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NFL 2012 - Drive to Glory

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It's become quite clear why the NFL was so insistent that the players agree to a "no-strike" clause in last year's CBA negotiations -- the league intended to lock out the officials all along, and so it headed the players off at the pass to block their only meaningful recourse against a ref lockout.
 
Report is now that both sides are close, and have an agreement in principle. This thing could be back up and running by the weekend (sucks for the Thursday night game, i guess?)
 
The NFL should suck it up and give the Refs the 3 million, which amounts to an infinitesimal percentage of what the NFL makes a year on tickets, ad revenue, sponsorships and other means. This whole thing is a microcosm of the "other 99%" thing.
 
The thing that sucks in this is that the NFL knows they have all the leverage. We're not going to stop watching the games just because the officials suck (in fact, ratings may be up, and certainly they're getting a lot of press). The majority of the NFL's income doesn't come from fans going to the games and watching them, it comes from us watching it on TV. And even though I don't pay for cable, I am paying for the NFL indirectly via advertising revenue and the TV deals they have in place.

I haven't given the NFL one red cent this season, and yet they've already made their money off me. ESPN, CBS, FOX, and NBC are the ones who have paid for this season's NFL games.
 
CorporalClegg said:
The only reason this has garnered as much attention as it did is because people are trying to turn the replacement refs into scape goats. The poor guys were put into a shitty situation and are just doing their jobs.

People have even called them scabs. The thing is, had they not come to the rescue, the NFL would have been facing its second lockout situation in as many years. This would have killed the sport.

Could they be doing a better job? Absolutely. But the media and players are just as responsible for the circus as they are. There have been plenty of right calls over the last few weeks that have been marked wrong by the announcers or by players complaining about them in the post game. This has made these guys intimidated and unsure of themselves, and the whole thing has spun out of control. How many of the calls on Sunday were the direct result of coach and or player solicitation? There's plenty of people to blame for creating this current atmosphere.

And ESPN devoting more time to breaking down the film than the Warren Commission did the Grassy Knoll tape isn't helping matters.

Honestly, I'm partly convinced the only reason they obsessed over it so much is because they can't face the fact their darling Packers aren't nearly as good as they thought they were. The only "butthurt" the Packers received was thanks to the Seahawk's defense. Had they really played as well as they're supposedly able to, that play would have never happened.

So if you want to blame someone, blame Discount Double Check for playing like shit. Don't blame the replacement refs.
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I don't really blame the replacement refs except when they screw up completely obvious calls on replay. They're doing a tough job amidst pressure from players, coaches, press, and fans; a job that takes lots of experience to learn all the details (and even then you make mistakes) and years of practice to develop a trained eye that can keep up with the pace of the action. I blame the NFL for putting players at risk and affecting the outcome of games by resorting to replacement refs instead of cutting a deal with the regular refs.
 
CorporalClegg said:
I honestly don't understand all the attention this is getting and am getting seriously tired of all the indignation. It wasn't any more egregious than the more notorious botched coin flips, push-offs, phantom PI calls, and miss-called non catches of the last 50 years of NFL football.
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True enough, the regular refs were human too and sometimes botched calls or missed them. The difference here is the number of times it happens (in particular) and what types of mistakes are being made. If the replacement refs were doing as good a job as the regulars guys, meaning they blow a call every now and then, we wouldn't be hearing anything like what we're hearing now.

It is difficult for me to see one of the regular refs missing the Pack-Seahawks' end zone call.

The hyperbole and outrage of it being the "worst call in history" is just plain stupid. There have been many that were worse--several of which were in late season games or in the playoffs. This was a week three game.
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People may be overreacting some, but the reason for that is that the replacement refs are so far, sub par. BTW, it is more the number of botched calls than the type.

People have even called them scabs. The thing is, had they not come to the rescue,
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Pretty much the definition of a "scab" -- no? They came in to take over the jobs of the workers who aren't there and have "rescued" the owners.
the NFL would have been facing its second lockout situation in as many years. This would have killed the sport.
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The NFL is facing it's second lockout in as many years. Take my word for it; this one won't kill the league any more than the last one did.

This has made these guys intimidated and unsure of themselves, and the whole thing has spun out of control.
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What has made the replacements intimidated and unsure is the fact that they are all under trained and inexperienced, a lethal combo, and are trying to perform on the largest stage they could ever hope to perform upon. Blame the owners.
How many of the calls on Sunday were the direct result of coach and or player solicitation?
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This is part of the replacements incompetence. Coaches try the same tactics on the regular refs but it doesn't work nearly as well because those guys are trained and experiened.
Don't blame the replacement refs.
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The owners are to blame -- plain and simple. Most people are aware that the problem is the owners' lockout of the regular refs.

Partly because of the nature of the game of football, owership has been able to successfully suppress labor at every turn in the NFL. They are continuing that practise with the officials. They don't care what it does to the game because they know WE will always be there no matter what. History has proven them right in this regard.
 
gblews said:
True enough, the regular refs were human too and sometimes botched calls or missed them. The difference here is the number of times it happens (in particular) and what types of mistakes are being made. If the replacement refs were doing as good a job as the regulars guys, meaning they blow a call every now and then, we wouldn't be hearing anything like what we're hearing now.
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True.

Also, the issue isn't just the missed calls, but the absolute uncertainty on the part of these officials. The games that used to take 3 hours are now taking 4 hours, and its all because the officials take too long to decide what they're going to call. I have seen numerous instances of the officials needing to go to replay before even making an official call on the field... which is a major no-no.
 
And my biggest issue with the ref situation is how consistently they get calls completely wrong and when they use the review booth and screw that up. As annoying as they are, I can live with missed calls- that'll happen no matter who you have out there. But they are constantly getting calls wrong, and that's just unneccesary. And the review booth screw-ups are even worse. In the NO/KC game, KC had two touchdowns taken away on review that shouldn't have been overturned (they still got the TD on one drive and they got nothing on the other drive). And then there's our new favorite subject from Monday night.

The refs aren't entirely to blame- they're in a situation that they're obviously underqualified to deal with. And the pressure from all sides can't be helping things at all. But, they're screwing up badly enough and often enough that it's impacting the quality of the games.
 
Twitter is abuzz with information that the realferees will be back by Sunday at the latest. There's a new 8 year deal.
 
According to Tim Reynolds, an AP sports writer out of Miami, the union and the league have been meeting for at least 26 of the last 35 hours. The NFL may be claiming that the refs got the call right, but that report, if true, certainly seems to indicate that that game seems to have lit a fire under their asses to get this done
 
archeryguy1701 said:
According to Tim Reynolds, an AP sports writer out of Miami, the union and the league have been meeting for at least 26 of the last 35 hours. The NFL may be claiming that the refs got the call right, but that report, if true, certainly seems to indicate that that game seems to have lit a fire under their asses to get this done
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Whether the call was right or wrong, they have certainly been hearing from players, coaches, and especially fans.
 
Sounds like the new agreement gives the refs pretty much what they were asking for. A week too late for Packer fans, but I'm glad the real refs will be back.

Of course with the refs being out so long, I suspect they'll be a little rusty. Can't be any worse than the officiating was the last three weeks though.
 
Pegaritaville said:
Sounds like the new agreement gives the refs pretty much what they were asking for.
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Almost, but not quite. The NFL now has the power to hire officials (the number of which can be determined by the league) on a full-time basis, meaning said officials would have to give up their second jobs. Also, any new officials will not be eligible for pensions, but rather will have 401(k) plans, and existing officials only have until 2016 to accrue service time towards their pensions. That last part means the NFLRA made a deal that helps its existing members, but gives a shitty hand to future members (not unlike the new MLB CBA).
 
This is very interesting. The league is lying if they re trying to tell us that the ridiculous missed call in the Pack-Seahawks game had no influence on negotiations. As of Sonday night, the NFLRA was in the driver's seat.

Weird -- the refs have more labor clout than the players do. I guess that is because, as we have just witnessed, there are way more prople out there who can competently play football than there are people who can competently officiate.

Now we can all go back to hating the regular guys. :devil:
 
Timby said:
Also, any new officials will not be eligible for pensions, but rather will have 401(k) plans, and existing officials only have until 2016 to accrue service time towards their pensions. That last part means the NFLRA made a deal that helps its existing members, but gives a shitty hand to future members (not unlike the new MLB CBA).
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My company recently did the same thing to all salaried employees (and we're managment and non-union). All new employees do not receive a pension, only 401(k) with 2% matching. Existing employees are still getting a pension, but they removed company match from our 401(k). Supposedly, this is "competitve" within our industry. I would honestly not be surprised if in a few years, they stop contributing to our pensions. I would be royally pissed if they actually took our pensions away (I don't know that they are legally able to do that).

I'm not saying its right, but it make sense why the officials would concede on that point.
 
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