[Bette]

Is the officiating in the NFL worse this season than usual or does it just seem that way because of some high profile blown calls?
The League says 97.64% of plays are called correctly.
Last year it was 97.78%.
Mike Pereira, director of officiating, says it isnt perfect but about as close as it can get.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/...ly-officiated/

Well, it really sucks if your team happens to draw one of those less than 3% blown calls.
A couple of them this year could really cost those teams.
Comments?

[Dusty]

Yes it's worse not only because the refs are constantly messing up plays and calls but because the NFL forced these dimwitted officials to call the game as if it were flag football and there's flag on every play which slows the game down.

[desertrat]

I think it goes deeper than the NFL will ever admit. I've noticed a pattern where there are certain teams that get shafted far more often than other teams do. It's all driven by revenue, the NFL gets more revenue when traditional powers are on top.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Bette

Is the officiating in the NFL worse this season than usual or does it just seem that way because of some high profile blown calls?
The League says 97.64% of plays are called correctly.
Last year it was 97.78%.
Mike Pereira, director of officiating, says it isnt perfect but about as close as it can get.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/...ly-officiated/

Well, it really sucks if your team happens to draw one of those less than 3% blown calls.
A couple of them this year could really cost those teams.
Comments?

Oh sure... I post something questionin the officiating and some people question me, but it gets media attention and everyone starts to look at it closer..... I'm just like Mr. Dangerfield, no respect I tell ya.

[desertrat]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Oh sure... I post something questionin the officiating and some people question me, but it gets media attention and everyone starts to look at it closer..... I'm just like Mr. Dangerfield, no respect I tell ya.

Funny, but I've been talking about the decline of competent officiating in all sports for a few years now. Some of my suspicions were confirmed by Tim Donaghy.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Oh sure... I post something questionin the officiating and some people question me, but it gets media attention and everyone starts to look at it closer..... I'm just like Mr. Dangerfield, no respect I tell ya.

You not getting any respect?? Fancy that.

[Bad Hare]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Yes it's worse not only because the refs are constantly messing up plays and calls but because the NFL forced these dimwitted officials to call the game as if it were flag football and there's flag on every play which slows the game down.

agreed.

Originally Posted by desertrat

I think it goes deeper than the NFL will ever admit. I've noticed a pattern where there are certain teams that get shafted far more often than other teams do. It's all driven by revenue, the NFL gets more revenue when traditional powers are on top.

Who? I would like to keep an eye on this. This is an interesting theory.

[MattyG0327]

ANYONE who thinks there is a conspiracy is already proven uncredible to speak on the subject of officials!!! Where you lay your $$$ does not prove officials or the league are in cahoots with bookies, decide by betting lines, and other organized criminal elements for dramatic effect.

You lose money because you make a wrong bet! You are given odds not in your favor. PERIOD. The league does not need YOUR money to be successful. Vega$ needs your money to become successful. The League benefits from your stupidity to bet as well as the networks, bars and restaraunts, merchandise makers, and NFLPA.

The psychological need to find rationale in losing, especially when you mix in IRRATIONAL fandom into the mix, creates this American past time of blaming officials and conspiratorially link those who do have direct connections to a bettors losing wagered event.

In the end, your ability to predict open-ended events with final results are not good and never will be. HENCE the very practice of WAGERING!!!!! It wouldn't be around if everyone won or won a great majority of time!!

The referees in the NFL are by far the best officials in all of sports. They are wrong sometimes and are certainly guilty of not applying the correct rulings on certain plays. However rare, it can greatly affect outcomes in the big picture. Honestly, there are too many rules now because of one reason: preventing injuries. And this is a result of teams/league wanting to protect their huge $$$ investments! For that you can make a case for influencing the contemporary game. High scoring games are proof of the rules bending severely towards the offense. So many ticky-tacks are on defensive players now.

THAT is the reason for poorer officiating this year, not betting or conspiracies of organized puppeteering.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by MattyG0327

ANYONE who thinks there is a conspiracy is already proven uncredible to speak on the subject of officials!!! Where you lay your $$$ does not prove officials or the league are in cahoots with bookies, decide by betting lines, and other organized criminal elements for dramatic effect.

You lose money because you make a wrong bet! You are given odds not in your favor. PERIOD. The league does not need YOUR money to be successful. Vega$ needs your money to become successful. The League benefits from your stupidity to bet as well as the networks, bars and restaraunts, merchandise makers, and NFLPA.

The psychological need to find rationale in losing, especially when you mix in IRRATIONAL fandom into the mix, creates this American past time of blaming officials and conspiratorially link those who do have direct connections to a bettors losing wagered event.

In the end, your ability to predict open-ended events with final results are not good and never will be. HENCE the very practice of WAGERING!!!!! It wouldn't be around if everyone won or won a great majority of time!!

The referees in the NFL are by far the best officials in all of sports. They are wrong sometimes and are certainly guilty of not applying the correct rulings on certain plays. However rare, it can greatly affect outcomes in the big picture. Honestly, there are too many rules now because of one reason: preventing injuries. And this is a result of teams/league wanting to protect their huge $$$ investments! For that you can make a case for influencing the contemporary game. High scoring games are proof of the rules bending severely towards the offense. So many ticky-tacks are on defensive players now.

THAT is the reason for poorer officiating this year, not betting or conspiracies of organized puppeteering.

Oh!
Except....Except I dont believe anyone mentioned betting here. The only issue about betting is connected to Tim Donaghy who is guilty of most of those things you say dont happen.
We are talking about teams who get the shaft because of poor calls on the part of the refs. Ed Hochuli and crew is a good example of that. When he goofs, he goofs bad.
Anyone that believes that the criminal element isnt involved in the sports world is naive in my opinion. Wherever there is large amounts of money, there the criminal element resides.
I disagree that the league doesnt need our money. The greedy NFL wants all of our money in any way that it can possibly get it. Is the league itself involved with the criminal element? Dont know and cant prove it. Are the officials involved with the criminal element? Dont know and cant prove it either.
Could there be a sort of conspiracy to be sure certain teams win? I'd hate to think so but it is a possibility I guess.
Do I think most of the refs in the NFL are doing a conscientous job and to the best of their ability? Yes, at least I sure hope so.
I also know that in any game there are missed calls for both teams.

[drfunk1986]

i think's it's worse because they are messing up on "game decisive" or however you say it plays. Plays that could defnitley changed the outcome of the game.

[MattyG0327]

Originally Posted by Bette

Oh!
Except....Except I dont believe anyone mentioned betting here. The only issue about betting is connected to Tim Donaghy who is guilty of most of those things you say dont happen.
We are talking about teams who get the shaft because of poor calls on the part of the refs. Ed Hochuli and crew is a good example of that. When he goofs, he goofs bad.
Anyone that believes that the criminal element isnt involved in the sports world is naive in my opinion. Wherever there is large amounts of money, there the criminal element resides.
I disagree that the league doesnt need our money. The greedy NFL wants all of our money in any way that it can possibly get it. Is the league itself involved with the criminal element? Dont know and cant prove it. Are the officials involved with the criminal element? Dont know and cant prove it either.
Could there be a sort of conspiracy to be sure certain teams win? I'd hate to think so but it is a possibility I guess.
Do I think most of the refs in the NFL are doing a conscientous job and to the best of their ability? Yes, at least I sure hope so.
I also know that in any game there are missed calls for both teams.

Follow the trail.. isn't that what they say?

The trail ALWAYS leads back to the arguement of wagering and the transfer of money from a loser to a winner. You have defined your winner as the league. You say it needs our money and has motive "to be sure certain teams win." Who loses?? Why, those who pay the money and more importantly, only a certain segment of people who pay money with expectation of outcome.

All of which correlates to corruption and conspiracy which needs.... $$$. The bissest failure in this forever tedious arguement is proof of why the league would "make" people do this? It doesn't!!! The simple truth is, those who spending it, are doing so willingly.

Referees are easy to pick on because they have a DIRECT hand in outcomes. People who wager and/or have fandom on one particular team see referees as a "reason" why a team win or loses. Its IRRATIONAL. Take a step back and see, the result of a poor decision is not from some "Darth Vader" using the force for evil, it was a human error from a judgement based on poor positioning or loss of situational control.

I whole heartedly agree that some calls are blown. Every game has questionable calls. Its the nature of human judgement. Its not a video game. The remedy of "do over until you get the favorbale outcome" does not exist. That is ludacrious. When you start to rationalize invisible reasons, you lose perspective on common sense.

What absolutely makes me laugh and proves this conundrum no better is last years NFC championship. Some believed the NFL was out to have Brett Favre in the Super Bowl for his last Hurrah. Others were convinced that the league wanted a New York team in it to have incredible ratings. In the end, someone won and someone lost this conspiracy battle of wits. And how did it get rationalized by the loser???!!! Well it was a win/win for the league to begin with!! Hahahahaha It never ends!! There is ALWAYS a REASON for someone to irrationally decipher codes that simply don't exist just to make them feel better. (BTW, if the league was in it for the biggest hoopla, then why did it not guarantee a Dallas victory over the Giants?!)

My point is not to rip any particlar person as ignorant or stupid. I am ripping the collective American conspiracy theorist who believes their own imagination by creating a world that is not possible to prove or disprove (whereby it is forever easy to say "its possible")

The truth is, the rules of engagement in the NFL have gotten out of hand b/c of the leagues arrogance it can perfect its already good product. It thinks its the moral police; it promotes violence through DVDs and fines players for them! It thinks more scoring will bring more fans. They are wrong. And what you see in some of the Referee bad calls is that tight grip of arrogance. Any more beyond that, is pure fantasy.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by MattyG0327

Follow the trail.. isn't that what they say?

The trail ALWAYS leads back to the arguement of wagering and the transfer of money from a loser to a winner. You have defined your winner as the league. You say it needs our money and has motive "to be sure certain teams win." Who loses?? Why, those who pay the money and more importantly, only a certain segment of people who pay money with expectation of outcome.

All of which correlates to corruption and conspiracy which needs.... $$$. The bissest failure in this forever tedious arguement is proof of why the league would "make" people do this? It doesn't!!! The simple truth is, those who spending it, are doing so willingly.

Referees are easy to pick on because they have a DIRECT hand in outcomes. People who wager and/or have fandom on one particular team see referees as a "reason" why a team win or loses. Its IRRATIONAL. Take a step back and see, the result of a poor decision is not from some "Darth Vader" using the force for evil, it was a human error from a judgement based on poor positioning or loss of situational control.

I whole heartedly agree that some calls are blown. Every game has questionable calls. Its the nature of human judgement. Its not a video game. The remedy of "do over until you get the favorbale outcome" does not exist. That is ludacrious. When you start to rationalize invisible reasons, you lose perspective on common sense.

What absolutely makes me laugh and proves this conundrum no better is last years NFC championship. Some believed the NFL was out to have Brett Favre in the Super Bowl for his last Hurrah. Others were convinced that the league wanted a New York team in it to have incredible ratings. In the end, someone won and someone lost this conspiracy battle of wits. And how did it get rationalized by the loser???!!! Well it was a win/win for the league to begin with!! Hahahahaha It never ends!! There is ALWAYS a REASON for someone to irrationally decipher codes that simply don't exist just to make them feel better. (BTW, if the league was in it for the biggest hoopla, then why did it not guarantee a Dallas victory over the Giants?!)

My point is not to rip any particlar person as ignorant or stupid. I am ripping the collective American conspiracy theorist who believes their own imagination by creating a world that is not possible to prove or disprove (whereby it is forever easy to say "its possible")

The truth is, the rules of engagement in the NFL have gotten out of hand b/c of the leagues arrogance it can perfect its already good product. It thinks its the moral police; it promotes violence through DVDs and fines players for them! It thinks more scoring will bring more fans. They are wrong. And what you see in some of the Referee bad calls is that tight grip of arrogance. Any more beyond that, is pure fantasy.

Umm, not exactly what I said. You followed a few trails where they were not meant to lead. Kind of blazed your own trails.
You said the league did not need our money to be successful. I never intended to infer that it needed it through betting. It gets every dollar it can through sales of merchandise, tickets, whatever. I didnt say the league had motive to be sure certain teams won. I think maybe you are taking an argument from another place and inserting it here. We are totally on a different page.
People who totally embrace a conspiracy theory are probably in the minority. At least, I havent come across many of them on this forum.
Follow the trail, original question, do you think the calls are worse this year than last?
PS A bigger hoopla was created when Dallas lost, not if it had won. I'm not promoting a conspiracy theory, just stating what I believe to be true.

[MattyG0327]

Originally Posted by Bette

Umm, not exactly what I said. You followed a few trails where they were not meant to lead. Kind of blazed your own trails.
You said the league did not need our money to be successful. I never intended to infer that it needed it through betting. It gets every dollar it can through sales of merchandise, tickets, whatever. I didnt say the league had motive to be sure certain teams won. I think maybe you are taking an argument from another place and inserting it here. We are totally on a different page.
People who totally embrace a conspiracy theory are probably in the minority. At least, I havent come across many of them on this forum.
Follow the trail, original question, do you think the calls are worse this year than last?
PS A bigger hoopla was created when Dallas lost, not if it had won. I'm not promoting a conspiracy theory, just stating what I believe to be true.

We can agree that the league is arrogant and wants as much money as it can from its fans through all its outlets it owns. agreed.

Where we end is the "dangerous element" begins and ends with money. The symantics of wagering being in or out of your arguement comes to the forefront when you show potential bridges from the leagues expectations and capitalistic needs to its supposed shotty referee officiating.

What are the ties that bind them all to the arguement of Danger? money. Who benefits? Those who receive money. The leauge is going to make its money one way or the other. It does not NEED to influence or coherse its referees to get a favorable outcome. They have created an empire on its own legacy! So, lets see. Who would benefit then from the influence of referees? Well, the dangerous element who is locked out of the process of the cash cow. They need influence somewhere, right? The referees are the easiest and best way.. just look at Tim Donaghy as proof! Isn't that the proverbial arguement??

Again, from my perspective, those who make that arguement or even hint at it, have biased reasons to make it: they've lost money b/c of these decisions. And one needs justification other than their own "educated guess gone wrong" as to why they lost. Look no further than the SD/PITT game 2 weeks ago. A botched up explanation to an odd play from a referee that couldn't spit it out. It had absolutely NO BEARING on the outcome of winning or losing, but it made a huge difference as to the point spread!! The right call was made but seemed shady for all those very reasons. The insinuation is that the NFL/ "dangerous element" had something to do with it. In the end it was a referee caught up not explaining the rule to the audience and Jim Nantz' obsession to an 11-10 score.

It is what it is!

Referee talk always ends up on the laps of the "dangerous element" who makes its money on the fans that wager on the games.

BTW, Dallas/NE was the odds on favorite match-up that most people favored to be the best SB match-up. The NFL, in all its so-called power, should have made it so, if it indeed could influence outcomes. Its a proven fact that Dallas and New England have been involved with 6 of the top watched SBs of all time!

[Bette]

Originally Posted by MattyG0327

We can agree that the league is arrogant and wants as much money as it can from its fans through all its outlets it owns. agreed.

Where we end is the "dangerous element" begins and ends with money. The symantics of wagering being in or out of your arguement comes to the forefront when you show potential bridges from the leagues expectations and capitalistic needs to its supposed shotty referee officiating.

What are the ties that bind them all to the arguement of Danger? money. Who benefits? Those who receive money. The leauge is going to make its money one way or the other. It does not NEED to influence or coherse its referees to get a favorable outcome. They have created an empire on its own legacy! So, lets see. Who would benefit then from the influence of referees? Well, the dangerous element who is locked out of the process of the cash cow. They need influence somewhere, right? The referees are the easiest and best way.. just look at Tim Donaghy as proof! Isn't that the proverbial arguement??

Again, from my perspective, those who make that arguement or even hint at it, have biased reasons to make it: they've lost money b/c of these decisions. And one needs justification other than their own "educated guess gone wrong" as to why they lost. Look no further than the SD/PITT game 2 weeks ago. A botched up explanation to an odd play from a referee that couldn't spit it out. It had absolutely NO BEARING on the outcome of winning or losing, but it made a huge difference as to the point spread!! The right call was made but seemed shady for all those very reasons. The insinuation is that the NFL/ "dangerous element" had something to do with it. In the end it was a referee caught up not explaining the rule to the audience and Jim Nantz' obsession to an 11-10 score.

It is what it is!

Referee talk always ends up on the laps of the "dangerous element" who makes its money on the fans that wager on the games.

BTW, Dallas/NE was the odds on favorite match-up that most people favored to be the best SB match-up. The NFL, in all its so-called power, should have made it so, if it indeed could influence outcomes. Its a proven fact that Dallas and New England have been involved with 6 of the top watched SBs of all time!

Nice argument, but from now on try to stick to the topic of the thread, ok?

[Reinstate49erGenius]

I say yeah if you got officiating apologizing in the San Diego game, then one that takes 2 games from the 49ers (even though I know they're not good.) Then you get too many phantom calls and so called 'roughing the passer calls' when you're clearly not leading helmet to helmet, or not take into consideration the motion/intent. IT's got to stop.