Can you win the Super Bowl without officiating help along the way?

[jackrussell]

I'd be interested in knowing what the itinerary would be for a full time official. And since alot of people are claiming bias for the Steelers, Pats, Niners, Giants (in other words, every team that seemingly poses a threat to Cowboys' superiority) how would having full time officials prevent this?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I'd be interested in knowing what the itinerary would be for a full time official. And since alot of people are claiming bias for the Steelers, Pats, Niners, Giants (in other words, every team that seemingly poses a threat to Cowboys' superiority) how would having full time officials prevent this?

First, you could have the officials on a yearly salary so they would be devoted to the game in the offseason whereas someone like Ed Hocculi is working as an attorney/judge. During the time of the year where there is no active games, they can review game tape and see how, where, and why a call was made/missed. They can also go back and "officiate" a previously played game to help sharpen their skills.

Second, you can get the officiating crews more familiar with each other on a member to member basis. You'd have mixing and matching of officiating staff so that there wouldn't be the great discrepencies in calling of certain infractions by certain crews as you have now. Moreover, you could have the head refs reviewing "reviewable" calls on the field of previous games to better determine what constitutes irrefutable proof of a non-overturned or over-turned by review calls.

Third is the consistency of sharpness or acuity to the rule book and to their particular job. Whereas players used to use training camp to get in shape and now maintain playing shape year round, the officials are still using preseason games to get back on their game calling. They could also review the book and again officiate previous games played to maintain a high level of readiness.

The head of the NFL can review the crews in the offseason and see where they might need help. The reviews could include such things as grading out their newly officiated games of the past and written tests governing the rule book.

Most importantly I think is the level of discretion in calling penalties could be standardized wth year round paid officials.

 

[Doomsday101]

Although we have had a number of calls go our way over the years they never seem to happen at crucial moments in big games like they do for the Stealers.

Usually, in big games, the calls go against us. :bang2:

So much of the Stealers success in big games over the last 35 years can be directly attributed to calls/non-calls going their way when it mattered the most. 5 of their 6 SB wins were filled with bad calls or non-calls that went their way and several of the AFC Championship games and playoff games had the same thing happen.

I don't believe that the refs are throwing games for betting purposes but it is obvious, to me at least, that they do have their biases and those show up in the big games.

The NFL needs to scrap its policy of using part-time officials and go with full-timers whose job it is to officiate FL games. Right now, there are no penalties for officials when they screw up other than awarding playoff games to the "better" ones. But with all of the playoff games being played now there aren't many who don't get to officiate in them ad it is obvious again that whoever decides these things has their favorites because some pretty lame officials are calling the biggest games.

I would like to see full time officals as well but it is not a cure all for bad call they will still happen because they are human. No one hollered about the refs when Dallas was winning SB's in the 90's bad calls happen they are part of the game and everyone has to deal with it from time to time.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Can you win the Super Bowl without officiating help along the way?

Yes, the Cowboys did it 3 times in the 90s, and they would have had won 4 SBs in a row then had it not been for the officals favoring their opponnents.

 

[THUMPER]

I would like to see full time officals as well but it is not a cure all for bad call they will still happen because they are human. No one hollered about the refs when Dallas was winning SB's in the 90's bad calls happen they are part of the game and everyone has to deal with it from time to time.

Full-time officials would not be a cure all but they would go a long ways towards fixing some of the more egregious calls by giving the league more leverage in disciplining them when they do make bad calls. It would also no longer be a hobby for them but their career.

It would allow them to spend more time reviewing game tape and better defining what constitutes an infraction, where they need to be positioned on each play to see the action more clearly, to iron out discrepancies in how each official sees the plays, etc. Being an NFL official is a very tough job and should be treated as such and not as something guys do in their spare time away from their regular career.

Unlike MLB, NBA, or NHL, the NFL has only a handful of games in the regular season so EVERY game is important. In the NBA & NHL, you play 80+ games so losing one of them due to a bad call is not as big a deal. Also, the playoff format is one-and-done in the NFL as opposed to the best-of-7 format used by the other major pro sports leagues. A bad call here or their can have a material effect on the outcome of the championship in the NFL whereas in the other sports it might just mean you are down a game but you still have a chance to come back.

To my knowledge all of the other major sports have full-time officials, it's only the NFL that has a "tradition" of using part-timers (I could be mistaken on that though).

Inconsistency is the biggest issue IMO as well as personal bias. There has always been an "East Coast" bias within the league and it is obvious when you see how the calls tend to go one way in big games. As human beings it is impossible to eliminate 100% of the bias from our lives so other means need to be in place to correct it. Mixing up of officiating crews and the ability for the league to impose disciplinary actions on officials who exhibit bias beyond the wrist-slaps available currently.

Anyway, that's how I see it.

 

[Doomsday101]

Full-time officials would not be a cure all but they would go a long ways towards fixing some of the more egregious calls by giving the league more leverage in disciplining them when they do make bad calls. It would also no longer be a hobby for them but their career.

It would allow them to spend more time reviewing game tape and better defining what constitutes an infraction, where they need to be positioned on each play to see the action more clearly, to iron out discrepancies in how each official sees the plays, etc. Being an NFL official is a very tough job and should be treated as such and not as something guys do in their spare time away from their regular career.

Unlike MLB, NBA, or NHL, the NFL has only a handful of games in the regular season so EVERY game is important. In the NBA & NHL, you play 80+ games so losing one of them due to a bad call is not as big a deal. Also, the playoff format is one-and-done in the NFL as opposed to the best-of-7 format used by the other major pro sports leagues. A bad call here or their can have a material effect on the outcome of the championship in the NFL whereas in the other sports it might just mean you are down a game but you still have a chance to come back.

To my knowledge all of the other major sports have full-time officials, it's only the NFL that has a "tradition" of using part-timers (I could be mistaken on that though).

Inconsistency is the biggest issue IMO as well as personal bias. There has always been an "East Coast" bias within the league and it is obvious when you see how the calls tend to go one way in big games. As human beings it is impossible to eliminate 100% of the bias from our lives so other means need to be in place to correct it. Mixing up of officiating crews and the ability for the league to impose disciplinary actions on officials who exhibit bias beyond the wrist-slaps available currently.

Anyway, that's how I see it.

As I said I'm all for full time refs but it does not stop the bad calls that take place in sports that do have full time. What I do know is when Dallas was winning championships no one hollers about the refs when we don't it becomes an issue. I don't see a bias towards any team for goodness sake this franchise has been to 8 SB and has won 5 no one is trying to screw over Dallas. Hell Det fans should be hollering about the refs more than any Dallas fan.

 

[firehawk350]

As I said I'm all for full time refs but it does not stop the bad calls that take place in sports that do have full time. What I do know is when Dallas was winning championships no one hollers about the refs when we don't it becomes an issue. I don't see a bias towards any team for goodness sake this franchise has been to 8 SB and has won 5 no one is trying to screw over Dallas. Hell Det fans should be hollering about the refs more than any Dallas fan.

It's that way with everybody though. Nobody wants to admit they may have got a helping hand (intentionally or not) from the refs and everybody wants to blame a loss on the refs.

 

[Doomsday101]

It's that way with everybody though. Nobody wants to admit they may have got a helping hand (intentionally or not) from the refs and everybody wants to blame a loss on the refs.

I agree. I don't dispute bad calls they happen they always have and always will. There is no perfect solution even instant replay comes with it's share of disputes after the fact. It is sports and bad calls are going to happen. I don't think we get any more than anyone else does.

 

[theogt]

You can't get to and win the Super Bowl without a little bit of luck, be it from officiating or otherwise.

That's the nature of sports.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

You can't get to and win the Super Bowl without a little bit of luck, be it from officiating or otherwise.

That's the nature of sports.

So true, but you must admit that every Pittsburgh Super Bowl victory has been a nail biter where a bad call or two makes a big difference. And the bad calls are ALWAYS in their favor. All 5 of the Cowboys Super Bowl wins were blowouts (the closest win was by 10 points) where we left no doubt. If we had ever had help winning, maybe we'd feel different about it. But of course we never get help, so it's a moot point.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Believe me, I used to want to believe Dallas was being jobbed. Pretty much just came to the realization that missed officiating is just a part of the game.

Forget Dallas for a minute... We weren't involved in that Pittsburgh/Seattle Super Bowl, and any unbiased observer would agree that was one of the worst-officiated games of all time.

 

[BBWC]

Agreed. There's a idiot Giants fan (redundant?) on the True Blue forums arguing that there was still 3 quarters of football to be played. They don't get the bad call first down, and punt then this is your score:

3rd quarter, 6:53 remaining
Dallas 17
NY 7

But the moron Giants fan (definitely redundant) thinks that extra possession in the first quarter didn't mean anything ESPECIALLY considering we held them to 60 yards of offense in that second half.

Oh well, Eli might be the first QB in NFL history to win a Super Bowl and lose in the first game of the playoffs for the rest of his career.

It takes a special kind of pathetic to still be crying about the officiating in this game. I also notice you keep bringing up the Ware offsides call and continually neglect to bring up the countless false starts the Cowboys got away with as a result of Gurodes awful job of snapping the ball out of the shotgun. Yup, that's right, bad calls go both ways, get a life.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

It takes a special kind of pathetic to still be crying about the officiating in this game. I also notice you keep bringing up the Ware offsides call and continually neglect to bring up the countless false starts the Cowboys got away with as a result of Gurodes awful job of snapping the ball out of the shotgun. Yup, that's right, bad calls go both ways, get a life.

Point them out, specifically, during that game and where they occurred that extended one of Dallas's scoring drives.

The point is that it's a play that was obviously wrong and everyone here would be familiar with it.

The fact that an f-tard Vagiants fans don't like it mentioned is just another little nail in what will be the coffin of Eli's legacy when he fails to do jack crap again this year. Defense, luck, and Tom Brady getting a high ankle sprain in the AFC championship had more to do with winning a Super Bowl than little Eli.

Go back to your little board and sing your frozen little huevos off about how great you're going to be without a #1 or #2 receiver and 45% of your running game now in Tampa. Yeah, get a life * ******.

 

[casmith07]

I think it's hilarious that people bring up Ware's offsides calls. Of course it's not offsides in slow-motion replay, but down on the field or right as the play happened what did it look like?

DeMarcus Ware is good enough that he really doesn't have to get that much more of a drop on the OL to get to the quarterback....he almost got 22 sacks last season without doing it every play. Pretty decent performance if you ask me.

 

[BBWC]

Vagiants? f-tard?

Bwahaha!

Pathetic. Again, get a life.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Vagiants? f-tard?

Bwahaha!

Pathetic. Again, get a life.

Says the Giants "fan" who reads Cowboys forums?

 

[Hoofbite]

Vagiants? f-tard?

Bwahaha!

Pathetic. Again, get a life.

Bwahaha?

Little much don't ya think? Might have been worth a chuckle or two but a full-on "Bwahaha"?

 

[BourbonBalz]

Giant's fans may not like it being brought up (which by the way is just tough ****), but that offsides call against Ware lead directly to their first TD. If they punt (like they should have been forced to do minus that bad call), the game is totally different. We dominated the first half and most likely would've won it if that first TD wasn't scored. Hell, take 7 from the scoreboard and we win it outright.

 

[Aikbach]

I would support full time refs, some of these guys are literally car salesmen the rest of the week.

 

[Switz]

That's the biggest mistake of the whole game. A CLEAR block in the back ( prior to the TD being scored ) was missed ( yeah right ) & resulted in POINTS for the Steelers right before the Half. Those POINTS had the Clipping been called ( there was no TIME left ) would have been taken off the board & would have resulted ( most likely ) in the Cardinals Winning that Super Bowl. While the no-call on using the ball as a Prop still would not have resulted in a Cards victory ( as they still needed to score a TD to win & that's bad odds ).

forget the block in the back. it was a clip BTW

if you look at the tape even before the block in the back Kurt Warner is held by Deshae townson.. He had BOTH hands pulling his shirt... NO flag the ball would have been spotted at the point and the steelers would have never got any points on the play..