NFL officiating is a farce and the lads are back on the court

To quote the great Frank Barone:

“Holy crap!”

If you saw the end of the NFL game on Monday night you saw the greatest ripoff perpetrated by pretend referees in the history of all professional sport and it wasn’t such a travesty on such a grand scale, you’d have to sit back and howl in laughter.

Short story:

Seahawks throw last possession pass into end zone, Seattle player pushes off a Green Bay defender, two guys go up for the ball and then there’s a tussle.

Two refs – more used to doing NCAA DIII and high school games – come over, check out the end of the play, look directly at each other and one signals interception and the other signals touchdown.

Incredible!

They got to the replay booth, of course, and the verdict is the call on the field stands and a zillion people go:

“Which call, you idiots?!?!?!?!?”

Seattle gets the touchdown, wins the game, and the NFL suffers a blackmark that may never go away.

You all know that I think refereeing professional sports – in particular basketball – is one of the hardest jobs in the world and if we’ve learned anything over the first three weeks of the NFL season, it’s that you need professionals to do it.

Now, I’m not saying regular refs don’t blow calls but there is no way they blow that call that way; the two guys LOOKED AT EACH OTHER before making contradictory calls.

Unreal.

It is entirely conceivable that the Packers, now 1-2, could miss the playoffs by a game, or at least be involved in a dicey tiebreaker, and this blackmark isn’t going away any time soon.

The replacement situation has decline so rapidly it’s not even funny. The game is too fast for them, a lot of the calls are peculiar if not phantom and it underscores for all fans that good referees run games well. Pure and simple, they are the best at their jobs and the product suffers when they aren’t working.

The dispute between the league and its officials is simply about money and for a league with as much money as the NFL has, it’s utterly ridiculous that it’s come to this. It strikes at the very heart of sport – honest competition decided by players – and it’s becoming a joke.

The NFL, frankly, is in a sorry state and this is just exacerbating it. You’ve got a huge problem with concussions and players as missiles and bounties and I’ve warned before that incompetent officials are going to make the game more dangerous than it already is because they are so over-matched.

This whole mess is in the lap of the commissioner and if Roger Goodell doesn’t do something quickly, his legacy will be lost.

End of rant.

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Romero wins!

Romero wins!

Romero wins!

(Words I thought I might not write until spring)

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We don’t get in to see them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that these five-on-five scrimmages the lads are going through at the “informal workouts” would be just undisciplined enough to drive a coach batty.

Sure, there’ll be some intensity – some, not a lot – but because it’s mostly fun and quite apart from a regular practice scrimmage when there’s always a coach around to blow a whistle and restore some order when things get a tad ragged, I would bet coaches bite their tongues while watching.

Dwane Casey kind of confirmed that yesterday when someone (E.Koreen, I believe) asked if he could envision an “identity” for this team.

“I’m going to withhold comment until we get started for real because some of it is good, and some of it is not so good. I like the pieces that we have so far, I was watching the individual workouts and them going up and down scrimmaging, playing pick up games.

“There are a lot of things we’re not going to allow to happen once we go five-on-five but I like the spirit, I like the camaraderie and the guys voluntarily coming back and getting together and playing this way.”

Kind of damning with faint praise but a coach is always a coach.

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You know how we mentioned briefly the list of top sitcoms yesterday?

I’m thisclose to pitching one about the pugnacious buffoon Mayor and his equally bullying but less accomplished loudmouth councilor brother and how all they do is rant and rave and threaten and make an absolute joke of themselves while purporting to run the most significant city in a country.

Trouble is, there isn’t a producer in the world that would buy it; it’s too outlandish and incomprehensibly impossible that no one would believe it could happen.

And yet …

All we truly need is Barry Bostwick and Michael J. Fox to show up in Toronto; they'd look like the greatest leadership team of all political time.

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So, you want to know what Raptors training camp is going to be like?

Intense, with a few big decisions made quickly, or so Dwane told us yesterday about figuring out who plays where and with whom.

“Probably, before Halifax is over with, we’ll have a good feel of where we are and who we want to have. It’s not going to be to the point where a guy is clearly going to beat out another guy, we’re just going to have to have balance between our first unit and our second unit, both offensively and defensively … We did not have last year.”

Looks like we may have some work to do down there; hope it doesn’t get too much in the way of seeing what Halifax has to offer.

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Comments

[Jeff D]

Is the atrocious NFL officiating a reflection of how poor the replacements are or how difficult it is to officiate in the NFL? After the first 3 weeks of the NFL season, would you still hold to the assertion that basketball (i.e. NBA) is the most difficult sport to officiate? Thanks Doug.

Blogger's note: Yes, it is; these guys aren't professionals, I believe football, officiating by trained, experienced refs used to the speed of the game, is easier to officiate than basketball

[sam]

I'm not so certain a sitcom is in the future for Mayor Rob and his sidekick brother - He seems to lack a sense of humour about himself. I point to his encounter with Mary Walsh of this hour has 22 minutes as an example.
Perhaps a reality show -

A nice article on Jose yesterday - I get the impression that he truely is a team guy and winning is more important to him than anything else, but I suspect there must be a bit of ego inside that makes him want to be on the floor more times than not.

Did you get a chance to speak to some of the new HOTH? If so what was your first impression_

Blogger's note: We didn't, no

[doug]

looks good on Roger Goodell he gets what he deserves in this whole utterly ridiculous lock-out over pennies...and to people that accuse players of being greedy just remember this strike and the fact that 14 of the NFL owners are on Forbes newest 400 richest in the world...says it all right there, and Jimmy Devallano said it right not only about the hockey strike but all sports strikes "owners are the ranchers players are the cattle" truer words have never been spoken...
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came home last Saturday night turned on the tv to watch part of SNL as has been habit for all my life it seems, saw this band and man there good and shows there's hope for music from the young'uns...enjoy and you won't be able to watch this vid just once guaranteed, ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKfrgqWcv0&feature=related

[David in Oakville]

Happily I managed to catch the last ten seconds of Monday Night Football and a singular thought occurred to be as I witnessed the mayhem that ensued. In a world with officiating that awful and bizarre, our Maple Leafs and Raptors might actually stand a chance.
+
What I just can't figure out is how a man as smart as Roger Goodell could have thought that this would work out any other way than the way it has. What possible leverage does he have now with the "real officials" given what has transpired these past three weeks. Unless he has some people working away on a robot officiating crew that isn't ready yet

[Mike D.]

Kudos to NBC Chicago for nailing the Rob Ford/Matt Foley comparison....I keep waiting for one of the Fords to tell someone to "shut your damn cakehole" or another Foley trademark statement.

Like the NFL replacement refs, it seems that the game moves a little too fast for the Ford brothers.

[john]

Doug, as a resident of Mississauga, where Mayor Hazel got caught pushing a deal where she knew her son would make millions, what’s up with the incessant Ford bashing? Why no comment on the Mayor of the city in which you live? It’s so obvious that the mother ship has an axe to grind with the guy. I guess everyone at the Star is being asked to take up the cause?

Blogger's note: Wrong. But some people just can't see that. Too bad for them

[james]

For your Halifax lunch: Try the lamb sandwich at "il Mercato" on Spring Garden Road, a block or so south of the Lord Nelson.
Favourite referee quote: An irate Knick fan, his basso profundo voice picked up by a visiting radio broadcast sometime in the early 1960s: "Borgia sees what nobody sees!"

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

"I believe football, officiating by trained experience refs used to the sped of the game, is easier to officiate than basketball"

You believe this based on what? I get that you know some of the NBA guys, you've previously mentioned the odd breakfast with a couple of them, and I get that they are you're buds...but the physical nature of their work is no less demanding than hockey officials, the game isn't faster, they don't have to place themselves in danger to break up fights nightly like linesmen do. Sure there are more officials in a football game, but the field is bigger, there's more guys to watch, but a slower pace to the game, true. I really don't see how 3 guys watching 10 guys in the area of a basketball court is all that hard. I mean "Knick" Bevetta is employed and he's what, 104?? Great shape though, I'll give him that.

In the end, were talking about officials, guys who if they do there job should be invisible. To me, NBA officials see themselves as part of the game, slightly less so than baseball umpires.

Ciao amigo -- marc in panama

Blogger's note: Based on my opinion, small court, bigger bodies, more managing of games

[Cluck Kent]

Another great character for your sitcom could be the 106 year old little biddy mayor in the next city over who has been mayor for as long as anyone can remember.

Regardless of how you feel about Hazel, you wouldn't need much creative license to create quite a character. For example, when it comes up in conversation and you explain to someone that your mayor is 91 years old and has been in office for 33 years, what kind of a reaction do you get from them?

As for the officiating, I'm more upset than I should be when games are decided by the officials. To allow tier 2 guys to try and officiate is ridiculous. Having such a short season magnifies the issue.

[Bo4]

Question: Since when did it matter that there was balance of O & D in both the starters & the subs? I thought the decision to start someone was primarily "Who are our 5 best basketball players?" cause they get the most minutes!

Blogger's note: Not true; I give you Manu now and John Havlicek back in the day

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Hell of a link, @doug. The Mumfords are excellent. Hell of a venue for a concert, too. I'm pretty sure that was Red Rocks, outside of Denver. There are some mighty nice outdoor amphitheatres tucked away in the mountains, with their fabulous natural acoustics. Never been to that one, but it looks/sounds fantastic.
Cheers. Go Raps!