Conspiracy Or Incompetence In Officiating?

[RiggoForever]

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

Eventually we are going to need robots and computers to be officials (seriously believe it will happen one day).

 

[Clove]

I just think it's strange that on nearly every big play the Seahawks had, there was a penalty. (including long special team runs).

 

[CF74]

It really seemed like a little of both to me, that game was literally stolen from seattle.

indubiously

 

[THUMPER]

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.

I don't recall which game it was (49ERs game?), I just remember wondering why he was complaining about it when the game was a blowout. It might have been a big loss actually (Giants?), I don't remember for sure just that he was complaining about the calls when they had no bearing on the outcome.

Most HCs want a fairly called game but Gibbs has a long reputation for making his complaints public. I think the expression on his face hurts as well. Kind of like the NBA back in the 80s when both Magic Johnson (I am a HUGE Lakers fan) and Danny Ainge were the guys who whined the most about calls but Ainge always looked like he was about to break into tears over it while Magic would give that pleading look to the refs. I see Gibbs as the Danny Ainge type with that pained expression of his.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Maybe its just me, but I didn't see any aggreviously bad missed calls in the game on Sunday. I saw a bunch of calls that could have gone either way, and which ever way it was called was going to give someone an excuse to whine. But we've become a nation of whiners, so this is what I've come to expect. Also, the 24 hour news media needs something to fill their programming with, and this is the best they can do since the game was so horrible and sloppy and hard to watch.

 

[joseephuss]

Maybe its just me, but I didn't see any aggreviously bad missed calls in the game on Sunday. I saw a bunch of calls that could have gone either way, and which ever way it was called was going to give someone an excuse to whine. But we've become a nation of whiners, so this is what I've come to expect. Also, the 24 hour news media needs something to fill their programming with, and this is the best they can do since the game was so horrible and sloppy and hard to watch.

It looked like a pre-season game out there by both teams and the officials.

 

[kingwhicker]

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.

Well, the officials of NFL and the WWE/F have similar abilities and eyesight.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Conspiracy Or Incompetence In Officiating?

I don't care what you call it. On my TV it was obvious the league wanted Pittsburgh to win.

 

[morasp]

It wasn't about Jerome Bettis winning in Detroit, there are huge amounts of money bet on footballs games, especially the super bowl. It was about big money. You don't influence the outcome of a game that big for a good story.

 

[ReturnToGlory]

plus not calling delay of game when ben r. called timeout with 00 on the game clock. do you think Seattle would have gotten away with that?

and the spot on Mack Strong's 2nd quarter catch that made it fourth and 3 inches.

and the ref calling the ben r. td after he is tackled and pushes the ball over the goal line

and the illegal motion call on Alexander in the 3rd quarter when he is given a chance to reset.

The game wasn't fixed but the refs were biased against the Seahawks. More lenient aginst the steeler and stringent against the Seahawks. It's the difference between calling the ben r. run a td after watching the replays (if you are a steeler fan) and calling it short (if you are a Seahawk fan).

 

[AdamJT13]

and the illegal motion call on Alexander in the 3rd quarter when he is given a chance to reset.

Alexander wasn't shifting, he made an abrupt movement. According to the rules, that's automatically a false start.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

If we are going to have "Instant Replay" for getting calls right

THEN is has to get the call right...

Currently that is not the case. Need clear picture and absolute reference points. Otherwise its only so effective.

 

[RiggoForever]

If we are going to have "Instant Replay" for getting calls right

THEN is has to get the call right...

Currently that is not the case. Need clear picture and absolute reference points. Otherwise its only so effective.

I think fans should have 2 minutes to be able to vote via computer on a challenge using TV replays. Screw the officials. Let the fans vote stand.

 

[Fmart322]

Yo stanley, great points!! I think Parcells and the rest of the Cowboys should say negative stuff late in the year next year so we can get the calls. It couldn't hurt, right?

I do see what you mean and I believe everything you said in that last post. Good call.

 

[Juke99]

There were a ton of people who ripped the officials who, they claimed, tried to steal the Indy game from Pittsburg...

Now these same Steelers were being given breaks and possibly an advantage by the officials in the Super Bowl?

Nah....I'm not buying it.

I think some people would better understand if the poor officiating was due to bias, etc. because to believe it is THIS bad is hard to accept.

It's THIS bad.

Too many rules; replays should be handled up in the booth instead of giving the responsibilty to a guy on the field to overturn his own, or his crew's calls; officials should be full time (but the NFL is afraid of a union problem); and this business of "all star" crews for the big games is just dumb; usethe best crew instead.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

There were a ton of people who ripped the officials who, they claimed, tried to steal the Indy game from Pittsburg...

Now these same Steelers were being given breaks and possibly an advantage by the officials in the Super Bowl?

Nah....I'm not buying it.

I think some people would better understand if the poor officiating was due to bias, etc. because to believe it is THIS bad is hard to accept.

It's THIS bad.

Too many rules; replays should be handled up in the booth instead of giving the responsibilty to a guy on the field to overturn his own, or his crew's calls; officials should be full time (but the NFL is afraid of a union problem); and this business of "all star" crews for the big games is just dumb; usethe best crew instead.

Very good point about the NFL being afraid of unionization of officials if made full time. Unions would mean that the NFL would lose control of some aspects of officiating, specifically terminating individuals. If there is one thing that everyone can agree on about the NFL front office it's that they've historically jealously guarded against any loss of power.

The NFLPA is the weakest of the four (or is it three now?) major sports unions. That has allowed the NFL to morph into the game we know today with the hard salary cap etc. I find it difficult to believe that the NFL allow an unknown factor (official's union) to come to fruition.

 

[WV Cowboy]

plus not calling delay of game when ben r. called timeout with 00 on the game clock. do you think Seattle would have gotten away with that?

and the spot on Mack Strong's 2nd quarter catch that made it fourth and 3 inches.

and the ref calling the ben r. td after he is tackled and pushes the ball over the goal line

and the illegal motion call on Alexander in the 3rd quarter when he is given a chance to reset.

The game wasn't fixed but the refs were biased against the Seahawks. More lenient aginst the steeler and stringent against the Seahawks. It's the difference between calling the ben r. run a td after watching the replays (if you are a steeler fan) and calling it short (if you are a Seahawk fan).

Sounds like you watched the same game I did.

People say it couldn't be NFL bias because they couldn't risk that getting out, ... that they couldn't get away with that.

They just did.

This will all die down and forever more the Pittsburgh Steelers will be world champions in Super Bowl XL and the Seahawks will have to live with it.

 

[notherbob]

I believe that the NFL has the highest standards with regard to officials and there is no such thing as the NFL fixing any game. I also believe with equal ferver that withas many officials who have worked NFL games over the decades, it is extraordinarily unlikely that not a single one of them have ever been influenced by gambling or other outside interests. There are other considerations also, for instance, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that one or more officials rules Brady "in the grasp" in order to curry favor with the NFL front office who the refs knew did not want to see Al Davis' Raiders win after all the time he has sued them and generally been a dog in the manger, as we used to say.

In my view, individual officials knowingly and deliberately make bad calls occasionally for their own reasons, whatever they may be.

If I were a rich gambler who wanted to manipulate the spread to my advantage, I would not approach the coachs and players, they're too unstable, especially players, besides they talk too much, especially after their careers are over and they find themselves in need of money. No, I would find me an official who owed me a favor from the past or who was worried about his retirement or who had some other area where I could appeal to him.

I quit thinking all officials were good and honest many years ago when Norm Schacter stole many games from the Cowboys with his bad calls, expecially Super Bowl V against the Colts. That is also when I stopped becoming emotional about any given football team because it isn't always the best team who wins and sometimes there's a reason for that. I stopped becoming enraged about bad calls and have accepted them as part of the game and I no longer get worked up about any given team winning or losing any given game...I merely accept the things I cannot change, wish it were otherwise and get on with my life.

I'm an NFL Zombie, I don't have the crazed emotional highs and miserable depressions anymore, but I enjoy the games more and am much better to be aroud when a game is on than I used to.

 

[IndianaCowboyFan]

We need to watch what shakes out on the NHL scandal that will come to light in the next few weeks. Over 3 billion dollars is bet on the superbowl, to think it is all above board seems kinda foolish to me. But hey thats just me. I also think it (referee bias) exists in every sport.

 

[kingwhicker]

I'm an NFL Zombie, I don't have the crazed emotional highs and miserable depressions anymore, but I enjoy the games more and am much better to be aroud when a game is on than I used to.

Bob, I need to learn to be more like you. Teach me they ways, master.