Blog about the NFL and the new (replacement) refs.
Last night, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers. While Monday Night Football is long past its glory years, it is still always an event at the home stadium.
It went right down to the wire. On the last play of the game, and apparent interception was ruled a touchdown. The ball was caught by a Green Bay defensive back, but the impressive Seahawk receiver Golden Tate wrestled the ball away. Tate also shoved a Green Bay defensive back out of the way, an offensive pass interference penalty. It was not called. On a Hail Mary pass, there is lots of interference going on, and it is generally not called.
People are claiming that this is the first time the replacement refs have given a game to the team who did not deserve it.
I am uncertain. Calls have been questionable. It looks like every pass play draws a flag for interference. These refs do not know the rules.
Since the NFL has locked out the "real" refs, player have been complaining, and getting fined by the NFL. Fans have been complaining. Lost in all of this is that there are only two kinds of refs:
1) Bad refs
2) Worse refs
Having sen the worse refs, we now want the bad refs back. This is not going to happen. In order for the lock out to end, either the refs must cave to the demands of the NFL, or the players will need to refuse to play games, or the fans will stop watching. The only one of these that might happen is the first. The players will not lose a pay check, and the fans, as much as we complain when our favorite teams get screwed, are probably enjoying the spectacle of incompetent refs.
The truth about the replacement refs is that they are doing the best that they can, but are hopelessly out of their depth. That is, incidentally, the kindest thing that can possbily be said about Barack Obama by people who are still, inexplicably, not deluded.
I certainly hope this is solved qucikly.
then we can go on and complain about the real refs, and want to bring back the replacement refs.
FIRE GODELL!
Last night, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers. While Monday Night Football is long past its glory years, it is still always an event at the home stadium.
It went right down to the wire. On the last play of the game, and apparent interception was ruled a touchdown. The ball was caught by a Green Bay defensive back, but the impressive Seahawk receiver Golden Tate wrestled the ball away. Tate also shoved a Green Bay defensive back out of the way, an offensive pass interference penalty. It was not called. On a Hail Mary pass, there is lots of interference going on, and it is generally not called.
People are claiming that this is the first time the replacement refs have given a game to the team who did not deserve it.
I am uncertain. Calls have been questionable. It looks like every pass play draws a flag for interference. These refs do not know the rules.
Since the NFL has locked out the "real" refs, player have been complaining, and getting fined by the NFL. Fans have been complaining. Lost in all of this is that there are only two kinds of refs:
1) Bad refs
2) Worse refs
Having sen the worse refs, we now want the bad refs back. This is not going to happen. In order for the lock out to end, either the refs must cave to the demands of the NFL, or the players will need to refuse to play games, or the fans will stop watching. The only one of these that might happen is the first. The players will not lose a pay check, and the fans, as much as we complain when our favorite teams get screwed, are probably enjoying the spectacle of incompetent refs.
The truth about the replacement refs is that they are doing the best that they can, but are hopelessly out of their depth. That is, incidentally, the kindest thing that can possbily be said about Barack Obama by people who are still, inexplicably, not deluded.
I certainly hope this is solved qucikly.
then we can go on and complain about the real refs, and want to bring back the replacement refs.
FIRE GODELL!
My problem isn't so much with the call, but that THIS call is the one that gets everyone up in arms, when in my opinion the calls in the Vikings/49ers game were in fact much worse. That said I know the answer to why it is this call, which I outline in my email.
The main point of my argument/diatribe/observations is that there is a difference between what is "black and white" for instance that a touchdown is 6 points and an extra point is one, you get three timeouts per half etc and a "grey" one which is up to whoever is making that judgement meaning a fumble, whether a player is down, the spot of the ball, offensive or defensive pass interference.
These refs messed up on calls that are grey. Any fan could probably tell you calls that refs (the real ones) have done to their team that apply to this zone, as a Vikings fan my team has been screwed constantly by calls that are in this "grey area" yet, are still in my opinion bad calls, but like (and I hate to use this example) the Holocaust, we all know it happened, there really couldn't be more evidence on something as you a purveyor of history would know the Germans/Nazis took meticulous notes and recorded data on any and everything dealing with the Third Reich, but there is still remains a group of people out there who didn't think it happen.
So, every time there is something we view as "clear cut" in that grey area, there is still some, if it's against our team and the call is clear as day we might use the term "dumbass", out there who thinks that the call should stand or not stand based on whatever visual evidence we receive.
HOWEVER, this person cannot debate the black and white rules. In the Vikings game, that's what the refs messed up on (they also created a penalty that doesn't exist. You can't even call it because it's impossible to happen unless you have a sleeper agent -- though they rescinded this due to sheer embarrassment when they realized this).
So, for me those calls are more egregious, and are less likely to be messed up on by actual officials. The Green Bay game is all what ifs.
You want to win it? Then don't let your QB get sacked 9 times and put yourself in that situation. Most rational fans would say that, I know for a fact the guys that do Vikings fan line would say that to us if we all called in after a game that went down exactly the same and we'd all be whining about it (and that last call other than being the game winner isn't as big of a screw job as I've seen against my squad. Green Bay realizes they are now fallible, how quaint.).