** Superbowl XL Crew **

[hooper]

Who said full-time officiating would solve everything?

It's one of many solutions that are being and should be considered. Whether we want to admit it or not, there are problems with the officials and the officiating system in the NFL. I've heard more than one person say, "I gave up on pro football. No one can get a fair game." And while I don't necessarily agree with that statement, it's become common knowledge that there are problems in the system. We can sit around and be defensive and deny that they exist, or we can come up with some solutions.

The old guard will always deny and protect and fend off change. That's too bad because we could be so much better, give the game a better name, and make the game more fair.
But if you're not even willing to admit there's a problem, there will never be improvement. And that is sad indeed.

[mcrowder]

People make mistakes, that's true at any level.

I don't think I'm being obtuse here - I'm honestly asking you... what are these problems that you seem to think are so widespread that they need fixing?

[JasonTX]

Improvement has to start at the bottom. Hooper, you seem to want improvement so bad then you need to be the first to get involved and become an official. We've already stated that the High School level of officials is running dry. Once the well runs out in High Schools, then where are the colleges going to get officials from who in turn feed the NFL with officials. If their not "good" in high school, do you think they will be better as college officials? No. Not every official has what we prefer in officiating, but since we are short of officials we have to use what we got or there is no game. Somewhere, right now there is a future NFL Super Bowl referee who hasn't yet began officiating. He's some average joe who is a fan of the game. Could it be you? It just might me. Step up to the plate and give it a shot. You'll enjoy it so much and money will be the last thing on your mind. I'd bet half of us would do this for free. Most of us here are just high school and college officials and you can look at the history of our posts and see that we are "full time" officials. The NFL officials put in much more time that that. I clock in more time on officiating discussions than I do my real job. (shh, don't tell my boss.)

[schmitty1973]

Originally posted by mcrowder

Big Ben was in the EZ.

Every mechanic manual I've read says to only call what you see. (ie if you don't see the pass actually hit the ground then it's complete) What replay actually shows the ball crossing the goal line? Sure we can "assume" it did from where his arm was at, but you can't see the ball. I just don't see how you guys are 100% sure he got in when no replay even shows the ball.

Regardless of it all, even if they did give them the ball at the 1 inch line, they score on the next play anyway.

[hooper]

Originally posted by JasonTX
Improvement has to start at the bottom. Hooper, you seem to want improvement so bad then you need to be the first to get involved and become an official. We've already stated that the High School level of officials is running dry. Once the well runs out in High Schools, then where are the colleges going to get officials from who in turn feed the NFL with officials. If their not "good" in high school, do you think they will be better as college officials? No. Not every official has what we prefer in officiating, but since we are short of officials we have to use what we got or there is no game. Somewhere, right now there is a future NFL Super Bowl referee who hasn't yet began officiating. He's some average joe who is a fan of the game. Could it be you? It just might me. Step up to the plate and give it a shot. You'll enjoy it so much and money will be the last thing on your mind. I'd bet half of us would do this for free. Most of us here are just high school and college officials and you can look at the history of our posts and see that we are "full time" officials. The NFL officials put in much more time that that. I clock in more time on officiating discussions than I do my real job. (shh, don't tell my boss.)

My point exactly. We need more officials OVERALL! (It's a pretty thankless job, after all.) I can't believe that offering a full-time salary with benefits would do anything but help attract more people to the profession. Imagine if you got health insurance through your officiating job. Imagine if you got a 401K and bonuses and life insurance and disability insurance and dental and vision care. Or even a gym membership or daycare services, like many corporate jobs provide!

I understand that many people officiate for the love of the game, to get some exercise, and stay involved with the sport. I wonder how many people would be more willing to do it they were paid well for their efforts as well. More people means tougher competition, higher standards, and a larger pool to move up the chain.

I can't see how that would be a bad thing!

[hooper]

Originally posted by mcrowder
People make mistakes, that's true at any level.

I don't think I'm being obtuse here - I'm honestly asking you... what are these problems that you seem to think are so widespread that they need fixing?

Well, four blown calls in the Superbowl is a good place to start. Other games to check out:

Steelers/Colts particulars:

Troy Polamalu - diving interception
The off-sides "do-over"
Uncalled pass intereference on Cedric Wilson play

Pats/Broncos:
Pass interference - Lelie and Samuel
Baily interception and fumble

Bears/Panthers:
Illegal contact on touchdown play - Smith and Tillman
Bears "touchdown" after fumble

Do I need to go on?

The point is that there are systemic problems that need change. Nothing we can do about the past. So moving on...

[JasonTX]

No reason to move on. You've just pointed out something that we already knew. Officials are going to make mistakes. We continue to strive for perfection, but we know as humans it will never happen. My point is, what happens when we reach the point to where we can all agree that the officials are at the highest peak humanly possible, but yet they are still making mistakes. At some point in time we have to accept what we have and accept there will be controversial calls. They are part of the game much like a dropped pass. I don't care how good your QB is or how good the Receiver is, there will always be dropped passes. The officials in this Super Bowl were the highest rated officials at their position. Every Super Bowl in past years have had some controversy. It will never go away no matter how much "full time" we get.

[hooper]

I believe this is probably the only group where you can argue that people need to be paid more and get benefits, and the people will argue with you about it!

We're nowhere NEAR the point where "we agree that the officials are at the highest peak humanly possible." We're FAR from that. Once we get there, we can have the discussion about what to do, but in the meantime, let's fix what's broken!

Frankly, in most professional positions, if you erred as often and as severely as the NFL officials have this year, you would be fired. Modify the rules, make the positions full-time and pay what is owed, revise the re-play personnel and procedures, add more officials per game, increase the number of camera angles for use by the officals, something, anything!

[JasonTX]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The rules are written by owners and coaches, so we as officials can't change the rules. Our mechanics are pretty top notch but are changed yearly to put us in a position to see the action and to keep up with the evolving plays that teams use. A couple of years ago there was a group of rabid fans complaining that officials were blind. This was told to me by Walt Coleman. He said that the NFL decided to get some extensive eye exams to prove their officials could see just fine. The eye exam expert told them that the ball moves 5 yards with each blink to the time that you regain focus. Next time you watch a game note where ball is and then blink your eyes and you'll see that's true. If the ball had gone 5 yards with the blink of your eye imagine what else can be missed when you naturally blink your eyes. You could probably miss an offside, illegal contact, pass interference, and quite a number of other fouls all in the blink of an eye. Please don't suggest that we tape our eyes open. I don't think there is much more improvement to expect from the NFL. I read somewhere that all the NFL officials combined have graded out at 97%. That's a good grade no matter what type of work you do. I think in order for the game to improve more attention needs to be given to the players and their gameplay. The past several seasons the performances by the players haven't been all that entertaining. The NFL lost a good player in Barry Sanders. Who is one player on any team where you just say "WOW" when you see them play? The discipline level of todays players is out of control and it shows in the quality of play.

[MJT]

For those who want them to be full time, what do we do with the guys who are already NFL officials? I don't think these guys who are CEO's, lawyers, company presidents, administrators, and other professional jobs will just give up their jobs to go full time. Many of them are already making 6 figures and will not give that up to continue to officiate.

Secondly, how much better can they be just because they are full time? I have personally talked to 3 NFL officials and they say during the season, it is pretty much a full time job. How full time can they be during the offseason? I don't see 40-50 hours of work a week between Feb-May.

I really do not see them being any better going full time, but see many problems with the issue.

[schwinn]

The only way the officiating gets better is when the players don't drop passes, every block and tackle is made perfectly and when every play is a perfect call...hooper, you're way off base. I can't believe how many officials in the NFL are faced with an instantaneous decision on a play when the athletes involved are the best in the world and even six slo-mo angles are at best a matter of millitmeters one way or the other. Some NFL official once said it's like standing next to the tracks and trying to read the words on the boxcars of a speeding train. Where in the world do full time officials work the other seven months of the year?

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by hooper
I believe this is probably the only group where you can argue that people need to be paid more and get benefits, and the people will argue with you about it!

We're nowhere NEAR the point where "we agree that the officials are at the highest peak humanly possible." We're FAR from that. Once we get there, we can have the discussion about what to do, but in the meantime, let's fix what's broken!

Frankly, in most professional positions, if you erred as often and as severely as the NFL officials have this year, you would be fired. Modify the rules, make the positions full-time and pay what is owed, revise the re-play personnel and procedures, add more officials per game, increase the number of camera angles for use by the officals, something, anything!

Paying officials on a full time basis is not going to make people want to officiate at the NFL level any more than the officials already do. If you are not aware the officials make enough money officiating that they can live off of that salary. In the off season NFL officials do the same thing that other pro sports officials do. They attend camps, meetings and required functions by the league to continue training and philosophies.

As I have stated before, I belong to an association that has 3 current NFL officials as members. They attend meetings every year and teach things at clinics. They show NFL tapes and share the philosophy. The hold that was called on Seattle I have seen multiple times with actually NFL Officiating tape footage. Mike Perriera (sp?) even talked about officials watching for break away players and those blocks need to be paid attention to.

The media is the problem, the officials are fine.

Peace

[grantsrc]

Officials are human. We make mistakes, no matter what sport we're talking about. Look at other sports where the officials are "full-time", baseball, and I think basketball. Do these individuals make mistakes? Last time I checked they did.

I think the problem lies with the media. They are so quick to roast the officials, everything is the officials fault, we had it in for them, we lost so-and-so the game, b**lsh*t. Media personnel have zero understanding and knowledge about the rules, mechanics, and responsibilities of the officials. They throw the stripes under the bus the first chance they get. All the while, this fuels the fire of ignorance of the common fan. Most fans don't know the rules. Heck, most HS and many college officials don't know all of the NFL rules.

Full-time isn't the answer. I think better understanding from fans and the media is a great place to start, but I also feel that the league should step up and offer an explanation of these calls. Maybe that would open up an even bigger can of worms but I feel it would hush some of the ignorance surrounding the entire event.

[mcrowder]

I strongly differ with the assertion that there were 4 blown calls in the Super Bowl. I think that most of the "controversial" calls were correct. I maintain that there was 1 questionable call (the BBW on Hasselbeck - I can't tell from replay if he actually contacted the blocker or not - but even if he did, that's not usually a call you make on a player trying to make a tackle), and 1 wrong call (not one mentioned much, actually - I think the no-catch/fumble by Jerramy Stephens was wrong. But Walrusman didn't challenge it, so we didn't get to see 10 replays of it).

2 wrong calls out of over 1000 decision points? 99.8% success rate. You'd fire a guy with that kind of accuracy at your job? Sheez.

You mentioned other games. I agree the Pitt-Indi game was a particularly poor showing. I didn't see the others you mention.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by hooper

So you're saying those officials made absolutely no mistakes? They were perfect in this game? (Perhaps you didn't actually see the game?)

The perfect game has never been officiated, played or coached.

Imbecile.