Replacement Officials - They Gotta Go

[dslaw]

I don't think the hits like the one on Heyward-Bey have anything to do with replacement refs. Too many NFL players are simply vicious individuals and WANT to hurt the opponent.

It's too bad the players don't have the ability to, you know, actually play within the rules a little bit more.

But why should they when the fans want to see guys get crushed!!!!!

There have been a lot of late hits and hits like the Heyward-Bey one that aren't called. The longer these hits go on without penalties the more the players will do them. The more cheap shots are taken the more players will get hurt. All of the hits are not just by the defense. I saw London Fletcher on the ground after the whistle and a Rams O lineman jumped on him, no penalty. Unfortunately it may take 3 or 4 more guys getting carted off before the owners realize their investment is being harmed. It will never stop, even with the real refs back, but the number of cheap shots certainly seems to be on the rise with these refs on the field.

[Mithrandir]

There have been a lot of late hits and hits like the Heyward-Bey one that aren't called. The longer these hits go on without penalties the more the players will do them. The more cheap shots are taken the more players will get hurt. All of the hits are not just by the defense. I saw London Fletcher on the ground after the whistle and a Rams O lineman jumped on him, no penalty. Unfortunately it may take 3 or 4 more guys getting carted off before the owners realize their investment is being harmed. It will never stop, even with the real refs back, but the number of cheap shots certainly seems to be on the rise with these refs on the field.

This is the MAIN reason i have pretty much quit watching the NFL..the players seemingly have little regard for the health of their fellow players. Too many players take the cheap shot if they can and that just sucks.

[nullnor]

401k's is a great way to force people to put money in the stock market so the 1% can play with it. one of the greatest rip-offs of all time... sure you might make money or lose some, but it's not a pension. it's just a way for other ppl to take your money and do whatever they want with it.

[Roto Rooter]

The guy who made the right call is a former college official who's officiated bowl games. The guy who called a touchdown is a banker who refs high school games.

[Long John]

A key sports truism is that if the game comes down to the last play and an official may need to make a call, both teams have failed in their mission - which is to play well enough to take the game out of the hands of the officials.

Even when there are multiple errors - play better, and it won't matter.

The Seahawks didn't deserve to win.
Did the Packers? Compared to the Seahawks, yeah. In the grand scheme of things? Meh.
They should have played better, and they didn't, and this is what happened.

And if I were a Packers fan, I'd take solace in knowing that at least their focking didn't happen in a Super Bowl like Seahawks-Steelers - a game-long, systematic smacking.

P.S. Yes, I'd like to see the "real" refs back, and no I won't pretend that will be the end of any bad officiating...

I won't disagree with this. However, the Packers knew they were awful in the first half, made adjustments in the locker room and came out in the second half and owned the Seahawks completely. What destroyed the game were the two terrible penalty calls on the Seahawks second to last drive. That completely changed the field position (roughing the passer penalty, Sam Shields pass interference penalty) so that the Packers would have been in a different position offensively. You can't tell me that the real refs would have called BOTH of those penalties. Those two penalties drastically altered both teams final offensive plays and the entire final half of the 4th quarter plays out differently. Would the Packers have definitely won? We'll never know. The point is that we should know.

[Erik]

As long as people keep watching, ratings remain high, tickets and merchandise continue to sell, and sponsors are satisfied (a function of the first and second points), the owners don't care about anything else. The only way to force their hand is for fans to stop going to games or watching them. And that's not gonna happen as long as we don't get replacement players again.

[Judge Jude]

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