That would be great if all assigners would stand behind their officials instead of kowtowing to coaches. Too many assigners run their operation in fear of losing their job and assume something wasn't handled properly when a coach gets whacked.

I agree, this could be a problem. Where guys are independent, the fear of not getting a contract offer next season is also real.

If everyone just handled their business, neither would be an issue.

I 100% agree with you on a T if you believe the comment was intended to imply bias, favoritism, cheating, etc. I guess my difference comes from having had several discussions with a variety of people and not once have those issues been suggested. Most discussions I’ve had start with shock that a call like that could be missed and several eventually led to the refs being called clueless or incompetent but I can’t recall one conversation about it being fixed, cheating, bias, etc.

At this point one of 2 things happens

- If coach has otherwise conducted himself decently: "OK Coach, you got away with the Rams/Saints statement, but now I'm not tolerating anymore of that kind of talk".

- If coach is typically a d!ck: I'm issuing a book warning (or in a college game, telling my partners this coach has been warned).

You've never heard "you're costing us the game." or "He/they are out to get us." or my favorite "It's 7 on 5 today."

After 15ish years I've heard it all, until I hear the NEXT absurd thing that is.

I’ve heard it but not in reference to the Saints game, which is my point. If there were widespread speculation that the refs were cheating or on the take or something like that, then I could see that undoubtedly being the implication.

You Can't Be Serious ...
 

It took me two days, but I finally got it.

Never thought to look at the title.

Now, where are my reading glasses?

No kidding? There was an article on ESPN and some of the talking "empty" heads were up in arms that 4 of the super bowl officials live in SoCal.

And on CBS Sports. And Yahoo. And Deadspin. It was all over the place mid to late last week, and bias was the implication.

I’m pretty sure I saw that article on ESPN and I think the slant of the article was that while yes some people have latched onto the fact that 4 guys are from South California, the bigger issue is the perception problem the NFL created for itself. I think we can all agree that is an issue based on the countless threads about dealing with perception issues when taking assignments on our level. I’m not saying nobody anywhere has suggested bias or cheating. I’m just saying I haven’t seen anything widespread and I haven’t had an in person conversation with a single person that has made any such implication about the refs.

I’m not saying there aren’t some that have spewed conspiracy theories, but from my personal perspective, I haven’t heard or seen enough for me to immediately link that comment to an implication of cheating, bias, etc. Maybe I’m naive or not jaded or paranoid enough to go there, but I honestly didn’t when I read the OP. I asked my initial question because I honestly didn’t go there with my interpretation of the comment, but anyone on the other side of the spectrum on this can certainly issue a T as it’s a judgement situation.