NFL finally doing something about bad officiating...

[Romes]

NFL | Refs Asked To Quit? - posted at KFFL (http://nfl.kffl.com)
20:46 PT: Mike Freeman reports for the NY Times the NFL has reportedly asked eight game officials to resign. Lawyer Mike Arnold, representing the officials, said it is the largest number of referees who have ever been asked to step down at one time. NFL spokesperson, Greg Aiello, declined to discuss the requested resignations, except to say that they were connected to the officials' performance. Reportedly the names of the officials are James Duke, Dave Warden, Tom Johnson, Dave Anderson, Lloyd McPeters, Bill Spyksma, Ron Spitler and Tommy Moore.

This shows that the NFL is doing something to keep referees accountable for their calls. Officiating will never be perfect but atleast they are getting rid of the lower end ones.

[venis2k1]

There is nothing like having to make a decision on something you saw in less then a tenth of a second, with 80,000 fans screaming at you, and two 300 lb men arguing their cases in your ear, but now they have to worry about keeping their jobs??? Good job NFL

[ublinkwescore]

Why the hell isn't Jeff Triplett's name on that list?

Triplett needs to go more then any of them.

[LtBillsFan66]

Originally posted by venis2k1
There is nothing like having to make a decision on something you saw in less then a tenth of a second, with 80,000 fans screaming at you, and two 300 lb men arguing their cases in your ear, but now they have to worry about keeping their jobs??? Good job NFL

I agree. The game got much faster. And they change the rules too often, IMO. It's hard to keep up with the damn rules (eg "the tuck rule").

[billsfan80]

NFL asks eight officials to resign or be fired

http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0312/1522095.html

[Pride]

Threads Merged

[Billz_fan]

true it's a tough job, they may need to find a way to get these guys more tools or aides to get it done.

I also think that with the speed of todays game these officials need to be as young/athletic/alert as the players. I suggest a need breed of officials

Haowever that Giant's-49er's finish in the playoffs was pathetic. Especially when the head of officials was at the game. Im sure that game kinda put the leauge over the edge on having to do something this off season.

[Typ0]

There is nothing like having to make a decision on something you saw in less then a tenth of a second, with 80,000 fans screaming at you, and two 300 lb men arguing their cases in your ear, but now they have to worry about keeping their jobs??? Good job NFL

I would have to agree with this. This is a terrible finger-pointing move by the NFL and only ignores the real problem. The fact that bad officiating is so rampant indicates a much higher level problem than with the individual. It tells me there is poor training and teambuilding amongst the officials. There is too much at stake to have part-time officials. A lot of time is spent on bringing them in and then you leave them exposed because they lack the focus and knowledge necessary to do the job properly. Now the NFL is avoiding responsibility by placing blame on individuals.

[TigerJ]

A lot of good points are being made here. Officiating is a tough job and there does need to be better preparation and better training etc. It is also true that regardless of the training and preparation officials receive, some are going to be better at it than others. Just like some fringe players are going to wash out of the league after one or two years of playing, it's reasonable to expect that some officials are going to wash out, or get too old, or whatever. The league may be doing some "scapegoating" here. It wouldn't be the first time. But I don't object to the concept of culling the worst officials out of the NFL. And I don't think that the added pressure is a huge factor. Referreeing NFL games is a part time job for these guys. Most have excellent careers apart from their Sunday jobs. They do what they do on Sunday afternoons because they love it. If it left them a phsychological wreck from all the pressure, they'd just quit. The expectation on the part of the league that they be competent or else ought not add much to what they feel.