1. The real refs do the best they can in real time and in the heat of the moment. Sitting on your couch watching a slo-mo replay and yelling at the TV is much easier. When the refs get to review calls via instant replay, they generally do a good job.

2. The average football fan knows next to nothing about football or officiating, and will certainly harbor several biases, for the team they like, and against teams they don’t. The point is 90% of us either have no idea what we are talking or our predetermined opinion isnt relevant.

3. I wouldn’t listen to a single word Pereira says, especially something he said while working for the NFL. Half the time Fox puts him on to rule on a challenge, he recites the rulebook perfectly, but gets the call wrong. He seems to me to be the guy destined for managment, but who can’t actually perform the job himself.

4. All it will take to end this is for a call on the field cost one of the NFL’s darling teams (Steelers, Patriots, Packers etc) a game or two. Boom, settlement.

5. At when the replacement refs mess a call up, there will be an excuse

When I watched games last season I often winced when a flag was thrown, knowing there was a decent chance the officials were going to screw it up. Now when I see a flag, I know there is a 50-50 chance a screw-up is coming. That is not a good thing.

One thing I will not do is blame the replacement refs. They are not in the same league as the normal folks. They do not have the training or the experience. They are however saving me from a boring, non-football late summer and I am happy for that. Chasing a dream is not a bad thing (for them anyways).

I hope everyone comes to terms soon. I hope even more that the NFL and the refs will agree to put the refs on full time employment. Constant year round training might fix all the problems

But this speak volumes, and is precisely what I suspected all along: “As Pereira told PFT in response to the Freeman article, ‘I worked for the league at that point. What would you expect me to say’?”

Pereira Translation: the definitive conclusions and analysis I (Pereira) regularly offer up as legit – are not what I really think. I want to keep my employer happy. What would you expect me to say?

Well, if you’re trying to sell something as the TRUTH – I would expect you to be straight with us, instead of regularly defending a number of untenable calls.

Pereira equals good guy. Smart guy. Highly likable and charming guy.

Just wish he’d been straight with us all those times he was selling to us his definitive “interpretations.” Sounds a lot like Pereira will say whatever he has to say out of personal self-interest, whether it’s his actual opinion or not.

I find that disappointing, but not particularly surprising. Cynicism factor in play.

“in this persons view”

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Umm. when you’re low IQ then you have no view!

Capeche?

We get it already, you’re pro-union, pro-NFLRA.

We don’t like the old refs and if the new refs screw up at times, well, they’re no worse than the ones that are holding out.

Bad officiating is part of what the modern NFL is. Fans know this and are used to it. Just ask Seahawks fans…

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Well put vbe2. I think most people have noticed Mike’s one sided articles on certain matters.

I have to be honest. I have seen some bad calls by the replacement officials, but not many. And other than the punt for a touchback, nothing too flagrant. Despite the T.V. anouncers calling out every questionable call and people writing articles like this one, the replacement refs are receiving a lot of support. Mostly because fans are so fed up with the bad calls from the previous officials who are suppose to be proffesionals. If they replacements get better and can keep from blowing big calls like the ‘professionals’ do, I say keep them and the old refs and NFLRA can go to ‘shell’.

Anytime people, as a group, ask for more benefits and/or pay (players, refs, etc), people call them greedy. Owners ask for more money too (jerseys, tickets, tv deals, etc). Actually, the Owners don’t ask, they just charge more. The refs keep the playing field as level as humanly possible. Since so few can do it as well as them, I’m fine with them asking for more.

As far as replacement officials, well… There have been tons of posts every time there’s an article about this issue. It still baffles me that people really think the replacements are as good as the real deal.

People say sarcastically, “Like the real refs never make a mistake.” Yes they do. The difference is, a professional ref may get a call wrong due to lack of viewing angle, or clear evidence in a replay. A replacement ref takes 7 minutes to determine a punt that was caught on the field of play isn’t a touchback. We’re not talking “did he have both feet in bounds, does he have possession, etc.?” Those can be tough calls for anybody. We’re talking BASIC RULES. These new guys BARELY understand the BASIC RULES.

Huge difference. Its not even close.

I’m not saying to pay them like players, but damn, can we meet in the middle and get the best quality football possible?

It is perfectly okay for reasonable and rational people to change their minds over the course of their life based on new information. People who dig in their heels and cling to their beliefs despite conflicting evidence/information display what’s called Cognitive Dissonance. And that is not a good trait.

That said, it’s hilarious watching key NFL figures turn on eachother. Mike P was the NFL’s PR lapdog over at Fox Sports and he ALWAYS toed the company line. I even suspected he was still on the NFL payroll (I’m still not convinced that isn’t the case). This has obviously changed things. It’s great fun watching the NFL come apart at the seams these days under Goodell’s “leadership”.

It’s the preseason. The replacement refs need time get up to speed, just like the players.

I’m shocked that a group of elitists like the refs, which Pieara is still an extended part of, think that no one else can possibly do their job as well as them. Sure, there will be some replacement refs that can’t handle the job, but that’s no different than the existing refs. Remember, the guys striking are the same people that brought us the tuck rule and the Calvin Johnson “process” rule.

The fact that the old guard officials make their calls more confidently and decisively does not make them better officials. It just means that they are more confident in making bad calls.

NFL officiating is the worst of all the major sports, and it’s not even close. How could the game possibly be compromised with their dismissal?

In the Jags/Giants game alone.. first play on Jags offense, Gabbert is clearly hit in the head by Tuck.. no flag. Jags DB William Middleton is holding the left arm of a Giants WR down in the endzone which is obvious pass interference.. no flag. OL Diehl tackles DE on a sweep right in front of the ref.. no flag. Aaron Ross comes off the edge on a blitz while Eli Manning ducks away from the pressure and gets a facemask call on third down despite the fact Ross’s arm got no higher than the letters on the back of Manning’s jersey and never even brushed his helmet.

It continued as I watched the replays of other games over the weekend (the worst indiscretion being the downed punt debacle in the Buffalo game). These replacement refs are quite obviously out of their element and unsure of what they are doing. Keeping them on the field diminishes the integrity of the game. There is no right or wrong here. Only acceptable and unacceptable.

NEWS FLASH: football fans think refs stink!

Football is here, friends! It’s going to be a great season and the officials have nothing to do with that. Lets move on with our lives and let 70 year old men dressed as zebras fix their own darn mess.

This charade, along with the general notion of having a game involving players who are faster and heavier than at any time in the League’s history, managed by a bunch of apprentices, is how you get players hurt and fans to lose interest in the game.

If this turns out badly, Goodell should be held accountable for the result.