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Brendan Darr's Blog
The Fiasco That Is NFL Refereeing Stuck
Posted on September 25, 2012 at 06:52 PM.


So yeah, that happened Monday night. We all saw it.

The NFL Replacement Referees are a disgrace. It isn't all their fault, a lot of it falls on the NFL and a little bit more on the regular referees. This is beyond unacceptable.

It is to the point now that this referee fiasco is just pure comedy. You literally cannot do anything except laugh. The call was so easy to see on replay, and yet the referee crew blew it.

The crew also missed other plays here and there throughout the night, probably the most blatant of which was the cheap shot Brandon Browner gave Greg Jennings.

However, it wasn't just this game that saw blatant misses by the referees. There were others, but none that changed the outcome of the game quite like the Seattle-Green Bay game. That doesn't mean there haven't been other egregious errors.

We, as football fans, need the regular referees back. Not because they are infallible, but they keep the games moving and they never -- no matter what you think -- would have made that mistake on Monday night.

Are they perfect? No, far from in fact, but they wouldn't miss a call like that. Never.

This current crop of referees were actually turned away from the Lingerie Football League. Remember when we heard that some crews actually worked there and we laughed? What now? They literally were asked to leave the LFL.
“Because of the LFL’s perception it is that much more critical for us to hire officiating crews that are competent, not only for the credibility of our game but to keep our athletes safer. Due to several on-field incompetent officiating we chose to part ways with with a couple crews which apparently are now officiating in the NFL. We have a lot of respect for our officials but we felt the officiating was not in line with our expectations.

We have not made public comment to date because we felt it was not our place to do so. However in light of tonight’s event, we felt it was only fair that NFL fans knew the truth as to who are officiating these games”
So these guys aren't good enough for the Lingerie Football League, but they are refereeing an NFL game? Excuse me, not only refereeing games, but blowing games. Roger Goodell not only stands by this referees, but upheld their decisions in the process.


Goodell and the league office upheld the decision, but did scrutinize the lack of an offensive pass interference call. They did not, however, admit the wrong call was made. Nor did they reverse the result and give the Packers the win they deserved.



Where do we, as fans, go from here? You aren't turning off your television, this much we know is true. Therefore, advertisers would pull their ads off the networks. If advertisers don't pull the ads, the networks certainly aren't going to stop broadcasting the games.



So where does that leave us? Unfortunately, it leaves in the hapless position of waiting for another screw up. One so severe, that it would force the league to cave in to demands of the referees union. It's a sad day when that is your best-case scenario.

Comments
# 1 mirrored32 @ Sep 25
a very sensible writing. it is a shame that this happened. It is obvious that the New Farse League is unwilling to admit when they blew it. They are also unable to admit the the three calls were blatent and obvious on the videotape. The NFL is not David Copperfield. As fans we need to hold the New Farse League responsible. Boycott.
 
# 2 mirrored32 @ Sep 25
Simply, they have the right to change it if they want, but in an effort to 'protect the shield' which is obviously lost its shine, is cracked, and found to make of MONEY, the decided to give up integrity of the game for money. Thanks for providing a billion dollar industry built on 'doing the right thing'.
 
# 3 jmik58 @ Sep 25
This picture caught a perfect moment that many have missed. The official who signaled touchdown actually looked at the other ref and noticed him start to raise his hands (assuming he was doing so to also signal touchdown). Essentially, he wasn't sure of the call but thought he was just going along with what the other guy was going to call a touchdown as well. It's very subtle and you have to see it on video, but his indecisiveness nails the biggest issue on the head. These guys don't know the rules well enough and it's not professional football that we're watching. At least not "NFL" football.
 
# 4 Kiean28 @ Sep 26
@jmk58
The irony is, that the black ref is waving the touchdown off and the white dude is signaling touchdown. Oh well...is it true that (the real) NFL referees are, other than their counterparts from the other major sports, not full time refs?
 
# 5 celticfang @ Sep 26
Trent Dilfer (and to a point Steve Young) summed up what a lot of people are thinking.

My take on it was that it was an awfully officiated game, it wasn't just one big call, it was the last call in a series of bad or blown calls.

Yes we need the regular referees back, but I think we also need the NFL to do a lot of soul searching and actually work out what they want to be. Do they want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong? I get the feeling that's what they are doing right now.
 
# 6 paconaifas @ Sep 26
This is turning into a completely ridiculous situation. We would be better off without a season or a shortened season, than with what we have now. These so called refs, are not up to the situation, and everyone as seen it, since the first the hall of fame game. This season is going to end up being a farse, because the results and the standings already are a farse. For me, as a Packers' fan, this was the final drop, and I won't be watching anymore, until real refs are back. I just can't imagine how a Superbowl will be played if these people are refereeing the game.
 
# 7 joefrommo117 @ Sep 26
Yeah, I'll be honest - once NBA 2K13 comes out, I'm done with watching the NFL unless the real officials come back - this from a guy who has watched every game available as long as I can remember. There's just no point watching when the players are no long determining the outcome of the game.
 
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