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I agree that the officiating is getting worse and will continue to do so until the NFL gets FULL-TIME younger officials. It is a disgrace that the NFL, with all the money it makes, cannot afford a group of PERMANENT officials. They are the only major sports league that does not have a permanent, full-time officiating staff. They could receive inservice training during the week and I am sure the quality of officiating would improve greatly. And the cost would be a pittance of their vast profits. Some of these older officials are a joke. Check out the ref's call after the Ravens winning TD against the Steelers today. The guy has to be senile! Many of these older officials are so out of shape their guts hang over their belts. I am sure that their eyesight isn't great at their age either.
Another problem is that there is just too much money being bet on these games. You are naive if you think that there is not an attempt to influence officials through bribes or intimidation by gamblers. I predict that there will eventually be a scandal involving the officials in the NFL to make the NBA scandal from a few years ago of an official "rigging" games look like nothing. It is just too obvious to real football fans that something is SERIOUSLY wrong with the NFL officiating. When you are being paid decent money to watch for certain penalties like holding or interference and flagrant fouls can be seen by viewers on TV an fans in their seats, but not called by the officials on the field, then something is not "kosher".
I don't want to sound like a whiner as we didn't play well today, but there were still a lot of questionable calls which seem to always go against us at crucial times in games. Let's face it, we were "cheated" out of a win in Cincy by totally inept and corrupt officiating.
The NFL MUST do something drastic soon to correct the glaring deficiencies in many members of its officiating staff. The inconsistent application and enforcement of the rules is becoming too blatant and could eventually severely damage the image of the NFL if it continues. Most sports fans I know value fairness above all else in sports. They can tolerate losing as long as they feel they were not denied victory by incompetent or corrupt officials or by league decisions that often seem to favor the larger market, wealthier teams.
Another problem is that there is just too much money being bet on these games. You are naive if you think that there is not an attempt to influence officials through bribes or intimidation by gamblers. I predict that there will eventually be a scandal involving the officials in the NFL to make the NBA scandal from a few years ago of an official "rigging" games look like nothing. It is just too obvious to real football fans that something is SERIOUSLY wrong with the NFL officiating. When you are being paid decent money to watch for certain penalties like holding or interference and flagrant fouls can be seen by viewers on TV an fans in their seats, but not called by the officials on the field, then something is not "kosher".
I don't want to sound like a whiner as we didn't play well today, but there were still a lot of questionable calls which seem to always go against us at crucial times in games. Let's face it, we were "cheated" out of a win in Cincy by totally inept and corrupt officiating.
The NFL MUST do something drastic soon to correct the glaring deficiencies in many members of its officiating staff. The inconsistent application and enforcement of the rules is becoming too blatant and could eventually severely damage the image of the NFL if it continues. Most sports fans I know value fairness above all else in sports. They can tolerate losing as long as they feel they were not denied victory by incompetent or corrupt officials or by league decisions that often seem to favor the larger market, wealthier teams.
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