There have been past controversies in the NFL. In response to some fan outrage, the league office at least handed down a suspension, a fine, an apology, and in some cases, even altered the rules.
I think you're patently wrong here. From my view, the league under Paul Tags has been a model of integrity and consistency. When there have been mistakes, they've admitted them. On suspensions, they follow through, even for the superstars like Ricky Williams. The improper way to run a business is to bow to the wants of the customer, as opposed to the integrity of the game. And at last, anybody who thinks business defaults to "the customer is always right" is a customer, and has never had a sniff at making business decisions.
All of the rules were followed by the book
All of the rules were followed by the book when it came to the Seahawks, but not the Steelers.Seahawks RT Locklear got called for a crucial holding penalty but Steelers RT Max Starks was holding all game long.
Seahawks WR D-Jax got called for offensive pass interference negating a TD but the Steelers got away with it on several occasions.
And so on and so forth.
Most of the people are complaining about stuff they don't know about, especially the friggin' sports media.
All of the rules were followed by the book and this fact seems to be lost on those complaining about the calls. The NFL came out and stated this but some people can't get it through their thick skulls, they would rather whine and cry about it.
Sorry, but this is as weak as the NFL's defense or lack there of. You aren't addressing the question, but rather attacking the knowledge of those arguing on the other side.Both sides can disect the individual calls in question and debate whether they follow the letter of the law. However, you would then need to examine every play by both sides to see how often the same standard was applied.
This needs to move beyond what happened in the Super Bowl. Steeler fans would be screaming to high heaven that they were robbed (rightfully so) if Indy had won that game after the Polomalu (non) interception. If you think everything is perfect with NFL officiating then fine, but don't make a peep the next time your team comes out on the wrong end of the calls.
The majority of NFL fans think that officiating needs to be improved, and many rational people have made suggestions on how it can happen.
Is the officiating in any game perfect? NOt just football, but any sport? It cannot be. It relies on angle, not having other bodies in the way, and many other factors. I think the single best suggestion I've heard are cameras that look down the line to determine if the plane is broken. A second camera looking up just inside of the pylon to determine whether punts, or fumbles, cross the goal line or the sideline first. This is a cheap, effective solution.
But, back to this exchange. This started with three perceived bad calls in the game. Once told that the calls were right, people want to say that Seattle was jobbed and getting bad calls against them. It was a 7-3 penalty disadvantage for Seattle. Neither team was called a lot. I thought the three big calls were the right call. But, because I am an honest fan, I KNOW that there were missed calls on both sides of the ball. It happens. HOlding happens a lot on the interior line, and is not called. Why? Because there's too many bodies. What gets called? Generally when you hook your man after getting beat. That is alway called, because it's obvious. The Lochlear call was marginal, but it was a hold. You either support the integrity of the game and want the refs to make the calls they see, or you don't. I support it, and want them to make the calls they see. Will they be right every time? Absolutely not. Game speed, split second decisions are never 100%. Compare it to every QB hitting every open receiver, or every WR catching every ball that hits him in the hands, or every RB getting every ball put away and tucked away. It's an imperfect world, and if you don't want to watch football because if they're not going to catch every penalty, I suggest you find something else to do w/ your Sundays.
Right now, I think the fans merely want a major admission of wrong-doing. The fans are hot. Real hot. I don't think they've ever been more upset. By saying the game was "properly officiated", the NFL has upset these fans even more.
Here is what is happening right now. I bet there is an army of small-time reporters out there who see a gigantic bulls-eye painted on the NFL's back. They will dig, and dig, and dig. They are digging because they know that with the fans this hot, if they can find anything to make the NFL look illegitimate, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with Super Bowl XL, it will be huge for them. To go from a small-time reporter to "The Reporter That Exposed The NFL - that makes a career for those people. Normally, there are probably always a few targetting the NFL like this. Now they are gonna get an anal exam like they wouldn't believe.
The NFL could have fixed this by racing out there and admitting the game was screwed up. That satisfies the fans to a large extent. Instead, this story simmers. The fans stay hot. And those reporters will dig, racing each other to find something first. The 2000 election is an example of this.
And if they find anything, the media will utterly turn on the NFL. It will turn the NFL into a circus to get ratings. And then fans will go from wanting an apology to wanting Tagliabue's head. And sometimes, the media just blows something small out of proportion to get this job done, anyway.
The NFL needs to clean up its house first before the media does it for them. But it may already be too late with the "properly officiated" disaster for a comment. Plus the threat to fine Holmgren.
What you're implying here is that somebody is going to scoop a cheating scandal of some sort. It aint going to happen. The NFL doesn't give a rats #### what team wins, or even gets to the SB. They set viewership records w/ this one, though Pitt and Seattle could hardly be considered the most marketable, or even largest market teams. Racing out there and admitting to something that isn't factual doesn't fix anything. Any fan that wants TAg's head hasn't a clue about how much he has meant to creating the league we see today. We have teams going from 3-13 adn 5-11 to win SB's the next year. Not just that, the new markets. The NFL Sunday Ticket (though I keep pushing for them to offer it on Dish and Cable), the NFL Network. All of these things that he's brought to the league. It's never been more popular, or more wide open. Think about it, the last team to get into the playoffs just won the SB. That's great competition in my book. And, it has much to do w/ the policies Tags has brought to the game.
I don't think the problem is whether or not the penalties were called correctly in a "technical" manner or not in this game (and almost all of the other games), the problem is the consistency of the calls. And this is a problem ALL season long.
Player on Team A commits a sort of ticky tacky foul and gets flagged for it. Player on Team B commits the same foul but knocks the crap of his opponent and walks away without a penalty. Yes, they both technically commited the same foul but one was a hangnail that got yanked out by the root and the other one was a train wreck where the person that caused the wreck is awarded a medal.
Just like the umpire behind the plate calling balls and strikes it is very important that the football refs call the fouls in a consistent manner so the players understand what they can and cannot do. NFL refs fail at this important aspect of refereeing in an abysmal way.
They do call what they see. You say you don't care if they were called right in a technical manner, then move to a theoretical scenario that didn't happen. Yes, if you break down 12 camera angles, in slow motion, over 15 minutes, you will find calls that single refs miss at game speed. But, do we want to wait 15 minutes between plays for that to happen? The players know the rules. If they don't want to get flagged, don't hold, don't push off, basically don't commit penalties. Balls and strikes are very different. One man, right behind the plate. Even though you may disagree, they're right most of the time. But, you still have the judgement calls on the corners. If a pitcher throws off the left field side of the rubber, and throws a slider that hits the front right field corner, it will be caught 8" off the plate, because of physics. It's an unhittable strike, but people whine when it's caught. I'm not saying home plate umps are perfect, but that they do a good job. Some are tight and some are loose, but they are always consistent.
Just a poll I found on what people seem to think about the superbowl and the officiating.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnatio...=thepulse060206
Whether or not you think the officials really sucked or not the fact is a real majority does believe that the officials really sucked it up and something should be done for next year.
These polls are so misleading. Heck, many people at the SB party I was at thought the DJax TD at the half should have counted. Why? Because they don't know the rules. In a game of this magnitude, you have many non-fans, or even casual fans, watching, that don't know the rules of the game. They'll think bad calls were made, becasue of their ignorance. Maybe we should put 22 officials on the field, with each focusing on each player. They'd get more calls, but I think most people would realize that it would detract from the game, becasue of the clutter. It is a game speed game, and each time a player holds, or clips, or commits any penalty, they take the chance that they get seen. It's their choice.
But, don't come to me telling me how Seattle got too many calls against them when they only had 7 penalties. And, don't start a debate about 3 plays, and when you're proven wrong on those 3 move into generalizations that the refs jobbed them.
Seattle lost because they gave up a 3rd and 28. Then they gave up a 76 yard run, and then they gave up a TD on a 46 yard WR pass. We also have to consider Shawn Alexander averaging 4.8, but not getting the ball more, or the 4 Stevens drops. The lack of effort from Jackson on that close TD just before half. He didn't even try to get his feet in. I don't think he knew where he was on the field, to be honest. I think he thought he had more room. That's a DJax mental error, not because of the refs. Seattle was simply outplayed. Yes, they gained a few more yards, and had 1 less TO, and they got more 1st downs. They didn't get the big plays that lead to scores though, but Pitt did, and that's what won the game for them.