Conspiracy Or Incompetence In Officiating?

[RiggoForever]

I think it is a really bad thing for the league that the number 1 topic that ordinary fans are talking about is the poor quality of officiating through the season and on into the playoffs. That is the last thing the league wants to be the focus of thought and conversation.

That is why they trotted out Aiello to try and calm things down, but there was so much bad offiacting all year that this simply confirmed that despite their best efforts, they still cannot get it right and refs are still unduly changing the outcomes of games.

Did you notice that there was not a single illegal contact call? You think the players play it any differently? It had to be that the refs were told to let them play and to de-emphasize it, just the same way they were told to emphasize that call before the starts of the last 2 seasons. They even visited camps to let teams know they were going to do it. Now they go exactly 180 the other way for 1 game. why is that? I am not saying there was a conspiracy, only that the league can emphsize what ever rules they wish to and ignore others. What happened inthe game was individual blown calls due to pressure of the large stage--- and then, a reluctance to get it right, or in the case of pass interference, the inability to wave it off once called.

Blown calls and incompetence... not a conspiracy.

Incidentally, nobody is saying much about the call they corrected and got right-- the Hasselbeck non-fumble when he was downed by contact. They got that one right upon review..

 

[RCowboyFan]

I doubt anyone really believes there was conspiracy. Incompetence for sure and on top of it, probably what happened to that ref who called that bad call against Pitt in Colts playoff game might have factored in, IMO.

 

[Alexander]

It has to be incompetence.

Were this the only time there was bad officiating all season long, I could agree with conspiracy.

But the officiating was pathetic most of the year and it did not get any better once the tournament began.

 

[joseephuss]

It has to be incompetence.

Were this the only time there was bad officiating all season long, I could agree with conspiracy.

But the officiating was pathetic most of the year and it did not get any better once the tournament began.

It may have even been worse during the playoffs. Just a poor job. The players get better, the game gets faster and the refs can't keep up. Some calls are always going to be missed or bad, but this post season was the poorest I have seen.

 

[morasp]

When all of the ticky tack calls go against the same team, come at the worst moments for that team, and have a huge impact on the outcome of the game it's more than just blown calls. I am starting to really think that there is tampering in NFL games and it was on vivid display in the Super Bowl.

 

[RiggoForever]

When all of the ticky tack calls go against the same team, come at the worst moments for that team, and have a huge impact on the outcome of the game it's more than just blown calls. I am starting to really think that there is tampering in NFL games and it was on vivid display in the Super Bowl.

I don't...because lets say your local trusted news and newspaper have a story that has a link between gambling and the officials? You better believe the media is going to investigate this deeply to try to find any signs of corruption. That's how the media works...they love to report bad news. If the games are fixed (and I don't think they are), I believe we will find out about it within the next few months.

Don't you think that the vast majority of fans would stop watching the game if we all knew outcomes were predetermined? I know I would, because football would cease to be a true sport. Imagine how many millions of dollars the NFL would lose if this happened.

 

[Champsheart]

I think it is a really bad thing for the league that the number 1 topic that ordinary fans are talking about is the poor quality of officiating through the season and on into the playoffs. That is the last thing the league wants to be the focus of thought and conversation.

That is why they trotted out Aiello to try and calm things down, but there was so much bad offiacting all year that this simply confirmed that despite their best efforts, they still cannot get it right and refs are still unduly changing the outcomes of games.

Did you notice that there was not a single illegal contact call? You think the players play it any differently? It had to be that the refs were told to let them play and to de-emphasize it, just the same way they were told to emphasize that call before the starts of the last 2 seasons. They even visited camps to let teams know they were going to do it. Now they go exactly 180 the other way for 1 game. why is that? I am not saying there was a conspiracy, only that the league can emphsize what ever rules they wish to and ignore others. What happened inthe game was individual blown calls due to pressure of the large stage--- and then, a reluctance to get it right, or in the case of pass interference, the inability to wave it off once called.

Blown calls and incompetence... not a conspiracy.

Incidentally, nobody is saying much about the call they corrected and got right-- the Hasselbeck non-fumble when he was downed by contact. They got that one right upon review..

Incompetence, and influence by the large Steeler Crowd.

 

[THUMPER]

I have long been a proponent of full-time officials because football is one of the most complex sports there is. There are so many things for an official to watch and so much that is left to his judgement that there is no way a part-time guy can be fully competent at it.

The stupid "horse-collar" (i.e. Roy Williams) rule is a prime example of this: The defender has to grab the guy's shoulder pads, not his jersey, from behind but only if the guy is beyond the LOS and a couple of yards outside the tackle-box. The defender also has to yank the guy down with this grip in order for it to violate the "horse collar" rule. I pointed out at the time they proposed this rule that it would be impossible to call consistently because it was too complex and we have seen just that this year. Many times it looked like a "horse collar" but it wasn't called because it didn't meet ALL of the criteria.

There are WAY too many rules in football, far too many for any part-timer to call consistently, it would even be tough for full-time refs to call it but at least they would be better at it with more practice time than the part-timers get.

The other advantage to having full-time officials is that this would be their ONLY job unlike the part-time guys we have now who have other professions and officiating NFL games is basically a hobby for them. Most are highly paid professionals who make a lot of money outside of officiating. The idea being that they would be less open to bribes.

I can see where this might have worked in the past but I don't see it being as much of an issue today. In fact I see it working just the opposite where these guys have no penalty if they blatantly screw up. What is the league going to do, fire them? So what? They don't need this job to pay their bills so why not help out their favorite teams a little when they get a chance?

I am convinced that Paul Tagliabue is biased for some teams and against others (namely the Cowboys and Raiders) but outside of the rules they have enacted I don't see a conspiracy in the league. I do see a lot of things that could be improved in regards to officiating and getting rid of these rules that are too complex or too vague and instituting full-time officials. I would also like to see Tagliabue go away and a new commissioner in place, one without ties to the 49ERs or Commanders like Tags.

I believe the horrible officiating we have seen this year, and what has been getting worse each year, is the result of part-time officials, a natural inclination to help the teams a guy likes and hurt those you dislike, and rules that leave too much to the judgement of the officials.

Fewer and better defined rules would really help.

 

[Wheat]

From what I understand, East coast NFL watchers feel the Refs just had an awful game.

On the other coast, its all this "The league wanted the Bus to go out on top like Elway, and Cowher to finally get over the hump.....etc, etc"

I personally don't care. Its over now.

But, when a team gets screwed in the future of any sport. I promise there will be a Seahawk reference in there.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I don't think it's a conspiracy per se, but I do think that being human, the officials let other factors influence them.

Hype, personal reasons whatever, impartiality is hard to come by. I see "make up" calls all the time in sports, particularly on balls and strikes in baseball.

The only calls in the Super Bowl I have a problem with are the initial call on the TD because he appeared to change his mind for no reason, the hold, the TO/delay of game and the horsecollar that wasn't called. I can see how an official could think he saw offensive PI in real time even if it wasn't and the same with the Hasselback play.


We know that some biases exist and have for years, how else do you explain Randy Moss getting two offensive PIs in one game wearing a Raiders uniform after getting called once in the previous two seasons wearing purple? But I saw things this year that I've never seen before though. Mike Carey's crew was very reluctant to throw flags for a few games after the Baltimore fiasco. Malice in his heart???? Did they know amongst themselves how badly they screwed up or did a higher authority come down on them? I don't know but something happened.

I also saw the Commanders get a lot of beneficial calls late in the year after whining about officiating. Did that factor into the officials' minds? I don't know but the evidence suggests it did. Same with the Steelers complaining about the Indy game then getting all the "breaks" in the Super Bowl.

Pro football has slowly passed college football when it comes to officiating bias and that's tough to do. Like I said in another post, they're also rapidly gaining ground on boxing judges when it comes to perceived integrity.

 

[kingwhicker]

Don't you think that the vast majority of fans would stop watching the game if we all knew outcomes were predetermined?

I dunno, how does one explain the popularity of professional wrestling?

 

[RiggoForever]

I have long been a proponent of full-time officials because football is one of the most complex sports there is. There are so many things for an official to watch and so much that is left to his judgement that there is no way a part-time guy can be fully competent at it.

The stupid "horse-collar" (i.e. Roy Williams) rule is a prime example of this: The defender has to grab the guy's shoulder pads, not his jersey, from behind but only if the guy is beyond the LOS and a couple of yards outside the tackle-box. The defender also has to yank the guy down with this grip in order for it to violate the "horse collar" rule. I pointed out at the time they proposed this rule that it would be impossible to call consistently because it was too complex and we have seen just that this year. Many times it looked like a "horse collar" but it wasn't called because it didn't meet ALL of the criteria.

There are WAY too many rules in football, far too many for any part-timer to call consistently, it would even be tough for full-time refs to call it but at least they would be better at it with more practice time than the part-timers get.

The other advantage to having full-time officials is that this would be their ONLY job unlike the part-time guys we have now who have other professions and officiating NFL games is basically a hobby for them. Most are highly paid professionals who make a lot of money outside of officiating. The idea being that they would be less open to bribes.

I can see where this might have worked in the past but I don't see it being as much of an issue today. In fact I see it working just the opposite where these guys have no penalty if they blatantly screw up. What is the league going to do, fire them? So what? They don't need this job to pay their bills so why not help out their favorite teams a little when they get a chance?

I am convinced that Paul Tagliabue is biased for some teams and against others (namely the Cowboys and Raiders) but outside of the rules they have enacted I don't see a conspiracy in the league. I do see a lot of things that could be improved in regards to officiating and getting rid of these rules that are too complex or too vague and instituting full-time officials. I would also like to see Tagliabue go away and a new commissioner in place, one without ties to the 49ERs or Commanders like Tags.

I believe the horrible officiating we have seen this year, and what has been getting worse each year, is the result of part-time officials, a natural inclination to help the teams a guy likes and hurt those you dislike, and rules that leave too much to the judgement of the officials.

Fewer and better defined rules would really help.

This is probably the best post I've seen with regard to this whole mess. Thank you. I think we can both agree that the way the league is designed right now (parity), there are going to be a large number of close games (think Dallas had 11 this year that were 7 pts or less and the Commanders had 8). Games are going to come down to the wire and its a shame to see a team lose because of blown calls.

 

[THUMPER]

Raiders fans still complain about the "tuck rule" call. Unfortunately for them it was called according to the rules so they really can't blame the refs for that one. It is a stupid rule and goes with what I was saying earlier about some rules needing to be dropped or more clearly defined.

 

[RiggoForever]

I dunno, how does one explain the popularity of professional wrestling?

They tried a ticky tack WWF style league (forget the name if anyone can refresh me) a few years ago...and it wasn't popular enough to last more then 1 season.

I am confident that the vast majority of fans watch the game for the sport, the uncertainty...the fact that any given Sunday one team can beat enough if it plays well enough.

 

[ravidubey]

Definitely biased officiating.

- BAD, game-turning call of a push-off in the endzone.
- Two phantom holding calls (on a punt and the Stevens pass)
- Ignoring horsecollar tackle of Alexander
- BIZARRE, STUPID, and INCOMPETANT call of Hasselbeck tackling someone below the waist-- agreed upon by all officials!!!

 

[Doomsday101]

I dunno, how does one explain the popularity of professional wrestling?

Because people know it is rigged to start with and do not view it as a sport.

 

[RiggoForever]

Definitely biased officiating.

- BAD, game-turning call of a push-off in the endzone.
- Two phantom holding calls (on a punt and the Stevens pass)
- Ignoring horsecollar tackle of Alexander
- BIZARRE, STUPID, and INCOMPETANT call of Hasselbeck tackling someone below the waist-- agreed upon by all officials!!!

I'm torn, part of me thinks all plays should be reviewable...including the Hasselbeck tackle which was not a reviewable call, where as the other part yearns for the day befrore there was instant replay. Is it just me or does it seem like officiating has gotten worse in recent years?

 

[THUMPER]

This is probably the best post I've seen with regard to this whole mess. Thank you. I think we can both agree that the way the league is designed right now (parity), there are going to be a large number of close games (think Dallas had 11 this year that were 7 pts or less and the Commanders had 8). Games are going to come down to the wire and its a shame to see a team lose because of blown calls.

You bring up a good point (thanks for the compliment BTW) in the number of close games. I think this also has a lot to do with the focus on the officating. When a team wins by 25 points they usually don't complain much about the calls (except for Gibbs), same for when you lose by a bunch. A few bad calls wouldn't have made enough of a difference and most people recognize that. But when you lose by less than a TD then one or two bad calls could very well have been the difference in the game.

With all the close games the last few years, thanks to parity, the officiating has been magnified out of all proportion. Throw in the addition of more and more complex rules and we are seeing the refs become the focal point of the game rather than the players.

 

[Mike 1967]

I believe that it was human bias. I believe that there were some on that staff who wanted to steelers to win for whatever reason. And that feeling biased the split second calls made on the field.

I also think that the steeler partisan crowd impacted some of the split second decisions. This may have had more to do with it than bias.

In otherword, it falls somewhere between a conspiracy and incompetence IMO.

So long as you have a human factor in the calls, you are going to have some level of bias.

Anyway...those are my ramblings on this

 

[RiggoForever]

You bring up a good point (thanks for the compliment BTW) in the number of close games. I think this also has a lot to do with the focus on the officating. When a team wins by 25 points they usually don't complain much about the calls (except for Gibbs), same for when you lose by a bunch. A few bad calls wouldn't have made enough of a difference and most people recognize that. But when you lose by less than a TD then one or two bad calls could very well have been the difference in the game.

With all the close games the last few years, thanks to parity, the officiating has been magnified out of all proportion. Throw in the addition of more and more complex rules and we are seeing the refs become the focal point of the game rather than the players.

Hey I can see your points, and I enjoy your posts...but when did Gibbs complain about the officiating after a blowout win or loss? The only game he filed an official complaint about this year was the loss to Tampa and the Alstott 2 point conversion.

As far as I know, Gibbs just wants a fairly called game.