As long time readers know, I am a diehard Steelers fan. My home office has over thirty framed Stiller pictures, and the above are just a few that hang in my office. I have multiple jerseys, several signed jerseys, signed balls from dozens of players, every Steelers calendar for the last two decades, and so forth. If I were to take pictures of every Steelers thing I have in my office, many of you would be horrified.
I have an 11 foot Steelers flag in my front yard, banners in every window facing the street, and my most prized possession is my terrible towel I have had since 1984. It is always on display as soon as you enter my house, and 6 months ago, someone walked into my house for a party, tried to dry their hands on it, and my mother yanked the towel away and damned near threw her out of the house. Mom greeted Johnny Unitas after the greatest game at the train station in Baltimore. That’s how we roll.
I love the NFL.
But I am done. These replacement refs are a joke. I am done watching the NFL until refs who can control a game are back on the field. This entire season has been a disgrace, and the Packers/Seahawks game was the worst thing I have seen since Pacquiao-Bradley. So, as much as I hate to say it, I am done with the NFL until they decide to get their shit together. And Gary Bettman can go eat a bag of dicks, too.
Goodell can get his union busting jollies to save a couple million in a 50 billion dollar league. I can just stop watching. You win, Roger, you fucking scumbag. Thanks for taking away one of the few things on this planet I love.
And for those of you who do not follow the NFL, this is all the Jerry Jones wing of the NFL. He’s spent the last two decades trying to make the Cowboys the Yankees, and he, sadly, has compatriots. Like Bob Kraft and the other Galtian overlords. None of them seem to realize that parity has made them as rich as they are.
Fortunately, my Rooney’s want no part in this bullshit. Regardless, I am done until real refs are back. Why? This:
Why The Replacement Refs Are Horrible And Dangerous, In One GIF
That’s Ryan Mundy almost killing someone on the most egregious personal foul I have ever seen. Defenseless receiver? Check. Helmet to helmet contact? Check. Launching the body into the helmet of another player? Check.
He should be fined 100 k and kicked out of at least 5 games. Our replacement refs? They never called shit. No flag was even thrown.
So, goodbye, NFL. I can handle the recognized level of violence that comes with a violent sport. I can not and will not watch the clusterfuck you have created to simply screw a couple union refs out of a pension.
But I can secretly hope that Roger Goodell gets cancer of the penis.
Genghis
Check the gif link please. Best…H
Comrade Luke
If only there was as much outrage about Bush v Gore
(Not talking about you. Just generally)
smith
@Comrade Luke:
I absolutely agree with you, I wish more people cared about the Bush-Gore garbage – but most Americans care more about sports than politics.
Sad but true. You don’t mess with people’s sports, especially their football. And I say this as someone who loves sports.
Rathskeller
Link did not work for me, either.
billgerat
Cancer of the penis is too generous.
max
And for those of you who do not follow the NFL, this is all the Jerry Jones wing of the NFL.
I completely agree with you. Jones took a storied franchise, got lucky with his first coach and has spent the time since ruining the franchise. Great salesman, shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a locker room. (There’s an article in Texas Monthly about that very thing this month, but it is sadly paywalled.)
But I can secretly hope that Roger Goodell gets cancer of the penis.
That’s my boy! If enough people discover this out of doors thing this fall, he’ll start acting like he has dick cancer.
max
[‘Yelling. Yelling does not work. Aluminum baseball bat upside the head… that works. Or fuckin’ with their money. That’s even better.’]
NewHavenGuy
(Confession: Saint fan.)
But yes, John:
Shit is bullshit and fucked up. Already polluted one thread tonight, not to repeat myself. Repellent and awful though. Don’t know what they’re doing out there but no, it doesn’t pass.
Two VERY close prime time games last two nights, last play even; still they sucked to watch. UR doing it wrong, you moneygrubbing bag of shit plutocrat retards.
Sorta reminds me of American politics, come to think of it. I’m labor not capital, so forgive me if I take it deadly seriously.
I Am Mitt's Smirk (né Studly Pantload, t.e.u.u.)
I’m hearing what you’re saying, John, and recognize this is a big step back for you (and hopefully a very temporary one as things maybe-sorta? get handled quickly at this point as the damn league realizes it’s shooting in the foot one toe at a time with this horrible “officiating”).
But your post title immediately makes me think of Cosmo Kramer slapping a c-note emphatically on a tabletop in “The Contest.”
Not that any of us could really believe you’re master of your domain with the likes of Tunch, Rosie, and Lily having their say in that matter.
trollhattan
@Genghis:
Try this.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ktlincoln/why-the-repacement-refs-are-horrible-and-dangerous
I’ll take tonight’s win, but it’s like watching the NFL on mescaline. Me or it, I cannot tell.
Jerzy Russian
I have recently started to follow professional golf myself. I tend to appreciate watching people perform activities at a high level that I know from first hand experience are damn hard to do well.
Rev. Jeff
Hell yes! Labor is labor dude in whatever firm; good labor makes for good business, whatever business that is.
Eric U.
link is apparently getting hammered.
Roy G.
Cole, you are, as Keef Olbermann used to say before he got all screechy, En Fuego.
On your last comment, I’d disagree – a cockpunch would be much more satisfying.
Corner Store Operator
Good for you John. I know the players have sided with the refs in all of this, but I hope this spurs them to do more than talk.
Sad But True
Eh. A lot easier to make such a statement when your team just started its bye week.
Personally, as an Iggles fan, I know I’ll be watching Sunday night. And I’ll be hating myself for it. Even if the regular refs are back, Andy Reid & Co. will ensure that it’s a painful experience.
blehmann
I’m a Seahawks fan. I married into it. I am a casual watcher with no grip at all on the finer points. I watched that play live and even I could tell that it was questionable. I put it down to Karmic justice.
Political Observer
After further review, the receiver did not touch third base.
TOUCHDOWN LAKERS
Eric U.
I have always enjoyed the fact that Jerry Jones spends so much money and has nothing to show for it. The fact that he might be currently messing up the league is not so pleasing.
blehmann
I’m a Seahawks fan. I married into it. I am a casual watcher with no grip at all on the finer points. I watched that play live and even I could tell that it was questionable. I put it down to Karmic justice.
The Dangerman
One of the Packers uploaded Goodell’s direct phone number and it’s being tweeted around. Give Roger a call for me. KTHX.
Eric U.
I have always enjoyed the fact that Jerry Jones spends so much money and has nothing to show for it. The fact that he might be currently messing up the league is not so pleasing.
JustAnotherBob
If you aren’t able to keep yourself from watching then perhaps you could write down the advertisers and not do business with them as long as they advertise during the lock-out.
But make sure you let them know that you are shunning them.
The 47% and the non-27% do provide income to the owners through ads.
CaliCat
An utter disgrace. I was watching and I couldn’t believe it. The worst part for me was when they upheld the “touchdown” after the review. All because they didn’t want to upset the home fans.
And no, Pete Carroll, you gloating jackass, IT WAS NOT A GOOD CALL.
Eric k
Bottom line is Seahawks should have won 7-6, GB only scores a TD after a bogus PI call on 3rd down, they couldn’t sustain a drive the length of the field without the help. Bad calls matter before the last play too.
Also pretty fishy how they get 8 sacks in the first half and non in the second. Gruden did a highlight amazed at how much time Rodgers had to throw, without mentioning the 3 D-linemen being tackled on the play, that was the adjustment they made, they started holding on every pass play.
People are whining because it is the precious Packers, if they called Tate for PI on the hail Mary and Packers win 12-7 no one would be saying how the Sahawks got hosed on the PI call on Chancellor, we’re not one of the glamour teams,
NewHavenGuy
@NewHavenGuy:
Sorry for the R-word, I am old enough to remember that that can be very mean and shitty to people who don’t remotely deserve it and that is not my intention.
Lest everyone think I am not an asshole, on of the few original jokes I ever came up with. (Feel free, all, to hate me for that, whatevs. one probably should.)
Q: What’s the difference between Trig Palin and Sarah Palin?
A: Trig Palin is an innocent child born with a developmental disability; Sarah Palin on the other hand is just fucking retarded. (I learned it from watching Rahm!)
+29, I think.
Suffern ACE
We do not watch the games to see them owning or negotiateping contracts.
NewHavenGuy
@NewHavenGuy:
Sorry for the R-word, I am old enough to remember that that can be very mean and shitty to people who don’t remotely deserve it and that is not my intention.
Lest everyone think I am not an asshole, on of the few original jokes I ever came up with. (Feel free, all, to hate me for that, whatevs. one probably should.)
Q: What’s the difference between Trig Palin and Sarah Palin?
A: Trig Palin is an innocent child born with a developmental disability; Sarah Palin on the other hand is just fucking retarded. (I learned it from watching Rahm!)
+29, I think.
notoriousJRT
Honest question from someone who follows college football, but not the NFL:
Why did the players’ union agree to play with replacement refs? Is the notion of labor solidarity in the NFL simply a naive or non-existent one? The players have interests in this conflict – most obviously as persons who can be harmed physically or in win/loss statistics with incompetents calling the games. But, it seems to me they also have a labor interest, as well. Apologies if this issue has been addressed previously…
MattR
@The Dangerman: How many games will that player be suspended?
@Eric k: IMO, if that play is ruled an interception people are still talking about how poor the reffing is, but those complaints will come with the caveat that we can’t say if it affected the outcome of the game.
Sad But True
Bob Kraft is behind this? The guy who invited his good buddy Rush Limbaugh to sit with him in his private box at the Super Bowl? Shocker.
smith
The Lingerie Football League just released a statement saying that officials who are now NFL replacement officials were fired from the Lingerie League because of their incompetence.
http://www.businessinsider.com/lingerie-football-league-fired-nfl-refs-2012-9
Deadspin’s link:
http://deadspin.com/5946112/the-lingerie-football-league-announces-that-it-fired-a-couple-crews-which-apparently-are-now-officiating-in-the-nfl-because-of-incompetence
If you got fired from the LINGERIE LEAGUE, shouldn’t that be a big old warning flag that you’re not qualified to be refereeing NFL games? Talk about scraping scabs from the bottom of the barrel.
Steeplejack
I’m also out, because this site’s late-night hamster team is crashing under the load of the comment volume. FYWP.
Steeplejack
I’m also out, because this site’s late-night hamster team is crashing under the load of the comment volume. FYWP.
Spaghetti Lee
@notoriousJRT:
Their own contract prevents them from walking out in solidarity, I believe. Althought I’ll admit that I’m not exactly sure what the NFL would do to them if they did walk out, or what would be the game plan for a few marquee names coming down with an unexpected case of food poisoning next Sunday.
Geoduck
@notoriousJRT:
It’s my understanding that the players’ contract specifically forbids them from joining other labor actions. So they can’t join a sympathy strike, but will have to be more indirect and creative.
Gex
@MattR: He’ll get the death penalty. Unlike the Saints bounty hunters. Hurting players is okay, you see.
notoriousJRT
@Spaghetti Lee: @Geoduck:
Thanks!
RareSanity
@NewHavenGuy:
Confession: Falcon fan…
0-3
::snicker::
(sorry couldn’t resist)
LemonSky
Go suck a mutated marmoset’s monster cock, Cole. You had the Steelers growing up. Yes, you endured the Mark Malone era, but I grew up in Atlanta where we had the three headed Cerberus of head coaching incompetence: Dan Henning, Marion Campbell, and Jerry Glanville. Jerry Fucking Glanville! All those high first round picks they had turned out to be busts except for Neon Deion and he high-tailed it out of town rather than play for June Jones.
By the way, we all know whose taints Goodell licks. His daddy was a Republican state senator from NY and he, Roger, that is, got a degree in economics, probably influenced by the double dong ear-fucking schools of Chicago and Austria. He probably has a Pavlovian reaction for the wet farts of Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft. Yeah, that Robert Kraft has such class. His deceased wife’s body hadn’t even reached room temperature before he began dating fake-boobed bimbos.
And I say this having won my Seattle +3.5 bet.
cthulhu
I don’t follow sports in general. Well, just enough to be able to converse in certain circumstances but one of the things that has always attracted me to the NFL and totally turned me off about MLB is the support for or lack thereof of parity. Why you wouldn’t want this from an entertainment goal and even from the athlete’s standpoint seems beyond me (individual effort stands out more when the teams are even). That this is over the amount of money that might otherwise fund a crappy straight to video movie seems insane.
cthulhu
I don’t follow sports in general. Well, just enough to be able to converse in certain circumstances but one of the things that has always attracted me to the NFL and totally turned me off about MLB is the support for or lack thereof of parity. Why you wouldn’t want this from an entertainment goal and even from the athlete’s standpoint seems beyond me (individual effort stands out more when the teams are even). That this is over the amount of money that might otherwise fund a crappy straight to video movie seems insane.
The Dangerman
@Geoduck:
Someone suggested just snapping the ball and falling down. I guess you wouldn’t even have to punt if the other team did likewise.
patroclus
Call (212) 450-2027 for Roger Goodell’s direct line and leave a comment. I did!
CW in LA
Awwww, a weird call goes the Seahawks’ way for just one fucking time and the east coast sports media are shitting their collective pants?
Well, fuck ’em. Fuck the league’s glamor teams, especially fuck the stealers, and fuck Bill Leavy. I guess that’s how you can tell these aren’t the regular refs, that they’re shafting the wrong teams.
AnotherBruce
The Packers lost on a close call, I fail to see the problem there. If anything, I think the refs should get a raise.
Go Bears! I’m still laughing my ass off about this. Frankly, there are far more serious situations to get pissed off about. You cannot take it too seriously. Although I will admit if it had happened to my Bears, I would have wanted to set a motherfucker on fire.
Comrade Luke
Love how ESPN has Bill Polian on all the time, where he can repeat “This is just a labor dispute”. Sure it is, mouthpiece for the owners. Sure it is.
Viva BrisVegas
@Spaghetti Lee:
Surely they can’t be forced to work in an unsafe workplace.
Just create some safety guidelines and claim that they aren’t being followed. Which it appears they aren’t.
PeakVT
The players should play flag football until they get the real refs back.
Viva BrisVegas
@Spaghetti Lee:
Surely they can’t be forced to work in an unsafe workplace.
Just create some safety guidelines and claim that they aren’t being followed. Which it appears they aren’t.
PeakVT
The players should play flag football until they get the real refs back.
Gex
@The Dangerman: I wouldn’t blame coaches for benching key players just to protect them. Let the league field a product with scab refs and practice squad players.
Gex
@The Dangerman: I wouldn’t blame coaches for benching key players just to protect them. Let the league field a product with scab refs and practice squad players.
Eric k
CW
Yeah Packer fans act like there has never been a bad call in the history of the NFL, let alone several in this game.
It is really rich that one of their O-Lineman is tweeting about the refs costing them the game, if they’d called a few of the many tackles he and his mates made on Clemons, Irvin and Mebane in the 2nd half they’d have been shut out.
It is like the Candadian fans whining about the bad call that helped the US women beat them in Soccer while ignoring that their player blatantly stomped on Carli Lloyd and didn’t get called for it.
Every bad call matters, especially when one led to GBs only TD in such a low scoring game
xyzxyzxyz
Being one of the Seahawk honks on this site, I’d totally agree with Eric K above if I was 8 beers in. That is, I agree in spirit, but would pull back a bit. Yes, it was a questionable call, but there were a lot of questionable calls throughout the game that lead to the end. A lot of crappy calls. And I’d point out that the Packers didn’t get the 2 pt. conversion that would have limited the Seahawaks to OT at best. I could go on about calls that haven’t gone the Seahawks way in the past (and I’ll leave Super Bowl XL out of it for fear of J.Cole showing up on my doorstep and punching me in the face).
Now, do we need the real refs back? Absolutely. And I totally agree with the point that this is the Jerry Jones-ing of the league. Penny wise, pound foolish. If that was Dallas rather than the Packers tonight, you’d have the refs back by Tuesday. Guaranteed.
xyzxyzxyz
Being one of the Seahawk honks on this site, I’d totally agree with Eric K above if I was 8 beers in. That is, I agree in spirit, but would pull back a bit. Yes, it was a questionable call, but there were a lot of questionable calls throughout the game that lead to the end. A lot of crappy calls. And I’d point out that the Packers didn’t get the 2 pt. conversion that would have limited the Seahawaks to OT at best. I could go on about calls that haven’t gone the Seahawks way in the past (and I’ll leave Super Bowl XL out of it for fear of J.Cole showing up on my doorstep and punching me in the face).
Now, do we need the real refs back? Absolutely. And I totally agree with the point that this is the Jerry Jones-ing of the league. Penny wise, pound foolish. If that was Dallas rather than the Packers tonight, you’d have the refs back by Tuesday. Guaranteed.
divF
John –
I’m not a football guy, but married into a family of rabid fans (wife’s parents lifelong 49ers season ticket holders, SIL an insane Raiders fan who wins the office football pool *every* week, and youngest BIL a long-time Steelers fan, in NorCal no less – he was a teenager in the late 70’s). So I have to maintain some level of interest, or at least keep informed.
From a labor solidarity POV, or from an integrity of the sport POV, or from a simple humanity POV (with the potential for injury or worse), this is an utter outrage. The owners are sociopaths, and left to their own devices, they will continue to destroy a sport you love that is one of the few institutions left in the US that provides people some sense of community. And to the fans that are well-informed, the sense of community extends over the sport as a whole. The SIL took the BIL to both a Raiders home game and a Steelers home game (part of the treat was the trip to Pittsburg in December to see football as it should be played – i.e. outdoors in cold weather). In both cases, they were wearing their respective team colors. And in both cases, the Raider fans and the Steeler fans treated the opposing team visitors with the utmost respect, in their own uniquely rowdy and raucous ways.
So, even though football is not my thing, I understand a little of your pain and loss, and you have my sympathy. As others have said, this really sucks.
divF
John –
I’m not a football guy, but married into a family of rabid fans (wife’s parents lifelong 49ers season ticket holders, SIL an insane Raiders fan who wins the office football pool *every* week, and youngest BIL a long-time Steelers fan, in NorCal no less – he was a teenager in the late 70’s). So I have to maintain some level of interest, or at least keep informed.
From a labor solidarity POV, or from an integrity of the sport POV, or from a simple humanity POV (with the potential for injury or worse), this is an utter outrage. The owners are sociopaths, and left to their own devices, they will continue to destroy a sport you love that is one of the few institutions left in the US that provides people some sense of community. And to the fans that are well-informed, the sense of community extends over the sport as a whole. The SIL took the BIL to both a Raiders home game and a Steelers home game (part of the treat was the trip to Pittsburg in December to see football as it should be played – i.e. outdoors in cold weather). In both cases, they were wearing their respective team colors. And in both cases, the Raider fans and the Steeler fans treated the opposing team visitors with the utmost respect, in their own uniquely rowdy and raucous ways.
So, even though football is not my thing, I understand a little of your pain and loss, and you have my sympathy. As others have said, this really sucks.
MattR
@xyzxyzxyz: It is very hard to say that the refs overall performance has affected the outcome of a particular game or even to say that if a single call was reversed the result would have been different. But it is pretty clear that this individual call definitely influenced the outcome of this game.
Overall, I would guess that about a quarter of the 48 games have had one or more referee mistakes that have directly put points on or taken points off the board for a team and another quarter of the games have had a situation where it is likely that they affected the score for one team or the other (an example would be missing a turnover at the opponents 25 yard line where a score is not definite, but it is pretty likely)
Bubba Dave
@Genghis:
Working link at here
(unless I posted it wrong, in which case I’m gonna blame FYWP)
Joey Maloney
@The Dangerman:
That was my idea, too. On kickoff, the defenders do nothing as the receiver saunters out to the 35 and takes a knee. Then both quarterbacks do the same for four downs before starting real play. That gets the message across without pissing off the paying customers.
J R in WVa
John, I’m retired now, but I was a CWA member my whole working life, even when I got promoted to a manager position. Fuck the NFL owners for screwing with the lives of their employees for no reason other than they can get away with it. It should be illegal to screw with people’s pensions, and everyone should have a defined benefit pension sufficient to keep them from being homeless and starving!
I like two of the suggestions above:
Either everyone agrees to play flag football, no pads, with obvious orange flags, and fuck the owners if they don’t like it
or
Bench everyone who knows how to play, and let people who don’t know how to play in the game until professionalism returns. No pads.
My residual social training in politeness is keeping me from calling that number which may be to the Commish… for now.
J R in WVa
John, I’m retired now, but I was a CWA member my whole working life, even when I got promoted to a manager position. Fuck the NFL owners for screwing with the lives of their employees for no reason other than they can get away with it. It should be illegal to screw with people’s pensions, and everyone should have a defined benefit pension sufficient to keep them from being homeless and starving!
I like two of the suggestions above:
Either everyone agrees to play flag football, no pads, with obvious orange flags, and fuck the owners if they don’t like it
or
Bench everyone who knows how to play, and let people who don’t know how to play in the game until professionalism returns. No pads.
My residual social training in politeness is keeping me from calling that number which may be to the Commish… for now.
J R in WVa
John, I’m retired now, but I was a CWA member my whole working life, even when I got promoted to a manager position. Fuck the NFL owners for screwing with the lives of their employees for no reason other than they can get away with it. It should be illegal to screw with people’s pensions, and everyone should have a defined benefit pension sufficient to keep them from being homeless and starving!
I like two of the suggestions above:
Either everyone agrees to play flag football, no pads, with obvious orange flags, and fuck the owners if they don’t like it
or
Bench everyone who knows how to play, and let people who don’t know how to play in the game until professionalism returns. No pads.
My residual social training in politeness is keeping me from calling that number which may be to the Commish… for now.
Alphonse de la Guerre Victorieuse Pour La Liberte et La France
Somebody who knows how please start a twitter campaign for boycotting Coors, Bud and Miller until the refs come back.
Only two weeks of buying something else.
J R in WVa
I swear to FSM I only pushed the button once… things are acting screwy.
IamNoYoda
Just simply do not believe your boycott will last for more than 3 weeks.
Thor Heyerdahl
@Alphonse de la Guerre Victorieuse Pour La Liberte et La France:
And these companies are monstrous – it’s more than just Bud, Miller and Coors. Buy from your local microbrewer if you can.
InBev brands (Budweiser)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InBev_brands
Molson Coors brands (Coors)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Molson_Coors_brands
SABMiller brands (Miller)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABMiller_brands
magurakurin
@Political Observer:
why the fuck do you think people here are going to be your pal now, in this thread? Because it’s about football? So, all the shit you sling about Rmoney?Lyin is just bygones?
No. Fucking. Way. Asshole.
You fucking people don’t get it. The vast majority of the people here think that Rmoney, the GOP and shitstains like yourself are destroying the United States of America. We think you are traitorous scum. It’s not a fucking game. It’s not reality tv. Rmoney is dangerous. For the USA and for the world.
So, you can go get cancer of the penis as well, asshole.
Chuck Butcher
I don’t ordinarily watch a lot of football but one of my close friends does so we watched Seattle/GB tonight… on my 50″ w/theater. The refereeing in this game was… atrocious. I don’t know what to say about how badly this sucked. I thought my buddy was going to lose his mind and he KNOWS the game and was rooting for the Chickens.
I’ll actually get to watch a Browns game this week and since it appears there won’t be a football game happening I’ll just give it a miss. It ain’t a game if the rules don’t mean anything.
Chuck Butcher
Christ, fuck who actually had possession – offensive pass interference blatant enough that the shove to the back of the defensive player caused his head to snap back before he fell. What the fuck?
Grover Gardner
Well, it’s about frickin’ TIME, John! : -) I like football, though I don’t have much time to watch it, but I was asking myself yesterday, “When is Cole going to TURN IT OFF and write a damn letter to the sponsors saying he’s done?” If enough fans did this the strike would be over, fast.
Schlemizel
OK – this is a sincere inquiry: What exactly is the :Jerry Jones wing”? I hate him for is over inflated ego, jock sniffing, self but am unaware that there are factions among the owners that differentiate Jones & some number of others from the “good-hearted” ones.
Can someone point me at some stories about this? Some coverage identifying owners more Gaultian than the rest? It would be intresting to read
arguingwithsignposts
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED, WILL SOMEONE FIX THE GODDAMN COMMENT SYSTEM.
OUT.
Central Planning
John Cole:
Jesus. I’m a huge fan of sex (more than football, that’s for sure) but I don’t have framed pictures of vaginas hanging around my house. There’s no pictures of 3-ways, Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy, or anything like that.
Maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way and I’m not really committed to sex like you are to football?
Central Planning
John Cole:
Jesus. I’m a huge fan of sex (more than football, that’s for sure) but I don’t have framed pictures of vaginas hanging around my house. There’s no pictures of 3-ways, Jenna Jameson, Ron Jeremy, or anything like that.
Maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way and I’m not really committed to sex like you are to football?
gene108
Boycotting the NFL is the ONLY THING THAT’S GOING TO GET THE REF’S BACK.
Cole, use your media powers to start organizing an NFL boycott.
Please.
Central Planning
And FYWP: can you get the extra space at the end of block quotes fixed?
Central Planning
And FYWP: can you get the extra space at the end of block quotes fixed?
Death Panel Truck
@blehmann: It wasn’t a questionable play. It was an obvious fucking interception.
Tokyokie
Cole, I turned off the game and the NFL after the Packers DB was called for PI for putting his torso under the Seattle receiver’s arms, so I missed the game-ending fiasco. But the only way the real refs come back is if TV viewers stop accepting a shoddy product as genuine.
Polar Bear Squares
Only in the minds of a Steeler fan could this possibly have something to do with Jerry Jones. Sigh.
I hope you also have framed the horrible officiating that gave birth to the last two Super Bowls the Steelers won. That QB sneak for Rapelisburger, intentional grounding and fumble called against Kurt Warner in the SB were just as bad as last night. I’ll wait to see that framed picture.
The refs are terrible. The union busting is horrible. Goddell is awful. But I’m not fucking going anywhere. You don’t give up on a game you love because … life isn’t fair? Particularly if you’re a Steeler fan. If your opponents gave up after every blown call that benefitted Pittsburgh(Immaculate Reception?) none of us would be left.
I want to make this product better. We need to hold the NFL accountable. But you don’t get to give up and then complain from the sidelines. Fuck that. Not how I roll.
Tokyokie
@Polar Bear Squares: Well you sure as hell won’t hold the NFL accountable by continuing to accept the garbage they’re rolling out there as legitimate. Complain but continue to watch is the formula for ensuring you’re getting garbage.
cmorenc
I’m far more concerned about the replacement-refs failure to recognize and control unacceptably dangerous play (e.g. the Ryan Mundy play with the helmet) than I am with second-guessing their judgment calls about advancing the ball or scoring, such as who-fairly-caught-the-pass in Seattle v Green Bay. With the latter, players and fans of one team will of course think they got screwed by a bad call, but live to play on another down or another game, another day, but with the former, people’s physical ability to continue playing the sport or even continue somewhat normal lives after retiring from the sport is needlessly put at high risk.
I referee a different quite physical sport (competitive-level soccer) in which it’s critical to recognize when the kinds and amounts of contact going on are headed into dangerous territory, and dial it back with foul calls or cards as necessary. If a ref calls an arguably dubious foul that gives one team a free kick in scoring range of goal, the opponents will just have to suck it up and live with it, but if a ref fails to call a studs-up tackle from behind that takes down an opponent, that’s the kind of missed call that often sends the game down “into the toilet” where players will seek their own rough justice cause they no longer trust the ref. (BTW: in soccer, there’s no instant-replay review allowed to assist the refs; it’s all called in real-time on the spot).
IMHO a similar dynamic is happening in the NFL; the replacement refs are letting too much dangerous crap go, e.g. with the helmets, and it’s only a matter of time before some player suffers a career-ending injury because unacceptably dangerous types of play are not being sanctioned on the field during games.
brantl
Refs don’t control a game, they provide the feedback to try and
it, somewhat, but it’s always after the fact, and frankly, not very effective if the players are pissed off enough; it’s like a mosquito trying to stop a rhinocerous.
brantl
They’re already playing pro football, the ‘needless’ part of that has already sailed.
Michael57
Aside from the unnecessary swipe at my sacred Yankees, I agree with Cole 100%.
Hokey Nation
The NFL is our modern day gladiators and why are you surprised at perfidy and injuries and violence?
Ash Can
I’m just a casual football fan — a Bears fan whose second-favorite team is the Packers, to give you an idea of just how casual — and even I can see that these games are a travesty. The fact that there were two refs standing right over that last play in the end zone last night, right next to each other, and one signaled a touchdown and the other an incompletion, says it all. And I agree with the commenter above who opined that the refs were afraid to reverse the call after watching the replay for fear they’d get torn to bits by the hometown crowd — that was the first thing that crossed my mind last night as well.
And for everyone here saying BFD, there have always been blown calls in the game, yeah, NO FUCKING KIDDING there are blown calls, in every sport. I’m a far less casual baseball fan; nobody needs to insult my fucking intelligence with that shit. Since these yahoos evidently haven’t been paying attention, here’s the fact — the blown calls with the replacement refs are happening continually, throughout every damned game, not just once in a while, as happens with the real refs.
And whaddya know, lookee here:
@smith:
Holy crap, I thought you were kidding at first. ::headdesk::
And BTW:
@PeakVT:
I like that idea.
BudP
I was a lifelong Cubs fan until Joe Ricketts pointed out that the niClang prezzident was really just a metrosexual Black Abe Lincoln, and started throwing money at Dnesh D’Souza, while simultaneously begging for the City of Chicago to float a bond to rebuild Wrigley.
Fill the stands on your own Galtian overlords.
Ben Grimm
I’m with you, though I sort of backed into it. I’m a Saints fan, and with Payton gone, this is clearly a lost season, so I’ll admit it was an easier decision to boycott.
And slightly off-topic, but by benching Payton, Goodell probably ensured him the biggest contract in coaching history on day one after his suspension is over. He’s demonstrated how valuable he is beyond any shadow of a doubt.
This season is going to be a joke, league-wide. It’s going to have one of those big asterisks like 1982 and 1987.
Ash Can
@brantl: Not true. I know firsthand, just from playing F-level house-league ice flailing (I’d be ashamed to call it hockey), that decent refs are able to see when emotions start getting out of hand and rein things back in. They’ll watch certain hot-headed players like hawks and call infractions they might otherwise let go. They’ll talk to the coaches and/or the players and let them know in no uncertain terms that the bullshit stops now, period, or people will find themselves sitting for 10/reported to the league/thrown out on their asses/all of the above. And by God, they make good on their threats. Yes, they damn well do control things — maybe not the game as a whole, but definitely certain situations, and refs like that tend to be well liked and well respected by everyone, players and coaches alike.
curiousleo
@cmorenc:
Bingo. There is so much holding (offensive & defensive) and chop blocks taking out knees and late/bad hits and so forth that players decided to take their own vengeance. Because the refs have no control and are not able to establish any control.
And all for what ~$200k per team? Bullcrap. If the NFL hadn’t locked out the refs, then the refs could be working while negotiating.
Ash Can
@BudP: I’m able to stay a Cubs fan because Laura Ricketts is far more active and directly involved with the club than her father is. She and her siblings are the face of the Cubs, not their douchebag father. :)
curiousleo
This morning on Mike&Mike, Cris Carter basically said fans should stop watching until the NFL gets the real refs back.
Larv
Okay, there are a lot of people claiming that only Packers fans are complaining, or that this is nothing new and there are bad calls in every game. I’m not a Packers or Seahawks fan, and I have absolutely preference for either team, but last night’s finale was a disgrace. Sure, the replacement refs have been making awful calls in every game, but they’ve been more or less even in it. They made a bunch of horrible calls against my Skins last week, but they also made a several in favor of them. It didn’t directly affect the outcome of the game. But last night was a clear outcome-affecting bad call. Even if you think the dual possession argument has merit (it doesn’t), the offensive pass interference by Tate was as blatant as you’re ever going to see. It’s just absurd to miss that on a last second end zone play. What the hell were the refs paying attention to if not to that? Bad calls are part of the game, but rank incompetence isn’t.
Malovich
Amusing link to go with the article:
Lingerie league fires several crews of refs for incompetence. They work in the NFL now.
MB
Anyone thought about blaming, oh, I dunno, the assholes making hits like that? No? Ah, okay.
As you were.
kc
Good for you.
Larv
@cmorenc: I’ve seen several games where the calls have been so random the players obviously quit worrying about what was legal or illegal and just started doing whatever was more effective, like the play linked in the OP. I don’t know if injuries are up or not, but if this goes on much longer, all the effort the NFL has made over the last few years to make the game safer is going to be flushed down the toilet. I just don’t understand the NFL’s position. I wouldn’t be surprised if they think the controversy is a good thing, because hey, everyone’s talking about the NFL this morning! All publicity is good publicity and all that. Idiots.
Schlemizel
So, its been a couple-3 hours since I asked for links indicating that there is some sort of Jerry Jones wing of ownership that is causing this & the poor Rooneys are just being dragged along against their will and I have not seen anything.
I understand its late in the thread and many people have moved on but I really would like to see if this is true or just Stealer thinking (Ben is NOT a rapist btw – just like Ravens fans know Lewis is not a killer and so on and so on and so on – in hockey your team never has goons only policemen, those OTHER guys are goons). If there really is fragmentation amongst the owners that would be a way to focus anger on people who can actual bring this to an end.
If, as I assume, there really is not space between owners on this issue its probably a waste of time to try to exploit that.
BudP
@Ash Can: Yes, but Papa Joe is the font of the family wealth.
Larv
@MB: The defensive back’s job is to separate the receiver from the ball. Ten years ago the linked play would have been considered a great hit an probably make ESPN’s top ten. The ref’s job is to penalize players who make effective but illegal and/or dangerous plays.
danimal
This contrarian Charger fan is in no hurry to see Ed Hochuli back on the field.
Sierra Nevada
Cole, don’t get me started about Jerry Jones. I grew up in Dallas, watching Staubach, Lee Roy Jordan, Lilly. I never thought I would walk away from the Cowboys. Jones killed the Cowboys for me. I never decided to boycott the ‘boys or anything stupid like that. I just slowly stopped caring about them.
I am not surprised that the “Jerry Jones wing” is doing the same shit to fans all over the league.
Blue Neponset
You have Stockholm syndrome John. The Rooneys are just as bad as every other owner.
thalarctos
Turn off the TV. Tell your local station that you’ve given up on the NFL. Tell the networks that you’ve given up on the NFL. What will resolve this the quickest is a drop in ratings–that will cause the networks to call Goodell into a “quiet room” and clearly explain to him that the product they have paid $Billions for is crap, and he needs to do something about it RIGHT NOW.
Violet
Wow, John. I know this must be really difficult for you. Sorry it has come to this and congratulations for standing up for what’s right. Maybe after last night’s game things will change.
Make sure you tell people you’re not watching. Write the Steelers’ management. Write the TV networks. Do whatever. Get people to join you.
SatanicPanic
I’m with you man. I’m only a fair-weather watcher, but that story linked to a gif of a guy getting hit on his chin by a dude with a helmet. The sport is dangerous enough already. I used to watch when my team was winning, and I’d join for the Super Bowl, but I’m going to pass this year.
gene108
@Larv:
The flying wedge used to be legal, but a few fatalities ended its use in football a century ago.
Chop blocking by offensive lineman on defensive lineman used to be legal, but as injuries mounted it got ruled out of the game.
Horse collar tackles is something else that used to be legal, but a high profile injury to T. Owens helped change the rule.
Plenty of things used to be legal, but as injuries from those practices mounted those things got phased out of the game.
What’s effective/illegal has changed as pushback from players getting injured by certain practices mounted and we need to respect the fact that these rule changes exist and need to be enforced, even though they were legal once.
Cassidy
The worst part is the players taking advantage of it. They know better. Once the refs come back, every game, every dirty hit needs to be examined and the offending players punished with draconian measures.
ETA: Does this make you a non contact sport playing, ” soy-eating Nader loving douchebag” now? How does this dynamic work?
oceanic dude
Got up this morning and immediately watched the play, bc of all the uproar, on NFL.com. Sat through 30second commercial. Drove son to school. On radio peeps are screaming bout the push off by Tate. I go back and sit through another 30 second commercial. The push off was egregious, blatant, worse than the call. My question is how many hits did NFL.com get today? How many millions sat through one minute of commercials? Can we use the proceeds to bring back the refs? You are running a cant fail business, huge revenue stream, and you just shat all over it. I cant help but think this is about some poisonous business ideology rather than money. Reality always kicks ideology right in the balls.
ellennelle
well well well; if this NFL fiasco does not serve as the perfect metaphor in microcosm for what the world – even the market world – looks like without enforced regulation, i don’t know what would.
ellennelle
@oceanic dude:
of course this is not about the money; it’s about winning against the union so they can beat their ownership chests when dealing with the players’ negotiations, which of course IS about money. so, yeah, ultimately about the money, but all fights against the union are ultimately about the money.
which makes scott walker’s whining for the return of the UNION refs not just a wee bit ironic, no?
Sad_Dem
@Geoduck: So what if the players’ contracts forbid them from striking in sympathy? They can and should do it anyway. Let the owners replace them too.
stratplayer
@LemonSky: Please don’t defame the memory of that very fine man and authentic liberal Republican, the late United States Senator Charles Goodell (not a state senator), by tarring him with the manifold sins of his idiot son. I’m a native of Upstate NY and Charles Goodell was one of the good guys. He’d have been run out of today’s Republican Party long ago.
tulip
Tim Keown nails it a week ago:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8394351/the-nfl-official-mess
Hopefully this clusterfuck will come to an end soon. I haven’t watched any football this season including preseason, because of the replacement ref situation.
All sports team owners can DIAFF!
Tone in DC
@Sad But True:
So THAT is why the NFL tried to foist Oxycontin the Hutt on us about 10 years ago. The owner (or his butler) did it.
I despise Beli-cheat and the Pats for many other reasons. I’ll just add this to the list.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
@Corner Store Operator: In all honesty, the players should join with the refs and just refuse to play. Not only in solidarity but also because players are getting hurt and it’s dangerous. Too dangerous.
Kincade Webb
If football fans could just take ONE weekend with NO ONE watching as a protest, then when the Nielsen ratings come out, THAT would send the message. Boycott the TV and read the paper or internet the next day.
Kincade Webb
If football fans could just take ONE weekend with NO ONE watching as a protest, then when the Nielsen ratings come out, THAT would send the message. Boycott the TV and read the paper or internet the next day.
kent
I’m a Packers fan and I’m done watching the NFL until they get the real refs back.
Not because I was upset about the call. It’s because I *wasn’t* upset. I was doing nothing but laughing at the TV as I watched it. Why? Because it’s not real football. It’s pure bullsh*t top to bottom. The whole game was a joke, and the only appropriate response was laughter.
But if I want comedy I’ll turn on Jon Stewart or an old episode of Arrested Development. I’m done with the NFL.
gopher2b
@Sad But True:
Why the focus on Kraft? He’s widely credited with breaching the gap between the owners and the players. I don’t think he’s a rabid Republican.
gopher2b
@kent: @kent:
That’s pretty much the way I felt watching the Ravens – Pats game. As a Patriots fan, I couldn’t even tell who was getting the benefit of the terrible officiating because it was so awful. Literally every play there was a flag and until the referee spoke, you didn’t know which team it was on (except that it would be in the secondary because that was the only place fouls were called). It was tragically hilarious.
JWL
Replace Goodell with whom?
Goodell and David Gregory (et.al.) share this in common: they both were hired by ownership for one simple reason, i.e., they follow orders.
This has been the single worst year of my life where sports is concerned. I care about baseball and football, period (except those years when the Warriors are play-off worthy, when I will follow basketball. Like I said, I’m a two sport guy).
First, Melky Cabrera, who kept the Giants in contention past the All Star break, was exposed as a fraud. It ruined the season for me, because I felt the Giants no longer deserved to go. He had been too big a cog, and he cheated. Only because the Cabrera-less Giants have played so well, and with such heart, going on to clinch the West in runaway fashion, that my pride in the team was re-kindled. But it’s not the same torch it was on opening day, either for the team or the game. It’s fucked up, and I had nothing to do with it being so.
I had been naive enough to believe the steroid era was essentially over.
And now this bullshit, brought to me by the idiot NFL owners. Like I said, it’s been a bad year where sports are concerned.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
Just read this in a news article about Lang’s tweet:
“Sadly, the only thing the NFL will probably do about this is fine Lang, or issue a new edict that NFL players must “respect the game” when using social media. ”
If they expect the players to respect the game, it would be nice if the owners respected the mothereffin game too by paying the pro refs a measly pension.
sherparick
There is a great article from the “The Nation” on the strike and how it is a symbol of the Randian world are Galtian overlords are trying to create. By the way, football is a great example of how stupid Ayn Rand theories are because of the current group of owners, only the Rooney family and the Mara family and could be called pioneers. And of course Green Bay is collectively owned. The players, fans, and folks like Ed and Steve Sabol created the NFL (and I would argue the Sabols were far more interested in creating art that would earn a living rather than earning a living creating art). The rested are the real looters and exploiters. http://www.thenation.com/blog/169593/why-are-nfl-refs-locked-out-its-all-game#
No watching NFL while this strike is on.
Larv
@gene108:
Um, do you think I disagree? I was responding to MB, who seems to think that we should just rely on the players to self-police. I think that’s pretty naive, given the history of the game. The players are going to do whatever will give them an advantage unless the refs enforce rules limiting that. If they don’t trust the refs to enforce the rules evenly and consistently, they’re going to go back to doing whatever is most effective. And as you note, many of those things are dangerous.
negative 1
@kent: I know I’m real late to this conversation but I’ll agree from the other side. I’m a die-hard Seahawks fan living on the east coast, so this is like the one time a year I get to root for my favorite team (2 young kids = no bar viewing). That took all the fun out of the game. People who are focused on the last play are kind of missing the point. Every play had a flag, and almost all of it was ancillary to the actual play. Every time the ball was snapped on either side the only question was which side was the holding call going to be on. Green Bay had a drive sustained by an illegal hands to the face on a half hearted bump across the field from the play. They didn’t call Tate mugging the defender but got Bam-Bam Kam on a non-existent touch? Did no one find it odd that both teams stayed in one-on-one man coverage for a whole game? Isn’t that only possible when your corners are riding on the backs of the receivers with no intervention from the refs? The list goes on and on. My favorite team, that I only really see on TV once a year, had 9 sacks in a game and it was boring to watch. Go NFL.