Round Two: Ripping the replacement refs
3 hours ago • POST-DISPATCH
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Have NFL games been adversely affected by the use of replacement officials? If so, in what ways?
JIM THOMAS, Post-Dispatch NFL writer:
1. They're indecisive on calls: Call what you see and live with it.
2. They lack command of the games: On several occasions in the Rams-Redskins game, it looked like the teams were on the verge of an all-out brawl.
3. They're asleep at the wheel: Shouldn't someone have noticed the clock operator mistake in Detroit?
4. They're flat-out blowing calls: It sure looked like Steven Jackson crossed the plane on his 3rd-and-goal from the 1 run in the second quarter Sunday. In a one-score game, that call loomed large all day.
BRYAN BURWELL, Post-Dispatch columnist:
The NFL has a big problem here. As one player said on Sunday after the Rams game, it's a lawless land.
Players know the replacement refs are being timid because they really are unsure what to do.
So instead of making a mistake, they're choosing to do nothing at all and the game is now out of control. One player told me: "These guys are scared to take control and it's ridiculous out there. Dangerous. The league has to stop this."
The integrity of the game is at stake. Player safety is at risk when officials can't control this violent game.
JEFF GORDON, STLtoday.com columnist, writing in his Tipsheet blog:
"Head referee Wayne Elliottand his replacement crew got overwhelmed Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. They didn’t know the rules. They missed calls left and right.
"Worst of all, they lost control of the game — setting up a 'Thunderdome' scenario as the Rams and Redskins took liberties with each other during and after the play.
"At times, the hapless Elliott looked like a substitute shop teacher trying to break up a classroom hammer fight."
JOE STRAUSS, Post-Dispatch sportswriter:
NFL games have long been "adversely affected" by refs, replacement and regular. Sunday's fiasco at The Ed amplified the narrative. But to suggest the problem ends when the "real" refs return is to suspend reality. There have been wins gifted — and point spreads skewed — by poor officiating for years, including the Chargers-Broncos-Hochuli debacle several years ago.
The replacements have no voice. They're an easy punching bag. Criticism should be focused on the same Commissioner who once proposed an 18-game schedule while pretending to care about player safety. The issue won't end with the return of real refs. But the product will be slicker and the TV timeouts more punctual. Problem solved.
RICK HUMMEL, Post-Dispatch sportswriter:
It actually seems as if there haven't been any...
-09-17-2012, 02:58 PM
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