After Week 1--Impression of Replacement Refs

[gatorclaws]

When the ball arrives, Tates left hand gets trapped against Jennings chest and his right hand grabs Jennings arm/wrist. I don't think Tate's right hand touches the ball until they pretty much on the ground.

Unless you're trying to argue that Tate caught it one handed and his one hand is equal to Jennings having the ball pinned between two hands and his chest, there is no arguement.

[Hooky]

The ref that didn't call it a TD at first seemed to see Jennings roll away with the ball. They should've not made a call until they talked about it. Being called a touchdown on the field, made it very difficult for the real replay officials (not replacement) to overturn. Just like the FG the night before. If that FG was called no good, the replay officials wouldn't be able to over-turn it if it was anywhere close to the post.

[akiliMVP]

Can you imagine if the game was in Green Bay?

[oldschooler]

[quote name='MichaelWeston' timestamp='1348577538' post='1162896']
I dont think
[/quote]


I can tell.



[quote name='gatorclaws' timestamp='1348577843' post='1162899']

Unless you're trying to argue that Tate caught it one handed and his one hand is equal to Jennings having the ball pinned between two hands and his chest, there is no arguement.
[/quote]


I still can't believe that it was called a TD.
One Ref called it an INT. Why was he over ruled when he made the correct call?


My Woman and her Son are Packers fans. They were livid. I told them that it was an INT
and they would get it right. It was the game ending play. They HAD to get it right. But they
didn't. Still can't believe it.

[gatorclaws]

[quote name='akiliMVP' timestamp='1348578098' post='1162901']
Can you imagine if the game was in Green Bay?
[/quote]

similar question.... do you think the game being in Seattle had anything to do with it? Those refs would have had a hard time calling it an INT after one guy signaled TD.

[akiliMVP]

[quote name='gatorclaws' timestamp='1348578230' post='1162903']
similar question.... do you think the game being in Seattle had anything to do with it? Those refs would have had a hard time calling it an INT after one guy signaled TD.
[/quote]
Honestly yeah I think they would have ruled it an interception for fear of a Libya style riot

[oldschooler]

[b] [size=6][color=#CC0000]NFL to address Hail Mary call today[/color][/size][/b]


The NFL will address the controversial call that ended the Seattle Seahawks' 14-12 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, Steve Wyche of [url="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000066116/article/nfl-will-address-hail-mary-call-on-tuesday"]NFL Network[/url] reports.

The Seahawks won the game on a 24 yard Hail Mary Pass from Russell Wilson when the officials ruled that Seahawks receiver Golden Tate and Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings simultaneously caught the ball despite replays showing the contrary.



http://www.theredzone.org/BlogDescription/tabid/61/EntryId/29357/NFL-to-address-Hail-Mary-call-today/Default.aspx

[MichaelWeston]

[quote name='oldschooler' timestamp='1348573963' post='1162873']
I still can not believe that it was called a TD, even though one Ref actually got it right.
Then reviewed and called a TD. There are a lot of tore up Packer fans here. A few
said last night that they weren't watching another game until the old Refs come back.





You're stupid.
[/quote]

That hurts bro.

Lets look at it Zapruder film style. And you can tell me where I might be missing something, because I might be.
In the akilimvp video.....

[list=1]
[*]Jennings pin points it higher and but Tates left hand is under the ball.
[*]As they fall Tate wraps his other arm around the ball.
[*]Jennings falls on Tate and all 4 arms are around the ball.
[*]At this point the ball is covered so it’s impossible to see who has possession
[list=a]
[*]Its also impossible to see Tate’s left arm that was initially on the ball.
[/list] [*]Jennings bounces off Tate.
[*]Video ends.
[/list]

Whn you watch it from other angles it does appear that Jennings has posession throughout. To call it the worst call ever when the announcer and referee made the same call is a bit over the top in my opinion and more a symptom of the negative feelings about the refs then anything else. Bad call in an important situation. But if you don't watch the entire video, and if the replay guy can't review posession I could see how the mistake could be made. A seasoned official could make the same mistake.

[MichaelWeston]

[quote name='Hooky' timestamp='1348578059' post='1162900']
The ref that didn't call it a TD at first seemed to see Jennings roll away with the ball. They should've not made a call until they talked about it. Being called a touchdown on the field, made it very difficult for the real replay officials (not replacement) to overturn. Just like the FG the night before. If that FG was called no good, the replay officials wouldn't be able to over-turn it if it was anywhere close to the post.
[/quote]

The errors in the process and procedure of the game are the most glaring in my opinion.

[quote name='MichaelWeston' timestamp='1348578421' post='1162907']
That hurts bro.

Lets look at it Zapruder film style. And you can tell me where I might be missing something, because I might be.
In the akilimvp video.....


[list=1]
[*]Jennings pin points it higher and but Tates left hand is under the ball.
[*]As they fall Tate wraps his other arm around the ball.
[*]Jennings falls on Tate and all 4 arms are around the ball.
[*]At this point the ball is covered so it’s impossible to see who has possession
[list=1]
[*]Its also impossible to see Tate’s left arm that was initially on the ball.
[/list] [*]Jennings bounces off Tate.
[*]Video ends.
[/list]

Whn you watch it from other angles it does appear that Jennings has posession throughout. To call it the worst call ever when the announcer and referee made the same call is a bit over the top in my opinion and more a symptom of the negative feelings about the refs then anything else. Bad call in an important situation. But if you don't watch the entire video, and if the replay guy can't review posession I could see how the mistake could be made. A seasoned official could make the same mistake.
[/quote]

I think that it was an INT. Just want to state that again.

[oldschooler]

[url="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter"][b]Adam Schefter[/b] ‏[s]@[/s][b]AdamSchefter[/b] [/url]
So what do we call last night's game? The Inaccurate Reception? The Fail Mary? Any ideas...?

[Vol_Bengal]

[quote name='Hooky' timestamp='1348578059' post='1162900']
The ref that didn't call it a TD at first seemed to see Jennings roll away with the ball. They should've not made a call until they talked about it. Being called a touchdown on the field,[b] made it very difficult for the real replay officials (not replacement) to overturn[/b]. Just like the FG the night before. If that FG was called no good, the replay officials wouldn't be able to over-turn it if it was anywhere close to the post.
[/quote]

Wrong. They have an NFL supervisor up in the booth "to help administer calls, technical corrections, etc." but the guys on the field are the ones under the hood looking at the replays and determining the call. This isn't college where a guy up in the booth looks at all replays and tells the guy on the field what the correct call should be. The same incompetent, over their head, refs that make the field calls are the ones determining replays as well. No different than when normal refs are doing the games.

[oldschooler]

[b] [size=6]T.J. Lang tees off on NFL[/size][/b]

Posted by Mike Florio on September 25, 2012, 8:16 AM EDT


As the NFL continues to deal with the aftermath of Monday night’s game, the NFL has to deal with angry players in the Green Bay locker room.

“[url="https://twitter.com/TJLang70/status/250445192577036290"]Got f–ked by the refs[/url].. Embarrassing. Thanks nfl,” Packers offensive lineman [url="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5343/tj-lang"]T.J. Lang[/url] wrote on Twitter.

And then this: “[url="https://twitter.com/TJLang70/status/250455217332711424"]F–k it NFL[/url].. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.”

And then one without profanity: “Any player/coach in Seattle that really thinks they won that game has [url="https://twitter.com/TJLang70/status/250464506147393538"]zero integrity as a man and should be embarrassed[/url].”

Players, in theory, can be fined by the league office for criticizing the officiating. In this case, fining Lang would be the same as pouring bourbon onto a bonfire.

We expect more Packers players to chime in today and beyond. This isn’t the kind of anger that goes away after a good night’s sleep.




http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/25/t-j-lang-tees-off-on-nfl/

[oldschooler]

[b] [size=6]Non-replacements had a hand in last night’s debacle, too[/size][/b]

Posted by Mike Florio on September 25, 2012, 8:57 AM EDT


As the tipping point becomes a boiling point in the lockout of the officials, it’s important to remember that all of the blame doesn’t fall on the shoulders of the replacement officials.
The final play was reviewed, and the ruling on the field was upheld.

Under normal circumstances, the decision would be made exclusively by the referee. Now, with the non-replacement league supervisor in the replay booth along with the non-replacement replay official, the procedure has been, we’re told, blurred a bit, allowing the replacement referee to get input from the folks who otherwise would be saying, essentially, “Figure it out, Hochuli.”

If the non-replacement replay official and the non-replacement league supervisor didn’t tell the replacement referee to overturn the call, the non-replacements deserve a lot of the blame.
Make no mistake about it. This one could have been overturned. Rule 15, Section 9 makes the question of whether a pass was “ruled complete/incomplete/intercepted” subject to replay review, with no exception for questions of simultaneous possession.

Yeah, we know the ESPN call says simultaneous possession can’t be reviewed by replay. We disagree. If it wasn’t reviewable by replay, it wouldn’t have been reviewed by replay. It was, so it is. (The only aspect that isn’t reviewable is the question of whether Seahawks receiver [url="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5583/golden-tate"]Golden Tate[/url] pushed off before jumping, because pass interference is a judgment call.)

Still, while the replacement officials don’t deserve all of the blame, the current circumstance — with non-replacements in the replay booth having a hand in debacles like last night’s final play and Sunday’s replay gaffes in Minnesota and Tennessee — the system that the NFL has created via its effort to break the officials’ union has given rise to these errors, and so ultimately the league bears the blame for what we are witnessing.

That said, the locked-out officials should be blamed, too. After all, the members of the NFL Referees Association who moonlight as supervisors of officiating at major college conferences made clear that anyone who accepts a short-term assignment as a replacement official with the NFL will lose his regular college gig. And so the NFLRA has contributed to the low quality of the officiating that we are now experiencing by pressuring the second-best officials into not working for the NFL, as they did during the 2001 lockout.

Regardless of the blame, the time has come to get it done. If they don’t, the next step could be boycotts and assaults on NFL sponsors.



http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/25/non-replacements-had-a-hand-in-last-nights-debacle-too/

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='Hooky' timestamp='1348578059' post='1162900']
The ref that didn't call it a TD at first seemed to see Jennings roll away with the ball. They should've not made a call until they talked about it. Being called a touchdown on the field, made it very difficult for the real replay officials (not replacement) to overturn. Just like the FG the night before. If that FG was called no good, the replay officials wouldn't be able to over-turn it if it was anywhere close to the post.
[/quote]

By rule it can't be overturned by replay. Head official totally botched it by going to replay before conferring with the two officials. Seahawks also should have probably gotten a flag for storming the pile increasing the mess that prevented the refs from getting any semblance of order, which contributed to their rushed call.

[Hooky]

[quote name='Vol_Bengal' timestamp='1348578966' post='1162912']
Wrong. They have an NFL supervisor up in the booth "to help administer calls, technical corrections, etc." but the guys on the field are the ones under the hood looking at the replays and determining the call. This isn't college where a guy up in the booth looks at all replays and tells the guy on the field what the correct call should be. The same incompetent, over their head, refs that make the field calls are the ones determining replays as well. No different than when normal refs are doing the games.
[/quote]

OK. I stand corrected. Thanks.

[Vol_Bengal]

[quote name='MichaelWeston' timestamp='1348578421' post='1162907']
That hurts bro.

Lets look at it Zapruder film style. And you can tell me where I might be missing something, because I might be.
In the akilimvp video.....
[list=1]
[*][b]Jennings pin points it higher and but Tates left hand is under the ball.[/b]
[*][b]As they fall Tate wraps his other arm around the ball.[/b]
[*][b]Jennings falls on Tate and all 4 arms are around the ball.[/b]
[*][b]At this point the ball is covered so it’s impossible to see who has possession[/b]
[list=1]
[*][b]Its also impossible to see Tate’s left arm that was initially on the ball.[/b]
[/list] [b] [/b][*][b]Jennings bounces off Tate.[/b]
[*][b]Video ends.[/b]
[/list]

Whn you watch it from other angles it does appear that Jennings has posession throughout. To call it the worst call ever when the announcer and referee made the same call is a bit over the top in my opinion and more a symptom of the negative feelings about the refs then anything else. Bad call in an important situation. But if you don't watch the entire video, and if the replay guy can't review posession I could see how the mistake could be made. A seasoned official could make the same mistake.
[/quote]


To be accurate...

1 - Tate pushes #37 square in the back and he goes to ground (blatant offensive PI)
2 - Jennings pin points it higher, with 2 hands, and pulls it to his chest, while Tates left hand MAY be between the ball and his chest (you're talking conclusive video and you can't see where Tate's left hand is).
3 - Tate takes his right hand, and moves it down around Jennings' right arm in an attempt to gain possession... all while Jennings still has 2 hands on the ball and it pulled to his chest.
4 - At this point the ball is now covered and unviewable...
5 - Tate is laying on ground, Jennings is laying on top of Tate, with the ball pulled tight to his chest, and Tate reaching ALL the way around Jennings side attempting to show "possession"...

And, from that they determine Seattle gained possession... this is just about like the Denver / Atlanta game last Monday Night... you see possession (or the closest thing to possession) by one team and somehow magically the home team ends up with "possession" when there is never any clear view where said team EVER had anything close to what would be considered possession.

On last night's play... lets go with the assumption that Tate did gain possession and it is a TD... Green Bay should still have the option of accepting an offensive pass interference call and making Seattle replay the down. Oh wait, time expired, and since a game CAN end on an offensive penalty the game is over. The Tate push off is OBVIOUS as hell and indisputable.

[Hooky]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1348579496' post='1162915']
By rule it can't be overturned by replay. Head official totally botched it by going to replay before conferring with the two officials. Seahawks also should have probably gotten a flag for storming the pile increasing the mess that prevented the refs from getting any semblance of order, which contributed to their rushed call.
[/quote]

Right. Which supports the popular argument that aside from making bad calls, they have no control over the players which also could present unsafe conditions.

And love the tweet "Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs." It's that bad that some of the players may seriously consider pitching in to pay the refs themselves.

[oldschooler]

[url="https://twitter.com/alpha1906"][b]alpha1906@gmail.com[/b]‏[s]@[/s][b]alpha1906[/b][/url]
BREAKING - JaMarcus Russell eyeing return to NFL after discovering games can be won by throwing interceptions. [url="http://t.co/WrJ6BUHO"]http://yfrog.com/oevljedtj[/url]

[Hooky]

[quote name='oldschooler' timestamp='1348578354' post='1162906']
[b] [size=6][color=#cc0000]NFL to address Hail Mary call today[/color][/size][/b]


The NFL will address the controversial call that ended the Seattle Seahawks' 14-12 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, Steve Wyche of [url="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000066116/article/nfl-will-address-hail-mary-call-on-tuesday"]NFL Network[/url] reports.

The Seahawks won the game on a 24 yard Hail Mary Pass from Russell Wilson when the officials ruled that Seahawks receiver Golden Tate and Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings simultaneously caught the ball despite replays showing the contrary.



[url="http://www.theredzone.org/BlogDescription/tabid/61/EntryId/29357/NFL-to-address-Hail-Mary-call-today/Default.aspx"]http://www.theredzon...ay/Default.aspx[/url]
[/quote]

Is there a process available where they can protest the game? Call me stupid, but it was the very last play of the game except for the extra point which would be moot so why can't they over-turn it now? I think it was that obvious that they could make that decision. Except that it would make the refs look really bad, which would make Goodell look bad.

Goodell can make 2 huge decisions to save face. Over-turn the call from last night and make a deal with the real refs now. I know, I'm living in Fantasy Land.

[oldschooler]

[b] [size=6]League says there’s no appeal process for Packers[/size][/b]

Posted by Mike Florio on September 25, 2012, 9:35 AM EDT


Now that a game has been decided by what most if not all non-Seahawks fans regard as a very bad call on the final play, the question becomes whether there’s a procedure in place for the Packers to seek relief from the league office.

And now we know there isn’t.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells PFT that there’s no appeal process. And thus there’s no way to change the outcome of the game.

So it goes in to the books as Seahawks 14, Packers 12. And when the Packers lose out on a bye or lose their division or lose a playoff berth altogether because of the outcome of one September game, Packers fans can fashion a large asterisk out of cheese and apply it to the entire 2012 season.




http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/25/league-says-theres-no-appeal-process-for-packers/

[oldschooler]

[url="https://twitter.com/jasonWSJ"][b]Jason Gay[/b]‏[s]@[/s][b]jasonWSJ[/b][/url]
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agitating for the return of union NFL referees. You cannot make this stuff up.

[alleycat]

I just watched it for the first time, and it seems clear to me. I don't think there's even a question about them both having possession. The fact is, Jennings has two hands on the ball at the highest point, and Tate only has one. Now I guess that you could argue that the catch isn't complete until the receiver "establishes possession" either by making a move or going to the ground, and in that process Jennings lost it and Tate gained, but there's absolutely no evidence of that happening whatsoever - until, perhaps, the pile on happens. But by then, they've been rolling with it on the ground for 5 seconds. Jennings made the catch, held onto it all the while, and just because Tate has his hands on the ball he shouldn't get to call it a reception.

Maybe this is one where they letter of the rule fails the eyeball-common sense test, but even that's a stretch.

Wow.

[|Dr Tarzan|]

Well, after the Super Bowl officiating debacle by the real refs of which the Seahawks were on the wrong end....maybe this is God's way of a "make up call".

[oldschooler]

[b] [size=6]Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch stunned at replay of controversial final play Monday night[/size][/b]

49 minutes ago

Mike Silver Yahoo Sports

SEATTLE – Several hours after the completion of one of the more memorable games in Monday Night Football history, [i][url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/8266"]Marshawn Lynch[/url][/i] was sitting in a private room in the back of the Metropolitan Grill, celebrating a thrilling, last-second victory with friends and family members over big steaks and fat lobsters.

Then, with the flick of a remote control, Big Brother appeared and left a rancid taste in the Seattle Seahawks halfback's mouth.

Packers DBs Tramon Williams (38), Charles Woodson (21) and safety M.D. Jennings (43) fight for possession of a …A waitress pointed the remote at the large mirror on the wall behind Lynch, and it suddenly morphed into an enormous, high-definition television screen. Within seconds, Lynch craned his neck and joined his dining companions in viewing a replay of rookie quarterback [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/search?p=Russell+Wilson"]Russell Wilson[/url]'s 24-yard touchdown pass to wideout Golden Tate, giving the Seahawks a [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20120924026"]14-12 triumph[/url] as time expired and sending 68,218 fans at CenturyLink Field into hysterics.

As Lynch watched Packers safety M.D. Jennings snatch the pass out of the sky and pull it to his chest while Tate, who had blatantly pushed off against Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields, belatedly latched on one arm at a time, the running back's eyes grew big and his jaw dropped low. The room was dead silent as the realization gripped Lynch and his companions: Like most of the viewing public, they now understood that the Seahawks had received an extraordinary gift from the replacement officials.

"We didn't win that game," someone at the table said, and nobody made a peep to challenge him.

By the time Lynch left the restaurant early Tuesday morning and, while waiting for his ride to arrive, reassured a group of Packers fans on Second Ave. almost apologetically that their team would bounce back from this bitter defeat, it was clear the [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--nfl-must-put-an-end-to-farce-with-replacement-refs.html"]league's already problematic officiating lockout[/url] had reached critical mass.

Dramatic as it may sound, it's quite possible that history will look back on Tate's illusory jump-ball touchdown as the moment the NFL [url="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jump%20the%20shark"]jumped the shark[/url].

The outcry over the replacement officials' game-deciding call (and the failure of the non-replacement replay officials to overturn it) crystallized the brewing anger toward NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners he represents, whose collective insistence upon securing a favorable contract with the regular officials has clearly compromised the game's integrity.

In the hours that followed, I heard from numerous current and former players and coaches – and not just because I got some [url="http://deadspin.com/5946111/yahoo-sports-mike-silver-had-a-single-five+word-postgame-question-to-aaron-rodgers-what-the-fuck-just-happened"]unplanned TV time[/url] with Packers quarterback [i][url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/7200"]Aaron Rodgers[/url][/i] in the aftermath of Tate's catch/non-catch – who were aghast at the conspicuous intersection of incompetence and injustice.

[b][Dan Wetzel: [url="http://yhoo.it/NO1Gsn"]Roger Goodell needs to immediately clean up NFL officiating mess[/url]][/b]


A player on one of the Packers' NFC North rivals who should have been heralding the outcome instead decried the play as "the worst call in NFL history." A veteran NFL assistant went even further, saying, "Oh, it's really bad. It's Tuck Rule bad. Rodney King bad."

Memo to Goodell: [i]That's[/i] bad.

Can't we all just get along? Not, apparently, when a staredown over money exists, and the owners are willing to put their own short-term economic interests over the quality of the product and the equality of competition. And while the anger surrounding one flawed finish might not put a dent in the bottom line, this regrettable Monday Night Mistake has the potential to stand as a seminal moment, a bullet that could penetrate the NFL's Kevlar vest of invulnerability.

For the nation's most popular spectator sport to survive and thrive, there needs to be a perception of fairness, and a sense that the events that play out to the masses in high-def are being officiated with the highest degree of expertise. In ramming crews of tentative and obviously overmatched replacement officials down the public's throats for three regular season weeks and counting, the NFL is asking its customers to suspend disbelief, with the same [i]just trust us[/i] presumption of which so many politicians are often deemed guilty.

In that sense, the comparison of Tate's catch/non-catch to the Tuck Rule (or the Immaculate Reception, the Vinny Testaverde phantom touchdown, the numerous Bill Leavy errors that helped doom the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, or whatever dubious officiating decisions of past years one might choose) might be misguided. The more apt analogy might go back a quarter-century to the 1987 players strike, when the league enlisted replacement players who would form the nucleus of their respective teams for three "games" which counted in the standings.

[b][More: [url="http://yhoo.it/Sju2vv"]Seahawks win the strangest game in their history on the call that will define replacement refs[/url] | [url="http://yhoo.it/QB5CKp"]Photos[/url]][/b]

If the Packers (1-2) miss the playoffs, or if the Seahawks (2-1) edge out another team for a postseason birth by a single game, the stain of Monday's game will linger for a long time. Green Bay's players, coaches and fans have a right to be furious, as do the bettors who lost money because of the officials' blunder, and the fantasy players who tasted defeat thanks to the last-second scoring play.

It's a shame, because the game was notable for several other reasons, including the Seahawks' [i]eight[/i] first-half sacks of Rodgers and the shrewd adjustments Packers coach Mike McCarthy made at halftime to protect his quarterback and spur his team back from a 7-0 deficit.

And while this was a great way for Wilson to complete his third NFL game, he surely would have preferred that his magical comeback had been capped by a An official gestures as Packers CB Sam Shields (L), safety Jerron McMillian © and Seahawks FS Earl Thomas (29) …completion that survived the legitimacy test. As it was, the pass was a mini-miracle, given that Wilson, Y! Sports has learned, [i]called the wrong play[/i] in the huddle before lining up for the fourth-and-10 attempt with eight seconds remaining.

Instead of sending three receivers to the left corner of the end zone where Tate and Jennings ultimately fought for the ball, Wilson mistakenly called a "Waggle" play which called for him to roll right while several receivers ran underneath routes. Some Seahawks ran the play Wilson called, while others ran the one he was supposed to have called. Whatever – after he rolled right, drifted back to his left and planted at the 39-yard line before unleashing his high pass to the end zone, it all worked out in the end.

Except, in the long run, it may not have worked out so well. For one thing, Monday night's shady finish was another blow to Goodell's authority in the eyes of many players, who struggled to reconcile the commissioner's insistence on protecting [i]the shield[/i] with this power play that has turned the officiating situation into a mockery.

One NFL assistant admitted to me Monday that because the replacement officials have been so tentative and obviously overwhelmed, attempts to intimidate and bully them into favorable calls are rampant. As another former player put it, "The NFL is all about intimidation. We prey on the weak – and these [replacement officials] are the weak."

[b][More: [url="http://yhoo.it/SjtVjz"]The Twitterverse reacts to the ending of Packers-Seahawks[/url]][/b]

Given the league's massive popularity and tremendously favorable economics, it seems hard to imagine a world in which the NFL isn't a strong, sustainable force. Yet I'm convinced Monday's gaffe was a watershed moment, and I worry it might trigger a downward spiral that takes on a life of its own.

Here's another analogy, one that I find a bit scary: If the powers that be don't watch out, might the NFL become like boxing?

After peaking during Muhammad Ali's heyday in the '70s, boxing has largely become a fringe sport over the past two decades for two primary reasons: The obvious brutality and toll it takes upon the men who compete; and the fishy decisions that have engendered a pronounced lack of faith in the integrity of the matches.

Given the growing concern surrounding head trauma and its haunting connection, [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--junior-seau-was-gregarious--ebullient--hilarious-and-immensely-popular.html"]perceived or proven[/url], to the demise of so many gridiron warriors, the NFL has a serious health-and-safety issue to confront. And if the fans start to perceive the officiating to be as untrustworthy as that of ringside scorecards, the league will have an equally daunting problem on its hands.

[b][Jay Busbee: [url="http://yhoo.it/QB5KcV"]Referee's blown interception call among sports' all-time worst[/url]][/b]

Goodell, too, may have a problem: While the owners seem staunchly supportive of the commissioner, who early this year signed a lucrative contract extension through the 2018 season, it will be interesting to see if the players view him as vulnerable – and apply their [i]prey on the weak[/i] mentality accordingly.

I hope I'm just being an alarmist in the wake of a crazy game, and I expect Goodell to remain in his job for a long time – but I don't think I'm overstating the reaction, or what is ultimately at stake.

Of this much I am certain: As Lynch, his grandmother and several friends and business associates left that downtown Seattle steakhouse early Tuesday morning, they seemed a bit less exultant about the victory over the Packers than they had before that mirror became a TV screen, allowing them to see a sobering replay of the faux touchdown that rocked the football world.

"It's not like we did anything wrong," Lynch said, shaking his head, as he stood on Second Ave. "We have nothing to apologize for."

He's right – the Seahawks don't. The owners do, however, and so does Goodell. And as long as this increasingly reckless lockout lasts, any after-the-fact apologies will seem as hollow as the football that Jennings pulled to his chest.




http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--seahawks-rb-marshawn-lynch-stunned-at-replay-of-controversial-final-play-monday-night.html

[MichaelWeston]

[quote name='oldschooler' timestamp='1348578181' post='1162902']
I can tell.

[/quote]

You get in these moods where you are really pouty and flippant for no reason. For someone who aspires to and donates his time to make this place a welcoming and educational environment for all Bengals fans I expect more consistency.