publicity they eventually made their way to a couple of New Orleans news outlets that published stories about Shows’ homework assignment.
“We think it’s hilarious that it got picked up in New Orleans,” Shows said. “But we’re not trying to get any publicity or anything; we just like to have a little fun. So I think that’s just what we’re over there trying to do.”
