By now you have surely seen, or heard about the Monday Night Football gaffe that cost the Green Bay Packers the game against the Seattle Seahawks, If you haven’t, you really need to, so here is a link.
The NFL just announced that they supported the decision last night, that the Seattle Seahawk receiver actually caught a touchdown pass, and that the Seahawks deserved to win the game.
So even when presented with one of the most horrible play calls in the recent history of the NFL, the league that you love and give so much money to, prefers to think that you’re an idiot. That you’re like the proverbial sheep lining up at the slaughter. They’re counting on you not having a drop of integrity in your body, and will continue to support a product, that so obviously doesn’t give a crap about anything but the mountains of money that it makes.
I think it’s awful. I get that you can’t ever be strong-armed into any decision in any labor dispute, but I think the NFL has grossly under-estimated not just maybe the value of the existing officials, but the cost of the damage control that these replacement referees might leave in their wake. Is Roger Goodell laughing at us right now?
I found the online petition below and signed it. If you feel duped, cheated, or just disrespected… maybe you should to. here is what the petition says, and there is a link following the excerpt for you to visit and sign the petition yourself.
You will also notice that the petition is asking you to use the hashtag #NFLfail in anything you tweet about the Replacement Refs and their dramatic effect on the NFL product.
Tweet me @TheHogsdotNet with the hashtag #NFLfail and just tell me that you singed the petition too!!
I just signed the following petition addressed to: The National Football League Owners.
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I am an NFL fan and I demand that the NFL Owners empower the NFL and Roger Goodell to end lockout of NFL Referees. The integrity of the game, image of the league and the health and safety of the players have been compromised by your unilateral lockout. I receive regular letters and emails from you describing how much you care about player health and safety, but you turn around and lockout the real referees, who you made responsible for health and safety during games in the first place. This behavior is putting players at an unnecessary risk.This lockout has sidelined over 1,500 years of collective officiating experience and continues to damage our fan experience. In every game played this season, your lockout has led to botched calls, missed calls and non-calls that have cost my team. The lockout has also impacted my viewing experience. Games are being played at a choppy pace, have almost no rhythm and last significantly longer. If fans, players and even coaches are recognizing the negative impact this is having on our game, why do you insist on continuing this lockout?
Stop letting greed get in the way of the game. I call on you to end this lockout and get the real officials back on the field.
Sincerely,
Link to Online Petition
Full statement with an admission in the 3rd paragraph that the interference call was not made and should have been made to end the game. The rest is public relations crap:
“In Monday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, Seattle faced a 4th-and-10 from the Green Bay 24 with eight seconds remaining in the game.
“Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass into the end zone. Several players, including Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, jumped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball.
“While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.
“When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.
“Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.
“Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.
“The result of the game is final.”
When I blogged about this travesty last week, I predicted that one of two watershed events WOULD occur… fortunately, it was this one: The officials overtly determining the winner of a game. The other was a severe and uneccessary injury to a player.
Unfortunately, there is no assurance the latter won’t occur. The league is digging in, confident that it is immune to any act that will kill the goose that lays golden eggs. I take no pride in my conviction that worse is coming before it gets better…
The league’s justification of the perverted outcome that befell the Packers last night is simply another insult to fans… whom have access to the technology to continuously replay Jennings very clear establishment of possession, followed by Tate attempting to grab the ball. We see. Clearly. The league needs to stop lying to us, stop playing roulette with it’s players, and stop pretending that this is quality officiating.