Did you guys watch MNF? Dude...

[vt_maverick]

Been mesmerized by SportsCenter for the last hour, it's hard to believe what I just saw.

[djvx]

yes, and as a lifelong Packers fan living in WI all my life I can say this loss in a somewhat meaningless game hurts more than any other. Because Green Bay didn't lose, it was taken away in such an obvious manner. Would be quite different had it not been so easy to see but it clearly was an interception and not a TD.

[VXR]

Been mesmerized by SportsCenter for the last hour, it's hard to believe what I just saw.

Watch SB XL and you will understand

[BigSwede]

The NFL gambled that they wouldn't be embarrassed too much by the replacement officials...and lost. They might as well get officials from the WWE.

[VXorado]

At this point they might as well not have officials. Just booth review every play

MNF was hopefully the straw that broke the camels back...

[Vendetta]

MNF was hopefully the straw that broke the camels back...

'Cause the Steelers' hit on Darrius Heyward-Bey almost broke his.

It's a dangerous sport, fine. It's a mostly-controlled danger when the refs are doing their jobs. But this is more like... chaos.

[circmand]

as soon as the regular refs are back everyone starts harping on all the mistakes they make. The sports announcers are making a big deal about every blown call. The NFL did not allow that with the regular refs. As for the Steeler hit it was clean in my opinion. He hit the guy in the chest 1st and the receivers head snapped forward for a helmet to helmet collision. As for the Bellichek fiasco he is pissed he can't cheat anymore. And when it was reveiwed the call was correct. Both sides aren't talking so it is an opinion this is a 3 million dollar difference. It is guaranteed pention money that will keep increasing every contract negotiation as well as the NFL being able to get rid of poor performing refs.

[Vendetta]

I'm not saying it wasn't a clean hit, but rather that the players are more likely to stretch what seem like the increasingly elastic limits under the current refs. In other words, even it IF it was clean, it was still gratuitously violent because the players are testing those limits. And I believe that's dangerous.

As for the "regular" refs, well they had to start somewhere too, right? Sure, maybe not all at once, but still. I'll stop there before I make any union enemies.

-V

[VXD959]

There are blown calls in almost every sport: baseball, soccer, basketball, boxing, tennis, etc. It happens all the time, even to the best experienced refs. After all they are all humans (unless you want them to stop the clock 10,000 times to watch replays). I don't see the big deal, unless the incompetency is too obvious to ignore. However, most of the time (90%-95%) the calls are probably fair.

Now we have all kind of instant replays in sports (in my opinion, replays should be used only in games that matter). I watched the game yesterday and witnessed all the media "circus". The Packers did not lose the game on that last play. If you want to win a game, you have to win it convincinly. Otherwise you are exposed to close calls and/or bad fortune. That goes to any team and can go either way.

I personally don't think (as many of the ESPN commentors said yesterday) that the game is suffering because of this. I can only agree if there is a safety issue and players are being hurt. Or if you think that the refs are "sold" and favoring a specific team.

I don't see any of the "winning teams or players" complaining...Only the losers.

By the way, I think that the ESPN commentators after the game last night were very wrong (excuse Mr. Steve Young. Your emotions took over a rational and objective assessment of the matter - Hopefully you did not have any money on this game). I even think that the Packers handled the situation very professionally during the after-game interview: yes, very pissed off, but not commenting on the calls.

[VXD959]

NEW YORK – The NFL has upheld the Seahawks' 14-12 win over the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football.

The league said in a statement Tuesday that Seattle's last-second touchdown pass should not have been overturned.

The NFL says Seahawks receiver Golden Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference before the catch, which would have clinched a Packers victory, but that cannot be reviewed by instant replay.

The replacement officials ruled on the field that Tate had simultaneous possession with Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, which counts as a reception. The NFL says that once that happened, the referee was correct that no indisputable visual evidence existed on review to overturn the touchdown call.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/0...#ixzz27Vh4josu

[Rampage108]

I disagree. The refs had an obvious bad call earlier in game leading to the packers getting a td. But everyone forgets to mention that one. Not a good win but still a hawk win

[Y33TREKker]

Since it seems that it's not only sports commentators complaining about the replacement refs, but many regular news program hosts too, blaming these replacement refs SO MUCH is starting to look like a dodge being created by the big-business side of the NFL.

Seems like another union-busting episode in the history of U.S. business in my opinion, because we are talking about a mutli-billion dollar a year industry after all.

With so much responsibility resting on the shoulders of the regular NFL refs, a normal person could reasonably come to the conclusion that that responsibility was worth relative compensation, but instead, the owners in the NFL seem to want to do the same thing as the example we have with the modern airline industry where pilots with such huge responsibilities are asked by their employers to accept salaries totaling $20k or so per year.

Well I don't know about you, but I'd rather my pilots on commercial flights not be stressed about how they're going to pay their monthly bills because their bosses are greedy while my life is in their hands. Granted, my life isn't at stake dependent on the calls NFL reps make, but there are obviously a lot of people (Like NFL team coaches) who DO get overly dramatic about some of those calls, so if this situation is that important to those people, they should be directing their anger where it really belongs, greedy NFL owners.

[circmand]

Since it seems that it's not only sports commentators complaining about the replacement refs, but many regular news program hosts too, blaming these replacement refs SO MUCH is starting to look like a dodge being created by the big-business side of the NFL.

Seems like another union-busting episode in the history of U.S. business in my opinion, because we are talking about a mutli-billion dollar a year industry after all.

With so much responsibility resting on the shoulders of the regular NFL refs, a normal person could reasonably come to the conclusion that that responsibility was worth relative compensation, but instead, the owners in the NFL seem to want to do the same thing as the example we have with the modern airline industry where pilots with such huge responsibilities are asked by their employers to accept salaries totaling $20k or so per year.

Well I don't know about you, but I'd rather my pilots on commercial flights not be stressed about how they're going to pay their monthly bills because their bosses are greedy while my life is in their hands. Granted, my life isn't at stake dependent on the calls NFL reps make, but there are obviously a lot of people (Like NFL team coaches) who DO get overly dramatic about some of those calls, so if this situation is that important to those people, they should be directing their anger where it really belongs, greedy NFL owners.

The average Captain of an airline gets $15,000 a month more or less depending on the airline. Thats is an average of $180,000 a year. Fair enough considering the responsibility. The pay scale of an NFL Referee is $25000 to $75000 a year (non playoff season) fair enough for working 16 days a year plus training.

[BigSwede]

It was clear and indisputable that it was not simultaneous possession. The defender had the ball wrapped in both arms against his chest when his butt hit the ground. That is possession. The receiver was behind him and didn't even get both hands on the ball until they were both on the ground.

[Triathlete]

It's a GAME! Yes, the obvious blundered calls suck but at the end of it all my life goes on unchanged.