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News & ArtsWednesday, September 26, 2012
Sports Packers-Seahawks Fiasco Finally Forces NFL to Settle Contract Dispute with Referees Union
Posted by Goldy on Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 10:53 PM
Two days after unqualified scab refs set a new NFL record for official fuckuppery, the league finally came to terms with referees who have been locked out since their contract expired in June.
The replacements worked the first three weeks of games, triggering a wave of outrage that threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. After a missed call cost the Green Bay Packers a win on a chaotic final play at Seattle on Monday night, the two sides really got serious.
Some might question if the league would have been forced to the negotiating table had this spectacularly blown call victimized a less storied team than the Packers, but I'm just glad the real refs are back before a player got maimed or killed due to the owners' greed and the scab officials' incompetence.
1
The Seahawks are going to make the playoffs as the final wild card team (by owning the tiebreaker over the Packers) and then win Super Bowl XLVII. The entire sports world will call us undeserving and hate our team. It will be awesome.
3
Didn't the NFL backup that final call (possession is not established until the player's feet hit the ground, and by the time they hit the ground, it was simultaneous possession), and anyway wasn't that call reinforced by the non-scab replay referee?
4
Oh, that's just fucking great. Now these replacement refs will be back ruining the Lingerie League for me.
5
Bad refs are like rain...affects both teams equally.
OT: I'm watching this show called "Revenge". Every Netflix review has 5 stars and says its the best thing since Lost.
So far it watches like a soap opera. Anyone?
OT: I'm watching this show called "Revenge". Every Netflix review has 5 stars and says its the best thing since Lost.
So far it watches like a soap opera. Anyone?
7
@5
I'll bite since DOUG wrapped up this thread in the first comment. The show is apparently based on The Count of Monte Cristo, which...I guess? Personally, I can't stand to watch another show about wealthy white people in the Hamptons anymore than I can watch a show about somewhat-well-off white people trying to make it in Manhatten. Actually, fuck New York in general.
I'll bite since DOUG wrapped up this thread in the first comment. The show is apparently based on The Count of Monte Cristo, which...I guess? Personally, I can't stand to watch another show about wealthy white people in the Hamptons anymore than I can watch a show about somewhat-well-off white people trying to make it in Manhatten. Actually, fuck New York in general.
8
Of course there was the injury to Darius Heyward-Bey. But I guess Raiders don't count.
This is coming from a Chargers fan who wants nothing but for every one of the Raiders to perform incredibly poorly. Still, watching a guy fall like a ragdoll unconscious like that is real scary.
This is coming from a Chargers fan who wants nothing but for every one of the Raiders to perform incredibly poorly. Still, watching a guy fall like a ragdoll unconscious like that is real scary.
9
The Packers are the moral compass of the NFL. Which to be fair is not great, but by the standards of professional sports, they're fucking angels.
10
Goldy, you are a scab yourself. When are you going to call Darryl down at the Guild and organize this scab rag?
12
Matt Schaub lost part of his ear due to an illlegal hit some contended would not have taken place had the games not gotten so out of control under the scab refs, so someone actually did get maimed.
13
Do the refs get to keep their pension? That was the sticking point. They were too smart to settle for a stupid 401k
14
@3 The NFL only held up the call so they didn't completely ruin the league's credibility and give the real officials an even bigger piece of leverage.
A league will almost never overturn an on-field call after the fact. See Galaraga's ruined perfecto in 2010 for more.
A league will almost never overturn an on-field call after the fact. See Galaraga's ruined perfecto in 2010 for more.
16
@15) I am a Broncos fan. I did watch the game. The hit was dirty and the NFL aggrees with me:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/13483…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/13483…
17
Come on Goldy, that call--while bad--didn't set a new record. That record has been firmly held by the refs who called a touchdown from Vinny Testaverde running his helmet into the end zone to seal the game for the Jets (a game against the Seahawks, I might add, that kept them out of the playoffs).
18
Have to agree with #17 here...Testaverde's phantom touchdown was a much worse call than this, as there was absolutely no subjectivity/rule interpretation involved.
The ball simply did not cross the plane, which anybody could plainly see (ba-dum tish).
The ball simply did not cross the plane, which anybody could plainly see (ba-dum tish).
19
@13 Pensions are grandfathered. New officials will get the 401k package. They are still going to add some extra officials to have in reserve if one of the regulars sucks too much, but they're not diluting the compensation pool with these spare zebras.
20
FINALLY! Finally our agonizing war in Afghanistan is over and the troops can come back home! It's been far too long and so many have lost their lives. We should all... what?
Oh, nevermind. I see we're discussing something important here.
Oh, nevermind. I see we're discussing something important here.
21
Hey Goldy, scroll up a little and read the morning news item about Jim McMahon. Then come back and tell me what a difference the refs make in players getting maimed. (For a bonus, go to YouTube and do a search on "Joe Theisman".)
It's inherent. To a point, it's why people watch. The master of intelligent snark, Merle Kessler (aka Ian Shoales), summed it up perfectly decades ago: "Football players, like prostitutes, are in the business of ruining their bodies for the pleasure of strangers." (No pun intended in this case.)
Which is what's made it very difficult for many of us to care about this whole flap, and particularly not for that excuse.
It's inherent. To a point, it's why people watch. The master of intelligent snark, Merle Kessler (aka Ian Shoales), summed it up perfectly decades ago: "Football players, like prostitutes, are in the business of ruining their bodies for the pleasure of strangers." (No pun intended in this case.)
Which is what's made it very difficult for many of us to care about this whole flap, and particularly not for that excuse.
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