32 replies to this topic

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

http://www.nypost.co...xRF38fGmuMKM8aP

[JohnC]

\GoBillsInDallas/, on 18 November 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

http://www.nypost.co...xRF38fGmuMKM8aP

The NFL in its arrogance was willing to jeopardize the integrity of its product in its multi-billion $$$$ business for the sake of squeezing a few inconsequential bucks out of the referees.  The owners are shamelessly greedy. Being a Bills fan we have been subjected to incompetent ownership and raw greed. The franchise is in very serious jeopardy of being moved when he passes. Why? Because he doesn't care other than squeezing the last nickel he can in life and death.

[peterpan]

JohnC, on 18 November 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

The NFL in its arrogance was willing to jeopardize the integrity of its product in its multi-billion $$$$ business for the sake of squeezing a few inconsequential bucks out of the referees.  The owners are shamelessly greedy. Being a Bills fan we have been subjected to incompetent ownership and raw greed. The franchise is in very serious jeopardy of being moved when he passes. Why? Because he doesn't care other than squeezing the last nickel he can in life and death.

Greed works both ways.  The Refs want[ed] full beinifits and a pension on top of their 6 figure salaries to work 16, 4 hour shifts.

And for what its worth, the replacements werent any worse than the regular refs.

[Meathead]

... and they got the seattle/gb call right

[Why So Serious?]

peterpan, on 18 November 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

Greed works both ways.  The Refs want[ed] full beinifits and a pension on top of their 6 figure salaries to work 16, 4 hour shifts.

And for what its worth, the replacements werent any worse than the regular refs.

They actually prep during the week.
But none the less the time commitment is far less than a 40 hour week job 52 weeks out of the year.

I actually think the replacement refs got more of the actual calls correct. They didn't show obvious favoritism.

The problem the replacement refs was not the quality of the calls in comparison to the union refs. The problem was they had no experience managing the game, the players, and the coaches. When Mike Tice and Jack Del Rio gang bang you its pretty hard not to be intimidated.

Meathead, on 18 November 2012 - 11:50 AM, said:

... and they got the seattle/gb call right

Agree.

[sodbuster]

I wish they were still around. Give them a few more weeks experience on the big stage, and I would be willing to bet they would be an improvement.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

peterpan, on 18 November 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

And for what its worth, the replacements werent any worse than the regular refs.

In your opinion.

In my opinion they were an epic joke of incompetence.

[nucci]

San Jose Bills Fan, on 18 November 2012 - 12:36 PM, said:

In your opinion.

In my opinion they were an epic joke of incompetence.

They were bad but no worse than the jokes who screwed us against New England.

[PromoTheRobot]

Replacement refs were only marginally worse than the real refs. At least they weren't deferential to certain coaches like some refs seem to be.

PTR

[San Jose Bills Fan]

nucci, on 18 November 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

They were bad but no worse than the jokes who screwed us against New England.

The way to evaluate the officials is not on a "spot check basis."

Each week there are 16 games that have approximately 130 plays in them.

That's over 2000 plays each week and that's how you compare the NFL officials versus their replacements, based on those 2000 plays per week over the three weeks in which they worked.

If you compared those approximately 6000 plays to the officiating typically seen in an NFL game, I think it's obvious that the replacments were nowhere near as good as the regular officials.

JMO.

[nobody]

They were just the next item to focus attention on by the media.  They could have been better but they weren't as bad as the media made them out to be.

[BillsWatch]

Does not surprise me at all that NFL referees will blackmail replacements nor that replay referee decisions get blamed on replacements.
And yes I think regular referees make as many mistakes as regular ones who came up with Tom Brady Tuck (Medicated Hemorrhoidal Pads) Rule.

[KD in CT]

nobody, on 18 November 2012 - 12:51 PM, said:

They were just the next item to focus attention on by the media.  They could have been better but they weren't as bad as the media made them out to be.

Exactly.  The overreaction to the replacement refs was completely driven by loudmouths like Collinsworth and newspaper columnists who needed to have something new to say so why not pick on every conceivable flaw by the officials.   And as usual, the public lapped it right up.

[Beerball]

peterpan, on 18 November 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

Greed works both ways.  The Refs want[ed] full beinifits and a pension on top of their 6 figure salaries to work 16, 4 hour shifts.

And for what its worth, the replacements werent any worse than the regular refs.

Please do me a favor and look up the 2011 salaries of NFL referees. What you are saying is complete and utter BS. I know because I had the same thought until I did a bit of research.

PromoTheRobot, on 18 November 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

Replacement refs were only marginally worse than the real refs. At least they weren't deferential to certain coaches like some refs seem to be.

PTR

I agree with this on both counts. The problem was that every camera was used to try and prove them wrong, try and show calls that they missed. It was no win, a total piling on from each network.

[vincec]

I think that he's right that the replacement refs were placed under far more scrutiny that the regular officials and that made them look worse than they were.  I remember Collinsworth literally analysing every single penalty in one game I watched and any non clear cut call was blamed on incompetence.

Frankly, I appreciated their "let them play" attitude.  They were inconsistent at times but were getting better.  The regular officials make plenty of mistakes in these games too.

It would be a shame if the refs are blackballed as he fears.  Someone had to officiate these games.

PromoTheRobot, on 18 November 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

Replacement refs were only marginally worse than the real refs. At least they weren't deferential to certain coaches like some refs seem to be.

PTR

I agree with this too.

[Doc]

Meathead, on 18 November 2012 - 11:50 AM, said:

... and they got the seattle/gb call right

Nope.  But I agree the "real" refs haven't proven to be much better.

[Smears]

sodbuster, on 18 November 2012 - 12:28 PM, said:

I wish they were still around. Give them a few more weeks experience on the big stage, and I would be willing to bet they would be an improvement.

I wonder how different the New England game would have turned out if replacements never left.

[Billy in 4C]

JohnC, on 18 November 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

The NFL in its arrogance was willing to jeopardize the integrity of its product in its multi-billion $$$$ business for the sake of squeezing a few inconsequential bucks out of the referees.  The owners are shamelessly greedy. Being a Bills fan we have been subjected to incompetent ownership and raw greed. The franchise is in very serious jeopardy of being moved when he passes. Why? Because he doesn't care other than squeezing the last nickel he can in life and death.

Money had nothing to do with it.  The problem is the unions.  It is virtually impossible to fire a referee - it's just like baseball.  They grade everyone after every game and basically can't use that information to hire/fire refs.  Its complete garbarge and I side with the NFL on the issue.  The fans complained and got their refs back which is better, but not the best.  We as fans basically screwed the league going forward.  Again, this had very little to do with the money, and more the issue of performance.

[Mr. WEO]

Turned out to be a total non-story.  Another example of every sports "journalist" writing the same story.

[RunTheBall]

Amazing how average NE looked when the replacement refs were in and they weren't getting their balls licked.

RTB