Who else is loving these refs?

[Atlanta Dan]

Nice take down of the scab refs in this column about last night's Pats-Ravens game

Here's what I think should happen. At the end of this farcical exercise in corporate avarice, and whenever he has determined that his ego has been sufficiently fluffed and his power sufficiently recognized throughout the land, commissioner Roger Goodell should take his entire 2012 salary and split every dime of it up among the players in the National Football League, because they are the ones he's putting at risk and they are the only ones keeping the NFL from descending into a form of opéra bouffe that would embarrass roller derby...

This was my first live exposure to Goodell's ongoing experiment in national consumer fraud, but it doesn't take very long to get used to the offbeat polyrhythms the experiment has forced upon the game. First, you have the play. Then you have the dramatic appeal to the scab officials. Then you have the overreaction to the dramatic appeal to the scab officials, which usually involves either head-butts or slap fights. ...

If, as is the case with almost everyone my age, you got used to the basic flow of a football game by watching it on TV every Sunday, the effect of what's going on out there this year is jarring. There is an almost palpable sense of ambivalence and uncertainty. Plays no longer end when they should. The fans in the stadiums — and the fans watching at home and, god knows, the gambling community in both places — have an obvious moment in which everybody wonders if something completely screwy is going to happen...

Ray Lewis, who's been around long enough not to care, was a little more direct. "That's another subject and I really don't want to go there and damage the win, but you can't do that to the game," he said. "You have to let the game take care of itself. The saddest thing about it is when you hear other people talk about it and say, those are the rules. Those aren't the rules. The rules of this game are — do whatever you have to do, by whatever means necessary.

(Not for nothing, but this is not a turn of phrase that Ray Lewis ought to be using, given events earlier in his life. We continue, however.)...

The players are outraged. The coaches are outraged. The fans are outraged. Even the pet TV commentators seem marginally perturbed. ... It's their lives. It's their bodies, and people with the heart of Torrey Smith deserve better than to be made complicit in dishonest vaudeville.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-patriots-game

[Steelerfreak58]

Goodell knows people will continue to watch and that is all that matters to him. With the amount of honest complaints he may even get more ratings because people will want to see it for themselves. Football fans will have a hard time walking away from it.

Until people shut off the televisions, or stop going to games Goodell has the league by the proverbial balls.

[Hawaii 5-0]

Steelers' Larry Foote To Replacement Refs: 'You Should Go Kill Yourselves'

by Charlie Wilmoth • Sep 24, 2012

Deadspin notes KDKA's Jory Rand's reporting about Larry Foote telling the replacement refs, "You should go kill yourselves" after the Steelers' loss against the Raiders Sunday.

Larry Foote was the first Steeler to exit the field. I was set up nearby for our postgame show, and heard someone scream, "You should go kill yourselves. Y'all (bleep)ing suck!"

I leaned around the corner and saw Foote enter the Steelers room, while several officials, entering their room, craned their neck to see who it was that had yelled at them.

Foote had already left the room by the time media was allowed in so we were unable to ask him about it.

Foote was upset about a play in which the Raiders' Willie Smith took out Ziggy Hood's knees. Hood was injured on the play, and the Steelers were apoplectic. Hood managed to walk off the field, but his status is currently unclear.

The lack of calls on plays like these this season has been frustrating, but Foote's comments still went way over the line. We'll see whether the NFL has anything to say about them.

http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/2012/...ill-yourselves

[steelerchad]

Last nights game was just the icing on the cake to an incredibly terrible week for the refs. This was the nightmare scenario for the league. After week 1, I thought the refs did an ok job. Week 2 was ridiculous, and I'm still dumbfounded by how bad week 3 was. Something has to be done.

I had hoped Seattle would win that game, but can't help but to feel bad for GB. It wasn't just the TD call at the end. The push by Tate in the endzone that wasn't called and the absolute mugging he gave earlier in the game that was actually called on the defense. Then there was the INT that got called back for roughing the passer. The guy dove to make a tackle on a runner outside of the pocket who was running with the ball when he dove.

I know if those calls were against the Steelers, I'd have a broken TV right now.

[Killer]

Goodell is pissing on his own shield.

you know I had to go to a Seattle board to see what's going on...Seattle fans think they were owed one


http://www.seahawks.net/viewforum.ph...0b5b3b320575cf


If you think the regulars are better, then go back and watch our 2005 superbowl that was robbed from us

Simultaneous possession of the ball means the offense has the ball that's the rule. When an offensive player gets the ball in the endzone the play ends instantly, touchdown. BUT when the defender intercepts it the play isn't dead until he hits the ground. The defender caught the ball in the air but he hasn't completed the catch until he gets to the ground, ie. he doesn't officially have possession until he gets to the ground. If Tate gets 50 percent possession for even an instant before the packer comes to the ground with control then it's a seahawks TD because he only needs possession for an instant and the Packer needs it all the way through the catch.

It was not an interception. He did not have SOLE possession of the ball prior to hitting the ground. They showed the frontal view on the replay which clearly showed Tate get both hands on the ball prior to contact with the ground. It may not be the popular call but it was the correct call.

and my favorite

Seahawks win. Screw the rest of the universe. We are OWED this shit. Screw EVERYONE! I do not care! Sea!! hawks!!

]Simultaneous control; tie goes to the offense. Always has; always will. Screw everyone. We win! End of f'ing story. Call on your the field is final. We've Been told that same shit for f'ing DECADES!!!! From testeverde's helmet td to roethlisbergers. I've Been told to GET OVER IT, so everyone Else can f'ing get over it this time. Suck it up and get over it cupcake!

[Atlanta Dan]

Rachel Nichols
@Rachel__Nichols

If there was ever an official photo of this whole replacement ref debacle, this is it pic.twitter.com/5eIGjRdR

Peter King
@SI_PeterKing

One of the great disgraces in NFL history.

Tom E. Curran
@tomecurran

You know what's scary. The outcry and attention being devoted fills the NFL's sails with pride over how important "their" game is to us.

http://nfl.si.com/2012/09/25/golden-...wks/?eref=sihp

[steelfury02]

aside from the portion of their fan base that still forgets how many times their receivers dropped the ball in XL, I actually think they have one of the better fanbases - that is one helluva stadium and they represent quite well

Some of them just need to let go. We've been on the losing end of two Super Bowls, and both can be attributed to Neil throwing to the Cowboys secondary, and the Packers just being flat out ball-hawks in the last one. Do you see us feeling we are owed something? Nope.

Moving on . . . nobody is coming to the realization that the more horrible these replacement refs look, the more the actual refs are going to dig their heels in. They have taken the position, "you need us more than we need you" - I personally don't see this getting done unless Goodell and co. just throw up their hands and give them what they want.

RE: The NFL is going to respond to last night's game. Wanna take bets as to what their response will be? My bet is "Rule # bla bla bla states this. The refs made the right call according to this rule. The end." Guarantee it. No way will they call out the idiots they put in place. Same boilerplate answers from the New NFL. Someday, someone is going to do a PR thesis on "The Decaying Brand of the NFL from 2007 - Present"

This game is vastly different from the one we saw just 5 seasons ago. I'd say the XL Steelers are the epitome of what the game once was.
Goodell Needs to Go:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...er-goodell-era

[BlacksburgSteeler13]

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