Quote:Here's the thing -- and its something you can use if/when arguing about this sort of thing with friends, family, or NFL fans in general: IF the NFL truly wanted to get these calls correct (and not "right" -- the "right" call more often than not is the one that favors the team the NFL favors), they could. The league could undoubtedly make all of these calls correctly with little to no added effort on their part. 

No one gives a flying you-know-what about the "tradition" of the referees on the field making calls. In this modern day and age of technological advances, it would be incredibly easy to have multiple officials in the booth at the stadium watching the game live or via television and have them be able to signal to an on-the-field official to throw a flag and make the call as seen from above. The NFL does not need replays reviewed from NYC and the home office. It was and can be done at the stadium (how often do you really need to see a replay to tell if the ball was caught or fumbled? One extra look often does the trick). Microchips and sensors can be placed inside the ball, on the goal lines, and all over the field to mark where the ball should be spotted. Do we really need two old men holding a pair of sticks with a 10-yard long chain between them to determine a first down in the year 2018? If I can see a TV ad spouting about "next gen" stats which (supposedly) tell me the probability of a catch being made, then that same technology can tell me whether or not the ball broke the plain of the end zone. 

As I've said before in interviews, the most compelling thing on TV could be listening in to the on-the-field referee discussing rules with NFL HQ in NYC during replays. But we don't get to hear that. Why? Now, instead, replays are often determined during commercials and left to the TV broadcasters to explain away. Not everything can be reviewed. Why? If holding can be called on every play and pass interference can be call on every third or fourth pass attempt, why are these subjective calls only made a handful of times per game? If the rules are constantly being broken and going unenforced, what makes this or that play so special to deserve the flag?

The answer to all of this as plain as the nose on your face: control. If all these "high tech" changes were made -- and they could be made in the course of one offseason -- the league would lose its best way to control the outcome of games. They couldn't shade things as much as they are currently able to do because the tech wouldn't allow it (well, unless they added certain backdoor hacks into their own technology which wouldn't surprise me either). But they won't do it because they would sacrifice too much to implement such "radical" changes. So you get the status quo. You get entertainment, You don't get actual sport. End of story.

(12-14-2018, 11:30 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Tin foil hats are cool. 

(12-15-2018, 03:18 PM)McC Wrote: I don't know.  Based on the weekly officiating shit show, it makes a lot sense.  Why else would the NFL rule book be the worst in all of sports?

(12-15-2018, 03:18 PM)McC Wrote: I don't know.  Based on the weekly officiating shit show, it makes a lot sense.  Why else would the NFL rule book be the worst in all of sports?

(12-15-2018, 10:46 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I didn't really disagree with anything that was stated right up until it said "backdoor hacks". As soon as i saw that, i thought "quack". Conspiracy theorists can find inconsistencies in anything. 

My thoughts are, the NFL isn't going to implement all the things that are capable to make the average NFL game flawless because they WANT a measure of the human element and the faults inherent in the game. If they used everything at their disposal and there were never any mistakes, what is your average, passive person that sometimes watches the NFL going to talk about Monday morning around the water cooler? The way the offensive line blocked well on the power sweeps but faltered a bit with their sets in pass pro? How the WR route concepts didn't work well with the defense they were playing against? Nope. They're not going to be interested and they're not going to be able to talk with their friends about how that blatant false start was missed and it led to a TD the was a big determining factor in the outcome of the game. 

They're also not going to completely overhaul how the game has been played for the last 60+ years. Modern technology is being slowly implemented into the game and it will continue. I don't know that the game will ever get to the flawless level, but i do believe it is capable. I've stated as much on several occasions myself. 

The whole "game is fixed!! billion dollar industry!! the fix is in!!" is just more 'missiles into the towers' bullshit. It gains much more traction in places like Cincinnati where the team is run shoddily by a jackass who came from a royal lineage but doesn't know his butthole from a hole in the ground when it comes to assembling a championship football team. Everyone thinks the refs are against them, even the good teams when calls don't go their way. 

The only reason any of this has any traction at all is because crackpots with tin foil hats have a much louder voice since the internet and their stupid conspiracy theories can reach the more gullible, easily-led individuals in our society. "And they'll tell two friends. And they'll tell two friends. And so on. And so on".