Risky, risky replacement refs
October 4, 2012 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Thank God the real refs are back
Posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 9:00 am
The Diamondback
Posted on
October 3, 2012
In a presidential election year, there’s one thing that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on: The replacement refs were horrible. It’s one of those statements that can’t scientifically be proven, but a fact that everyone believes to be the truth. No one says, “The replacement refs really made the NFL better!” or “Those replacement refs always made the right calls!” It simply just didn’t happen.
First, let’s look at the impact that the replacement refs have had on the NFL, both in the present and in the future. After the phantom “touchdown” call on the last play of the Packers-Seahawks game, the result still goes down as a loss for the Pack and a win for Seattle – no matter how much people complain about the inaccuracy of the call.
In a tough NFC North division, it could come down to a one-game difference in record that decides whether the Packers make the playoffs or not. The same goes for the Seahawks, but in the opposite direction. As we see at the end of each season, the difference a game can make goes a long way.
Referees in any sport are basically supposed to make their calls and keep the game fair – they should seemingly seem invisible. However, in the NFL, the fans, players, coaches and media constantly ostracize the refs for questionable calls. This practice skyrocketed during the early weeks of the 2012 season after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided to go with replacement officials.
Goodell’s public image took a turn for the worst after that call at the end of the Packers-Seahawks game. Everyone who have bad-mouthed the original referees started calling for their “enemies” to come back. Goodell single-handedly turned the league and its faithful followers against him by choosing to go with the replacements for the start of the season.
The mere fact that a league as high profile as the NFL would choose to employ “fake” refs is astonishing in itself. But imagine if the other major sports leagues (NHL, NBA, MLB) went in Goodell’s direction too. Which league would be worse off? In my opinion, it has to be the MLB. With no instant replay in place, close plays are determined solely on human instinct (and human error). A normal bang-bang play at first could go either way, and thus cause worse reactions by the fans and players than in the NFL.
Just look at Jim Joyce’s blown call to end Armando Galarragga’s perfect game bid. If that were a replacement umpire, MLB commish Bud Selig would never hear the end of it. That situation is exactly what Goodell was going through on Monday night – scrambling to get a deal done with the regular referees.
Now back to those now-extinct replacement referees in the NFL. Lance Easley, the ref that botched the Packers interception call, had no experience in either professional or major college football. He didn’t pass a test to officiate at the D-I college football level and was previously fired from refereeing in the Lingerie Football League. The Lingerie Football League!! And yet, he was the man that decided a Monday Night Football game on national television between two early-season playoff contenders.
Hopefully Goodell has learned from his costly mistake to employ these guys in the first place. And hopefully, every other major commissioner in sports has learned from this precedent as well.
Will we see another era of replacement officials in pro sports? Maybe. Should we? Definitely not. One thing is for sure, though. Fans, players, coaches and the media will nevertheless criticize referees and their calls no matter how much experience they’ve had in the past.
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