What I do know, however, is that the NFL officiating department has decided to take an interest in a more politically correct staff rather than a competent staff. This is not to say that there are not very talented officials on the field of look at thousands of plays a year and get them correct a world class speed with world class athletes -- and the game is incredibly complex to officiate. Seven officials have specific duties to look in the proper position at the proper time -- more often than not the official that is closest to the play is not the official responsible for the call. BUT, the NFL has taken a policy to promote officials based on their look not necessarily their competence. Additionally there is an old joke that when it comes to getting in the NFL, you either have a certain look, or a certain father -- as there are several officials who skipped paying their dues based on having a relative in the league. They call it the "lucky sperm club"
The consolidation of all reviews under a single official (Riveron) is also equally disturbing. It is unclear why there are multiple replay officials at the stadium, when everything comes down to a single man making a judgment. This is a bad idea -- it should return to being handled at the stadium in a certain amount of time and dealt with. Additionally, I think it would be very difficult to review every play -- and get replay involved in calling penalties. At some point you hire people on the field to do the right thing and trust their judgment, we are human as well.
The problem is that the NFL is more interested in hiring a politically correct look (including promoting women quickly) than hiring officials have have called thousands of games and have higher proficiency and scores. If it were to turn to a group of officials who work hard and are trained well, these mistakes would still happen, but far less likely.
As sports is a cross section of life, I think that this officiating department is more reflective on how our society functions placing a premium on political correct instead of competence. Such an interesting thing to ponder on a day where we celebrate someone who believed in being judged on the content of character over other traits.
There was a time when I would have agreed with you. But, not anymore. I watch a LOT of football, at several levels. In the college and NFL game, I see plenty of games where the outcome is, VERY CLEARLY, pre-determined.
That one non-call that everyone is talking about was not the ONLY call, non-call that went against the Saints yesterday. One of their last drives in regulation was stopped by a similarly egregious non-call of pass interference. A score on that drive would have put the game out of reach. It wasn't going to be allowed.
Even on the interception play that put the Rams in a position to win, there was blatant interference... no call.
Roger Goodell made SURE the new franchise in Los Angeles was going to get maximum support. The fix was 100% in.
Perhaps this is true of the NFL. But never forget the Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy who exposed the bias that was quite prevalent in the NBA. It left a stain on all pro sports.
“If it were to turn to a group of officials who work hard and are trained well, these mistakes would still happen, but far less likely.”
This is one area where they are not willing to pay for. There is no NFL official that does this for a living. Officials like Walt Coleman whose real job is a dairy farmer or Ed Hochuli who is an attorney. Then there’s Gene Steratore who runs a sanitary supply company and Jerome Boger whose an underwriter for Allstate. What they have in common is they are all referees for the NFL, white hats that control the crews they work with. But they aren’t professional officials.
And men like them have been doing the job since the 1940’s and about the only thing that has changed is the league interpretations of rules and how to define calls. A few of the things are there to make the game more interesting to the fan, not to regulate the game.
For instance, what is making space with a hand battle between a defensive back and a pass receiver? I wonder what got the “clip zone” so defined. Why did the league determine that blocking at the line play is legal so they allow wide receivers to block within the 10 yard area for a receiver screen against db’s which violates the 10 yard rule? Can team followers yell to make it hard for the offence to hear their signals or not? Everyone of those determinations is inconsistent with the rules but allowed. Because it makes the fan happy and puts butts in the seats and gets their jersies bought. It’s all about money and the league is going to get away with anything they can to promote the money. Always have.
Is it good financially to have a team from the far east of the US playing against a team from the far west in their big money game? One can only speculate.
rwood