Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

“They all knew.”

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You are here: Home / Sports / These Replacement Refs are Going to Get Someone Killed

These Replacement Refs are Going to Get Someone Killed

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Watching the Steelers v. Raiders game, and I am absolutely flabbergasted that Ryan Mundy did not get a flag and thrown out of the fucking game for that hit on Darius Heyward-Bey. I hope the league office fines him steeply and suspends him for a couple games. It was clear helmet to helmet contact, and just a vicious illegal hit. On top of that, the illegal pick in the first quarter that took out the other Oakland cornerback temporarily, the missed call on the douchebag attacking Ben’s knees, the missed holding calls and everything else these refs have screwed up or missed, and this is just a fucking disgrace. These refs are as bad at calling games as David Gregory is at calling out Republican lies.

And yes, I know I am a Steelers homer, but this shit is unacceptable. And yes, I know it is a rough game, but these refs are going to get someone killed. This isn’t about being a homer, this is about the integrity of the game and absolutely unnecessary violence. With the concussion issue already out there, the NFL union busting efforts at the expense of these players makes me want to vomit.

Just unacceptable. No one is in control of the game. Fuck you Goodell. These are people and your most valuable commodity, and you are just willing to get them killed to save a paltry 200k a year per team. God damned disgrace.

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    Yeah, like the 2 helmet hits to Schaub’s chest and the one crown of the helmet to his chin that popped his helmet right the F off.
    Fuck these fucking guys.

  3. 3.

    Joel

    That Mundy high launch was super dangerous and completely intentional. The refs shouldn’t be having the league cover their asses. Pay the real guys already.

  4. 4.

    Howd

    But, but, but, if they pay the refs, how is the NFL going to be able to pay Goodall his $20M a year for the next 5 years?

  5. 5.

    Soonergrunt

    Well, as long as the players take the field, this will keep happening.
    It’s the players who are the key to this. It always has been. As long as they show up, there will be games. As long as there’s games, the owners will keep using shitty refs. As long as the players keep fucking the officials by not doing a solidarity strike or sick-out, this is what you’re going to keep getting.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    Bullshit you fucking bullshit motherfuckers! The clock was at double 00 before the snap.
    These fucking guys.

  9. 9.

    kvenlander

    The circus will go on as long as you give them eyeballs and money. Why watch this shit if it makes you vomit? There are other sports.

  11. 11.

    Scott Alloway

    But but but … The refs want a pension plan and other people don’t have one. Well, damn, This fight for pensions has to start somewhere and if it’s with the refs, so be it. No more of the 401k for retirement plans. You wanna make money off my labor, you have to pay.

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Just unacceptable. No one is in control of the game. Fuck you Goodell. These are people and your most valuable commodity, and you are just willing to get them killed to save a paltry 200k a year per team. God damned disgrace.

    Your NFL owners. Galtian assholes, for the most part. Goodell is doing exactly what they want.

  14. 14.

    Nerull

    The refs seem so afraid of making bad calls that they’ve decided to just not make any calls. The games are getting out of their control.

  15. 15.

    Azmtdog

    The Goodell legacy is about to be written as ‘remember the time when that guy working the salad bar at Sizzler’s was the head linesman? That sucked!’
    The NFLPA has a great letter to the commisioner as Pooh mentioned.

  16. 16.

    Pooh

    Point of correction, it’s more like 1.5m per team than 200k, not that that’s an order of magnitude difference.

  19. 19.

    Cermet

    As a Raven’s fan, I was utterly appalled by that hit on Roethlisbeger by the Oakland defender. Not only should there have been a flag but the defender should have been thrown out of the game! That hit was so fucking dirty I don’t know what the rule protecting QB’s was written for if that type of hit is allowed.

  21. 21.

    Gian

    union busting. I’d love it if the players essentially honored the refs picket line.
    and really they oughta do it for their own health

  22. 22.

    Elmo

    @Soonergrunt:

    That’s what I don’t get. We fans and the teevee talking heads are all outraged about the league putting player safety at risk – but the players union is in the best position to do something about it, and not a peep from them. Where the hell are they, and why are these union players crossing the picket line?

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    @Elmo:

    and why are these union players crossing the picket line?

    They make six figure game checks. Where do you think they are?

  27. 27.

    Arm The Homeless

    Since we are piling on, I would like to assert that the Dolphins lost in overtime because the Refs didn’t like em. Yeah, that’s what happened.

  28. 28.

    Brian

    I feel the dirty hits are on the players. They made the hits, and it is up to Goodell to stop it. The ref’s don’t have the legitimacy right now to do it and they just aren’t good enough to do anything about it.

    The thing that is unacceptable to me is simple counting… like when it is 2nd down and calling it 3rd… that just shows the incompetence.

  30. 30.

    Culture of Truth

    Dunno Ryan Mundy, but I support the union.

    These refs are as bad at calling games as David Gregory is at calling out Republican lies.

    Not totally fair. David Gregory is now making up new right-wing lies, unprompted.

  31. 31.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Yeah, the replacement refs might get someone killed.

    AMONG THE HELP.

    There is no danger to those in the owners’ skyboxes at all.

  33. 33.

    MTiffany

    “These are people and your most valuable commodity,”

    I thought the ‘most valuable commodity’ was the NFL’s anti-trust exemption.

  35. 35.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Brian:

    The thing that is unacceptable to me is simple counting… like when it is 2nd down and calling it 3rd… that just shows the incompetence.

    What’s three timeouts minus one timeout?

  40. 40.

    Pooh

    @Brian: The point is that the refs don’t have control of the game at all, the best example is at the end of the Redskins game last week when the Rams had been chippy with RG3 and the rest of the offense all game and then one guy finally reacts and gets a (admittedly stupid) penalty that costs them a shot at the game, but the point is that the real refs don’t let the tension escalate to that point of chippiness. If you allow dirty little shit on every player, then that grows pretty quickly into headhunting precisely because the players aren’t being protected by the refs, so they take matters into their own hands, which just spirals.

  43. 43.

    suzanne

    Shitty refs don’t cause this behavior. Willing players don’t cause this behavior. WE cause this behavior by tuning in and buying tickets and by not demanding humane treatment for those that entertain us. If it’s that upsetting to you, take your money elsewhere. It really is just a game.

  46. 46.

    Pooh

    @cathyx: then the union loses a massive unfair labor practices case, two employees unions down for the price of none, big win for the NFL.

  47. 47.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    That NFLPA letter suggested that using the scab referees might be a violation of their contract with the league. I’m wondering if that’s laying groundwork for a sympathy strike. I believe I’ve heard that such a strike would normally be against the current contract, but their own strike over dangerous working conditions would get around that.

  49. 49.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Roethlisberger is a monster. Pittsburgh should get rid of the o-line and give him more receivers.

  52. 52.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Pooh: I will be lobbying to place an asterisk besides every game played under the scab-refs this season.

    It’s a very righteous position to take, or so says my Dolphins fan MIL.

  53. 53.

    Pooh

    @suzanne: No. I’m guessing from your performance in previous threads on the topic that you’ve never played a sport that involves physical contact, but the dirtiest games occur when the refs aren’t in control. Pickup games aren’t generally dirty because the players explicitly police themselves. Competently reffed games aren’t generally dirty because the refs exert control and the players know that shit won’t fly and are interested in winning more than they are in blowing someone up. In games where the refs have poor control, you can have both, plus there is the added emotion of the other guy cheap shotting you.

  55. 55.

    J. Michael Neal

    It really is hard to pick who to root for here. As much as I dislike Roethlisberger’s history, look up Sebastian Janikowski’s background sometime.

  57. 57.

    Corner Stone

    @raven: Because you made a series of really stupid and nonsensical contrarian posts with absolutely no basis in reality.
    Normally your football posts are just stupid. These were more of the egregiously stupid type.

  58. 58.

    Culture of Truth

    Tough choice for Romney. So many of his best friends are stealers, and many others are raiders.

  60. 60.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Apparently Rmoney just said this on 60 minutes

    60 Min: Is “fair to a guy who makes $50k” to pay “a higher rate than you?” Romney: “yeah.. It’s the right way to encourage economic growth”

  62. 62.

    raven

    @Pooh: I ran a flag league in Champaign-Urbana. Lot’s of high level former high school and college players. We had lots of problems with behavior and, one night, an ex big-10 lineman went after and official. In my capacity as the representative of the municipality, I stepped between them. This dude was going ape shit and screamed at me “we play each other every Sunday and we never have any problems. We get these goddamn refs in here and it goes to shit”. I quoted him verbatim when I made my report to the board urging that we end the program. We did.

  63. 63.

    Pooh

    @cathyx:

    That’s not really how it works, as someone suggested upthread, the letter is the first step towards an unsafe work environment. Walking off now and then trying to “backdate” that kind of claim could easily be taken as evidence of the player bargaining/operating in bad faith.

  68. 68.

    cathyx

    @Pooh: Well, let’s write letters back and forth for a while. Then when someone gets paralyzed or dies, then we can retroactively fix it.

  69. 69.

    HydroCabron

    I have several leftish – at least by today’s standards – blogs on my RAS feed, and that’s that. I don’t hate football, but I don’t care. I get nearly as good football coverage from these blogs as I would from follwing ESPN. It ain’t that important, folks. I know there’s a labor angle here, but it’s amazing how many non-NFL blogs provide NFL coverage anyway.

  70. 70.

    smith

    The overwhelming majority of the players want the regular referees back. They have spoken out about it too. Only dirty players like Cortland Finnegan like the replacement refs because they can get away with murder.

    As said above, the players’ CBA prevents them from doing anything other than give lip support to the regular referees.

    I keep hearing that the replacement refs will “grow” into the job, but I keep seeing more and more mistakes with each passing week. Some of them have no freaking clue what to do out there.

    Anyone see the referee throw his hat in the end zone and the Dallas Cowboys player slipped and fell on it? It’s like damned Keystone Kops out there.

    But as Steve Young said last week, the NFL doesn’t care. As long as they are busting the referee’s union they don’t care about player safety.

    Any interview Roger Goodell gives I hope the journalist asks him how he can sit there and lecture about player safety when the scab refs are basically allowing headhunting to go on.

  71. 71.

    Brian

    @Pooh: Right and I guess the point I was trying to make poorly… is I don’t blame the new guys on the field now they don’t have the legitimacy or the balls to make the needed calls. I blame the league, and the odd dirty player for taking advantage of the situation.

  75. 75.

    Pooh

    @raven: I think you’re agreeing with me that in many cases, bad refs are worse than no refs.

    As an interesting counterpoint I have some experience playing a largely self-officiated sport at a high level (ultimate frisbee), there has been an ongoing debate about the use of officials in high level play for over a decade, and a very commonly held position (which I ascribe to) is that “refs” will make the game more physical and dirtier because people will quickly identify spots where the refs can’t be looking and take liberties, whereas now, if you grab me, I call a foul.

  76. 76.

    Arm The Homeless

    @raven: Are we sure CS isn’t DougJ? I assumed it’s a bad trolling attempt, since last night he was telling us how much he likes the Pac-10

  77. 77.

    suzanne

    @Pooh: Why do the owners have any incentive to get rid of these shitty refs? They already know that player injuries don’t seem to dissuade viewers. There’s no impact to their bottom line if they keep the shitty refs.

    No, I’ve never engaged in contact sports. (Though cheerleading seems to be the most dangerous high school sport nowadays, go figure.) That is a deliberate choice on my part.

  78. 78.

    Pooh

    @Brian: Right, it’s not their fault, really. They’re in an impossible situation, because if they were good enough to be NFL refs, they’d be locked out right now…

  79. 79.

    raven

    @smith: One of the players on Football Night was just asked about players and the “substitute teacher syndrome” and whether or not players we pushing the rules to get and advantage. He said “I hope so”.

  81. 81.

    Pooh

    @suzanne: I mean I don’t want to appeal to authority here, but you just don’t know what you’re talking about then. The “substitute teacher” phenomenon is real in this spot. I mean sure, football is a violent game that involves great risk of physical injury. If you want to oppose football on that grounds, full stop, be my guest. But that has virtually nothing to do with this current debate, and all you’re doing is making the sporting equivalent of the “everything is good news for republicans” argument.

  82. 82.

    Nerull

    Compare these refs to, say, MLB umpires, who are fucking assholes and will punish players severely for even the hint of questioning their authority.

    I think MLB umpires are a little over the top, but it is important for refs to maintain control of the game and players. That’s why they are there. If players see that other people are getting away with stuff, they will do it too. No one wants to play against an unfair advantage where some players are dirty and get away with it, so it escalates until the refs assert control.

  83. 83.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @cathyx: I am absolutely certain that they have the best labor lawyers money can buy prepping a walkout at the earliest possible moment that won’t mean cutting their own throats in the process. If they do this wrong, they won’t exist the next time the owners pull something stupid.

  84. 84.

    raven

    @Pooh: No, I was agreeing that “Pickup games aren’t generally dirty because the players explicitly police themselves.” In the case I cited the refs were pretty good but it was the attitude of the players toward them. When they had refs the turned their anger on them but when they played on their own they would have had to fight every other play if they didn’t respect each other.

  85. 85.

    mark

    you want bad calls??? did anyone see that chiefs/saints game?? 8 overturns, a million and a half bad calls/wrong calls/no calls. I absolutely agree they are gonna get someone killed. when you have 8 different players on one team taken out for injuries, flips, and just stupid stuff, you have to know as an official, you are doing a shitty job

  89. 89.

    suzanne

    @Pooh: No, I’m saying that the owners are selfish, R-money-esque bastards (truth) who will not make a change that will cost them money or power unless they have an incentive to do so. Protecting their players has already been shown to not be much of a concern to them. Viewers are the only ones that can provide that incentive.

  90. 90.

    raven

    @Gian: Didn’t have them then I think. I thought it was going to end with that big motherfucker crushing my face. The shit I had to do as a”sports coordinator”.

  92. 92.

    The Dangerman

    Has anyone seen Roger Goodell and Scott Walker in the same room at the same time? The people complain about Unions or Regulations don’t know their history; Unions and Regulations are the result of fucking people over and the people getting tired of it.

  93. 93.

    raven

    @Pooh: Not over time they didn’t. I knew most of the people in all the leagues I ran. In fact my hippie softball team “The High and Mighty” were notorious for getting in shit. It was pretty amazing they hired me the clean up the leagues. We had a mix of hippies and x-Illini athletes that made for great parties and pretty decent ball.

  95. 95.

    The Dangerman

    @mark:

    did anyone see that chiefs/saints game??

    I fully expected them to call that OT TD good; call on the field was TD, not enough to overturn, let’s get the fuck outta here and hit Bourbon Street.

  97. 97.

    Grisha

    Cole’s cat shall be named Darrius for the remainder of the season. Any Steelers fan with any respect for the sport will burn their Rapelisberger jersey after this game. Nothing but cheap, illegal hits all game long, and they still couldn’t beat the Raiders. Maybe if they actually kill someone next game; God knows they tried today.

  98. 98.

    Chief

    I regularly read Balloon Juice. I flat refuse to watch pro football until the regular refs are back. My son tells me that last week there was an 11 yard penalty for off sides.

    Good officiating gives the game integrity.

    Maybe the Refs should set up a picket line and the players should refuse to cross it.

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    @suzanne:

    There’s no impact to their bottom line if they keep the shitty refs.

    There’s a potential impact: if fans genuinely dislike badly officiated games, they’ll stop watching and the league will notice that TV viewership and maybe even in-person attendance* are going down. My interest in the NFL has been waning for years, and the bits and pieces I’ve seen so far this year have done nothing to rekindle my interests. Bad refs make the games less fun to watch, and the NFL owners are likely to keep hearing complaints along those lines until the real refs are back.

    *This is unlikely, since teams seem to deliberately set ticket prices at a level where there’s a substantial excess demand.

  101. 101.

    Mark S.

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Romney is such an unbelievable douchebag. He’s not even trying to hide it anymore. You say that shit on Fox News when just your mouth-breathing imbecile base is watching, not on 60 Minutes when normal people are watching.

  102. 102.

    Violet

    Stop watching.

    Start a movement to convince people to stop watching. Get the majority of viewers to stop watching.

    Convince people to stop going to the games. Let players play in empty stadiums.

    Make it a mark of shame to go to or watch games.

    That sort of financial hit plus shaming is the only way the owners will change their minds.

    These are people and your most valuable commodity, and you are just willing to get them killed to save a paltry 200k a year per team.

    There are a whole bunch of players willing to take the place of those playing now, should they quit or be forced out via injury. Players are cogs in the wheel of greedy owners’ business. There will always be replacements until and unless the players take a stand and/or the fans take a stand and quit watching.

  104. 104.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Mark S.: While I am not willing to believe he ISN’T a douchebag, this seems like a logical tactic if you’re afraid of declining intensity in your leaning voters.

    It feels like his team is constantly sitting on a knife’s edge, changing game plans week to week. Can this be seen as anything other than flailing?

  105. 105.

    canadian dman

    Love your page but if this is the NFL union busting, which I believe it is, then why are you watching it. If you truly believe in unionism and solidarity then turn off the game and watch something else. If you don’t then you are enabling the busting.

    Just my 2 cents

  109. 109.

    Jeff(the other one)

    @Villago Delenda Est: This is not really about saving $200K on the refs. That’s chump change to the NFL owners. This is about fucking over the refs as a example to the players union, who’s basic agreement is coming due next year. They want to show that they can screw anyone they want, and the refs are an easy target. They could just as easily gone after the hot dog vendors at the stadium.

  110. 110.

    burnspbesq

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Wow, he’s stretching shredding the envelope of tone deafness, isn’t he?

    FTFY. Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, every time I think he couldn’t possibly say anything dumber, he finds a way.

  111. 111.

    raven

    @Jeff(the other one): What are you talking about?

    The parties settled the lawsuit on July 25, 2011, and a majority of players signed union authorization cards.[44] The NFL officially recognized the NFLPA’s status as the players’ collective bargaining representative on July 30, 2011.[45] The NFL and NFLPA proceeded to negotiate terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, and the agreement became effective after ratification by the players August 4, 2011.

  113. 113.

    suzanne

    @Roger Moore:

    if fans genuinely dislike badly officiated games, they’ll stop watching and the league will notice that TV viewership and maybe even in-person attendance* are going down.

    Yes, I agree. Perhaps I wasn’t clear. As long as people watch, and buy NFL tickets and gear, then the owners don’t have any incentive to get rid of the bad refs. But when viewers stop watching, that will send a message loud and clear. Players that get injured can be replaced by countless others, ready and willing to risk their health for the promise of money and fame.

  114. 114.

    1badbaba3

    I suppose it is too much to ask the PLAYERS to stop acting like asswipes?

    Yeah, I thought as much.

  118. 118.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Chief: I’m only watching because the local Buffalo Wild Wings a) has The Most Awesome Soda Machine on the Planet, including having six different flavors of Caffeine Free Diet Coke (I can’t find another place with even one), and b) a bunch of employees that don’t mind if I sit in one of their booths for eight hours writing while spending nothing but the $2.48 they charge me for all of The Most Awesome Soda I can drink, plus a really big tip.

    I need this place a lot more than they need me.

  119. 119.

    JWL

    I only caught the final 5 minutes of the Raider- Steeler game.

    The Niners are my team, but I dig the Raiders, too. Where their mutual interests collide, go Niners.

    I first paid attention to the Raider’s during the second half of the Immaculate Deception Game. I was waiting on the Niner-Cowboy play-off game to begin, actually. When I tuned in, not caring about the Raiders one way or the other, Kenny Stabler took over. They were fun to watch, and I made a point to keep an eye on them the next year. That year turned into an era, and I must have caught every epochal battle between the two teams. I watched way, way more Raider games that decade than I did Niner games. It makes today’s win that much sweeter.

    The Niners got outright whipped, unfortunately. It will be interesting to see how they respond. They snuck up on a lot of teams last year.

  120. 120.

    Geoduck

    Add me to the chorus: you want this to stop? Boycott the games. The only thing that will change the owners’ minds if they start losing money.

  123. 123.

    Mack

    Went to see the Titans/Lions game today, and met Finnegan’s mother. (he’s a former Titan, I guess she still lives here) The game was pretty well officiated, overall. However, I came home and watched the Denver/Houston game, and Shaub nearly got murdered two plays in a row. I was waiting for a flag. Still waiting, in fact.

    If I quit doing business with any entity that was aggressively anti-union, I’d never have to leave the house. Boycotts seldom work.

  128. 128.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Wow, he’s stretching the envelope of tone deafness, isn’t he?

    You know, I no longer think it’s merely tone-deafness, or ineptitude (although both of those things are true). I’ve thought for a while, and now with this I completely believe, that Mittens really really doesn’t want to win, doesn’t want to be President. I think he wanted the Republican nomination (avenging Daddy?), he got that, and now he’s doing all he can to ensure he doesn’t win on November 6th. If he were to win, I think he’d be the most terrified, paralyzed-with-fright person on earth the morning of November 7th. At this point, it just can’t be an accident that he’s saying stuff like this.

  132. 132.

    Gin & Tonic

    @1badbaba3: And I suppose it’s too much to ask for you to turn the fucking teevee off? If you’re so pissed off, stop buying the fucking product.

  133. 133.

    Violet

    @suzanne: The inability of fans to see that they can collectively influence the owners is baffling. I keep seeing lots of bitching about the refs. And not much suggestion that sticking it to the owners might influence things.

    Denying owners of income from TV revenue, merchandise sales, ticket sales, etc. and shaming are the two types of leverage fans have. Why do they not use it? Watching the games and then whining about it online will do zilch.

  134. 134.

    Southern Beale

    Mr. Beale was haranguing about the replacement refs in the Titans game today. I missed the play so I don’t know the particulars, but come to think of it he curses the replacement refs ever game we watch.

  135. 135.

    dr. bloor

    @Joel: I can’t wait for the Celtics season to start, so I can see a more competently officiated game when they play the Heat…in Miami.

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    Hard to conjure two teams I like less than Raiders and Steelers, although I’d have to toss the Cowboys into the cesspool.

    Nevertheless, JC is right–the NFL has to place their trustbusting hobby aside and settle with the refs. The owners will be jacking their prices for seven-hundred “really good reasons” they’ll peddle their fleeced fans, so why not make it seven-hundred-one?

    We fans don’t have the balls, or attention span, to tell them to “fuck off.”

  137. 137.

    WMEVentures

    Right with you on this.

    I’m not a huge NFL football fan, but one close enough to the edge that the violence of the sport is starting to turn me off. You shouldn’t have a sport where there’s a custom-built vehicle on the sidelines to cart off the maimed (those flat-bed golf carts). As a Rutgers grad, Eric LeGrand isn’t really inspiring to me, but mostly tragic.

    Football’s a great game, but these guys have just gotten too good at fucking each other up.

  139. 139.

    ursine

    The refs are a disgrace. Watched Bears/Rams and players are clearly taking advantage. Lot of late hits only some of which were called. Watching Ravens/Baltimore which could turn into a complete bloodbath. But I realized today yet another reason why the owners are utterly stupid about this. A couple of “wise guys” at my gym were talking about how the NFL games are all fixed because of all the gambling money and that the fixers are usually the refs. While I don’t believe all the games are fixed, having poorly paid, part time refs and a general air of incompetence, exponentially increases the risk that more people will doubt the integrity of the game or for that matter that games actually will be fixed. Given the effort the NFL puts into addressing internal gambling, this is like having an elaborate security system but leaving the front door open.
    Actually, and I know this is part of the problem, this Baltimore game is kind of fun, in an old time football way.

  140. 140.

    Schlemizel

    Nobody wants to see somebody get killed during a game. They should retire and die early out of sight so we don’t have to know that it is happening.

  141. 141.

    WereBear

    @SiubhanDuinne: that Mittens really really doesn’t want to win, doesn’t want to be President

    Or he really is in the bubble. Wingers said they loved what he was saying! Here the dude is, coming up with all kinds of things to make them love him, and finally they do!

    All he has to do is tell the truth as he sees it as an egomaniacal multi-millionaire with a messiah complex.

    It’s gold, Jerry, gold!

  142. 142.

    Pooh

    @Violet: It’s a collective action problem. I can’t influence the owners at all, and while I true to convince you and me and everyone else to do so, I miss out on football.

  143. 143.

    Gus diZerega

    Capitalist egos and sports do not mix well. Cities with stadiums should eject the teams and start their municipal teams along the same lines as Green Bay. Let the greedy besotted owners build their own stadiums somewhere with their own money. If enough cities did it they could form their own league and their mayors would end up Senators.

  144. 144.

    Liquid

    Ahh, nothing makes me feel quite so satisfied as seeing Belichick yell “That is fucking bullshit!” at the refs.

  146. 146.

    Hill Dweller

    @SiubhanDuinne: I didn’t see the interview, but the twitter machine is telling me Willard got the easier questions and his spray tan was laughable.

    Apparently Kroft was dismissive and rude during Obama’s half of the interview.

  148. 148.

    1badbaba3

    @Gin & Tonic: Of all the folks complaining in this thread you pounce on one of the few here who is not. Good shooting Wedge. Please vent your anger elsewhere.

  149. 149.

    JPL

    @Hill Dweller: Kroft was being Kroft and Pelley was being Pelley. Mitt gave his used car salesman spiel and the President of the United States looked like he was up all night. Oh, he probably was since the the Ambassador of Libya was killed the day before.

  150. 150.

    Violet

    @Pooh: Change isn’t easy and people generally have to sacrifice to get results. So you miss some football. Do you want good football with quality refs or not? Changing the system is what is required and has to start somewhere.

    Personally I don’t care about football one way or the other, so I’m on the outside looking in. It’s baffling to me that fans can’t see that together they can influence the situation. Fans have the power. Just imagine if NO ONE watched, say, the next Steelers game. And NO ONE outside of rich people in luxury boxes went to the game. And maybe even outside the stadium fans burned their Steelers jerseys and terrible towels and other gear. All while picketing with “Bring back the real refs” signs and an organized online and social media campaign maybe even punishing advertisers for supporting “purposeful injury to players.”

    Just imagine the attention that kind of protest would get. Media would be all over it. Other owners would be terrified it would spread to their teams. Fans in other cities would start organizing their own boycotts.

    It would work. It could work. But fans “don’t want to miss football.” The thing is, they’re missing it already. What they’re watching isn’t regular NFL football. What do they have to lose?

  152. 152.

    Schlemizel

    Yeah, nobody wants to watch footballers suffer & die (although there appear to be plenty of Republicans who are not so sure about that for old people). Thats why we don’t want them killed while actually playing the game. If they go early because of repeated blows to the head or hobble along with a walker on artificial knees and hips like Jim Otto and so many others or suffer daily pain from compression fractures to the spine they should at least have the decency to do it out of the spotlight where we don’t have to witness it.

  154. 154.

    Brian

    @Pooh: ROFL. Yea that’s the problem with Unions… they are just too good, they have to be locked out… to be taught a lesson by our betters of course.

  155. 155.

    Pen

    Given the well known medical problems that result from NFL-level football even when the refs don’t suck I have a hard time sharing your outrage John. Modern American football is our version of gladiator matches, we just prefer our expendable fodder to cripple and die off the field instead of on.

    At least the Romans were honest about their bloodlust. You guys can keep your games, because as long as you keep watching things will never change.

  156. 156.

    Michael G

    I’m always late to the party, but has anyone suggested writing to the advertisers?

    “Dear Nissan: In sympathy with the NFL Referee Union, I am not purchasing any products advertised during NFL games during the current lockout. Sorry.”

  157. 157.

    AHH onna Droid

    @WMEVentures: The players being carted off the fieldmultiple times in a game is what put me off American football from the start. Baseball and soccer for me.

  159. 159.

    Spike

    You want to get the owners’ attention? Forget about a TV boycott and hit them where it really hurts: stop wagering on NFL games.

  163. 163.

    Bubba Dave

    @suzanne:
    Y’know, suzanne, as someone who has quit watching football specifically because of issues of player safety:
    Please to be shutting up now. You are making readers less likely to do what you want. You are an antivangelist for your cause. You are bringing people around to your point of view in exactly the same way Fred Phelps is bringing people to Christ: Not. At. All.

  164. 164.

    Alphonse de la Guerre Victorieuse Pour La Liberte et La France

    I don’t have the time or skills to effect a social media campaign, but if someone could get going a twitter feed encouraging boycotting Coors, Bud, and Miller, until the real refs come back, well, you know what would happen…

    Two weeks of buying anything but Coors, Bud, and Miller….

  165. 165.

    Gus diZerega

    @GxB: Is it illegal for cities to take their own stadiums and create their own league? I have a hard time imagining the country is that corrupt, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised in the past.

  167. 167.

    Hokey Nation

    @Pen:

    I’m with Pen, John. The NFL is our modern day gladiators and why are you surprised at perfidy and injuries and violence?

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