Why penalties have become so mind numbing

[Blackrain]

There is just so much evidence that calls are being made to keep games close.

There can only be so many coincidences and you know there is a bean counter somewhere watching how the score is affecting the viewing audience which directly affects the sponsors.

Sponsors don't want to pay big money for time when nobody is watching so things are kept close as possible . But lately they have gotten greedy because the whole football watching community seems to be very concerned about the officiating . The topic has taken over sports talk radio here in Philly quite a bit .

 

[gmoney112]

Feature, not a bug.

And it's working so doesn't really matter what we think about it.

 

[Diehardblues]

First off, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I call myself a "Patternist". I notice patterns.

The NFL uses calls to keep games close. As you said, O holding can be called on all plays.

So, start paying attention. When a team starts building up a lead, gaining momentum, tweeeeeeeeeeet.

And I mean it's like clockwork. I fully realize how I sound, but the evidence is screaming. O holding calls are used to control games.

That defintely sounds more like a Conspiracy theory despite you not wanting to call it that.

Your patterinst insight is simply your evidence. Just saying K..

 

[Don Corleone]

And if the league is manipulating games (and they are), then the game has been taken away from the players and fraud is being constituted against the fans (paying customers).

The NFL is ENTERTAINMENT, and not a sport. This is explained on the back of every game ticket and to everyone associated with the game from Day 1. The league has every right to entertain their viewers.

 

[Diehardblues]

A Conspiracy would mean the league would need to have all of the officials before each game colluding.

And they’d all have to remain hush hush about it. Sounds pretty absurd to me. Total paranoia IMO mostly out of frustration and irritation.

I think what we actually see more of is makeup calls for when they obviously miss a call come back and try to make up for it. And we see preferential treatment to star players.

 

[Diehardblues]

The NFL is ENTERTAINMENT, and not a sport. This is explained on the back of every game ticket and to everyone associated with the game from Day 1. The league has every right to entertain their viewers.

Yes but collusion to effect the outcome would also effect the multi billion dollar gaming business which was also recently legalized nationwide. That’s the last thing the NFL would want.

And our law enforcement agencies would investigate, possibly with congressional oversite. Can’t convince me some official wouldnt cave and spill the beans.

 

[Don Corleone]

Yes but collusion to effect the outcome would also effect the multi billion dollar gaming business which was also recently legalized nationwide. That’s the last thing the NFL would want.

And our law enforcement agencies would investigate, possibly with congressional oversite. Can’t convince me some official wouldnt cave and spill the beans.

There is no such thing as collusion. They are not dictating who wins or loses, but they try everything to keep viewers from changing the channel in the name of ad revenues and ratings.

 

[Diehardblues]

There is no such thing as collusion. They are not dictating who wins or loses, but they try everything to keep viewers from changing the channel in the name of ad revenues and ratings.

If they are intentionally attempting officiating to keep games close in any manner it would be collusion unless of course you’re suggesting officials are taking this on individually without colluding with other officials in their crew or the influence from the league which most definitely could effect the outcome however indirectly it might be.

 

[Don Corleone]

If they are intentionally attempting officiating to keep games close in any manner it would be collusion unless of course you’re suggesting officials are taking this on individually without colluding with other officials in their crew or the influence from the league which most definitely could effect the outcome however indirectly it might be.

I do believe there is something to be said for the rules being so gray and not black/white. It gives the officials some leeway to alter the flow of the game if things are getting one sided. I pay careful attention to the end of the first half and early to mid 4th quarter as those times are ripe for the viewers to change the channel. Weird things involving the refs coincidentally happen at those time windows.

 

[Diehardblues]

If the NFL loses the Integrity of the game..they’d lose everything including congressional exemption for non profit entity, the sporting books, networks, sponsors and fans. Game Over!!

Naw, this is totally absurd in a collusive effort . Now if you want to call out individual officials who are intentionally placing their underpaid job at risk for an illegal gambler who was offering them millions or was holding one of their family members for ransom then I’d be more willing to listen.

 

[buybuydandavis]

The reason IMO is actually pretty simple: The NFL can’t clearly define their rules which makes them hard to enforce.

Many of the rules aren't *meant* to be enforced. They're cya with respect to "doing something" about injuries. "See, look, we made that illegal! We care!"

Case in point. The "lowering the head" rule is absurd and everyone knows it. It could be called all day and is almost never called.

 

[Blackrain]

If the NFL loses the Integrity of the game..they’d lose everything including congressional exemption for non profit entity, the sporting books, networks, sponsors and fans. Game Over!!

Naw, this is totally absurd in a collusive effort . Now if you want to call out individual officials who are intentionally placing their underpaid job at risk for an illegal gambler who was offering them millions or was holding one of their family members for ransom then I’d be more willing to listen.

There have been a lot of well respected things in this country lose there Integrity and be corrupted . The NFL wouldn't be the first or the most important or even a surprise to most .

 

[Diehardblues]

I do believe there is something to be said for the rules being so gray and not black/white. It gives the officials some leeway to alter the flow of the game if things are getting one sided. I pay careful attention to the end of the first half and early to mid 4th quarter as those times are ripe for the viewers to change the channel. Weird things involving the refs coincidentally happen at those time windows.

Officiating is a judgement occupation on the most part so it’s always going to be a subjective evaluation suspecting personal preferences , vendettas, agendas and incompetence.

And if anyone associated had any evidence to those it would be investigated. Otherwise it’s just noise.

 

[Diehardblues]

There have been a lot of well respected things in this country lose there Integrity and be corrupted . The NFL wouldn't be the first or the most important or even a surprise to most .

Yes, and eventually investigated and revealed.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The more simplified, it’s easier to enforce. It’s hard to enforce all 89 pages of their rule book. That’s obvious every week.

Exactly, so shortening the rule book and clarifying it is important for the NFL to do.

 

[Bobhaze]

It is pitiful Bob!!

Reviewing every TD is disgusting too.

Maybe we should review all penalties as well?

If like on TD we’re going to call it under a microscope why not penalties too?

Instant replay became a part of football in the 60s and 70s and with technology improvements such as digital HD signals and cameras now literally on the field, I think a lot of fans started expecting the game to be perfect. It put pressure on the NFL and college FB to incorporate more call reviews.

But has it really made the game that much better? I’m glad we have replay reviews, but I don’t think the NFL does it well. It takes way too long. Maybe a ref in the booth that could make reviewed calls decided more quickly would help. The NHL seems to be the fastest at reviewing plays. The NFL is the worst.

 

[Runwildboys]

With no clear rules it leaves the refs with to much power. The roughing call on Gregory was unreal. He literally did nothing wrong. A few of the holding calls on Tyron were phantom. The list goes on and that’s just our team.

Some of these rules leave it up to the refs interpretation. And of course there are just plain old bad calls that happen here and there.

But some of these calls make it look almost intentional and like the refs are keeping the game close for the NFL. Controlling the outcome of things. I have no proof and it’s probly not happening but it’s looking like it.

There was a PI in the giants game they called on a long sideline pass to Gallop and he was clearly shoved in front of the ref. And he apparently didn’t see it and wasn’t going to throw the flag. Luckily the other ref saw it and threw the flag. If there was no flag on that play I was going to lose my mind but we have seen this kind of things not called and things like it all year.

The official in front of them couldn't see the shove, with Gallup between him and the defender.

 

[Diehardblues]

Instant replay became a part of football in the 60s and 70s and with technology improvements such as digital HD signals and cameras now literally on the field, I think a lot of fans started expecting the game to be perfect. It put pressure on the NFL and college FB to incorporate more call reviews.

But has it really made the game that much better? I’m glad we have replay reviews, but I don’t think the NFL does it well. It takes way too long. Maybe a ref in the booth that could make reviewed calls decided more quickly would help. The NHL seems to be the fastest at reviewing plays. The NFL is the worst.

No doubt but we’ve taken it all too far. Football is not a perfect game.

Instant replay was initially implemented to prevent a bad call from changing the outcome of the game especially in the waning moments.

No wonder officiating had gone to crap because almost every decision is reviewed. It’s ridiculous.

 

[Bobhaze]

The NFL is ENTERTAINMENT, and not a sport. This is explained on the back of every game ticket and to everyone associated with the game from Day 1. The league has every right to entertain their viewers.

The NFL has the right to entertain, but it does not always have the ability.

 

[Redball Express]

First of all, I’m not the kind of guy who blames the refs for ANY loss. EVER. Good teams overcome all obstacles including bad calls, so this post isn’t about us “getting screwed by the refs”. This post is actually about why the refs are screwing every team in the NFL with bad calls.

The reason IMO is actually pretty simple: The NFL can’t clearly define their rules which makes them hard to enforce.

I mean seriously, who knows what a catch is anymore? What really constitutes pass interference? Offensive holding? They could call it every play but for some strange reason it is only called once in a strange while. And roughing the passer? I challenge anyone to explain how that rule is being enforced this year. The list of unclear rules and enforcement could go on and on....

If this is ever going to get better, the NFL needs to simplify their rules. I’ve been watching NFL games since 1964, and trust me when I say games in the 60s-90s were much less dominated by strange penalties that made people scratch their heads. Sure you got bad calls- like the ridiculous call against Benny Barnes in SB XIII...but I digress.

Bottom line- the bad calls we are seeing in mass quantities are a direct result of the NFLs poor job of clearly defining its rules. It needs some serious work!

Hmmm..

the worst call to me in our history was in the '71 SB.

The Colts were behind late in the game and threw to John Mackey..their TE.

According to the refs..Mel Renfro touched the ball

Im not a conspiracy theorist but I agree with KSK there are some pretty evident patterns . That said In the 60s through the 90s guys would sit at the lunch table and talk about the great plays made in the games and very little about the bad calls the refs made. In TODAYS WORLD the poor officiating dominates football conversations and the great plays take a back seat .

This tells me the NFL has it wrong and are going to lose fans no matter what type of pass happy score fest they turn the game into all people want to talk about is how some official made a bad call that ruined the game .

I can recall the '71 SB where the Colts were behind late in the game..

the pass is thrown and a Colt receiver tipped the ball and Mel Renfro tried to tip the ball away..

it went over his head to the Colts TE John Mackey caught it and scored a TD.

The refs said Renfro had touched the ball and made the catch legal.

Otherwise..it would have been an inelligable play because 2 offensive players had touched the ball without a defensive player touching the ball in b/w.

Worst call I ever saw and cost us the game.

So there is history about bad calls you can't undo.

I fear that as much as Wilson's passing or running.