Concern about the level of officiating

[Bengalholic]

This is probably more of an 'Around the NFL' topic, but I thought it were make for some good discussion for Jungle Noise as well, especially given all the talk we've had about officiating in the past.



Kevin Seifert, ESPN

A new anxiety is filtering through the NFL's officiating ranks. The first training camp opens in 10 days. Preseason games are less than a month away. There has been unprecedented turnover among referees, including two unexpected retirements last month. And because of late approval from owners, hardly any of the league's 121 officials have been briefed in detail on a series of rule changes that will require fundamental changes in the way they administrate games.

That confluence will make for a hectic three days this weekend in Dallas, where senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron will lead the league's annual officiating clinic. Some of the apprehension will be soothed there, but even informed observers worry that the NFL is asking too much of the department, given the circumstances.

In short, the NFL will navigate the biggest collection of rule changes in recent memory this year with one of its least experienced groups of officials ever.

"To be quite honest," former NFL officiating supervisor Jim Daopoulos said, "I have a concern about the level of officiating because of the inexperience out there and with the new rule changes. You've got so many things that the young officials are going to have to learn and the veteran officials are going to have to learn."

"It's going to be a very interesting year, and I think Al Riveron has really got his hands full. It's going to be really tough. You think about the  experience he's lost this year and trying to replace these guys, it's going to make for some tough Sundays watching football."


Full article

[sandwedge]

You might as well make NFL Officiating a full time job.

[BengalD]

Hell, I wouldn't mind if they brought new ones in every year. Maybe then the slant for the Patsies and Squeelers wouldn't be as bad. Understand that to be the man - you have to beat the man, but to have the man in stripes always assisting those two sucks.

[*ochocincos*]

I can't be the only one who actually preferred the replacement refs from the "normal" ones a few years back, can I? I thought they did a better job of letting the players play and it made for a more enjoyable and better paced game.

[Tiger Teeth]

(07-11-2018, 03:33 PM)sandwedge Wrote: You might as well make NFL Officiating a full time job.

Very much this.

[*bengalfan74*]

The first thought that popped in my mind the second I heard about the new lowering of the head rules I said that's going to be extremely difficult to officiate.

The NFL needs to stop pissing around and hire a full time officiating crew, that's all there is to it.

[Sled21]

(07-11-2018, 03:38 PM)BengalD Wrote: Hell, I wouldn't mind if they brought new ones in every year.  Maybe then the slant for the Patsies and Squeelers wouldn't be as bad.  Understand that to be the man - you have to beat the man, but to have the man in stripes always assisting those two sucks.

I loved the replacement refs.... the were bad, but they were bad across the board fairly, as opposed to the usual guys who are so slanted in their calls. Glad to see Triplett, Hockuli and a couple of other ones retire after last year, though Hockuli's son is now going to ref....

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(07-11-2018, 03:38 PM)BengalD Wrote: Hell, I wouldn't mind if they brought new ones in every year.  Maybe then the slant for the Patsies and Squeelers wouldn't be as bad.  Understand that to be the man - you have to beat the man, but to have the man in stripes always assisting those two sucks.

My thoughts as well, those so called experienced refs got calls wrong all the damn time anyways.

Might as well have some new blood that is not an outright Steeler fan ref like some of those experienced ones.

[*pally*]

new qualified refs may actually do better with the new rules since they don't have as much history ruling on the old ones. Less chance of confusion

[Bilbo Saggins]

I didn't mind the replacement refs from years back - they were a little sloppy, but they were fair. New doesn't necessarily mean worse, it's just a shame that keeping the officiating elite and fair isn't a bigger priority. 

Sometimes the NFL gets a little too cocky with the officiating being the only show in town I think. 

[*SHRacerX*]

(07-11-2018, 03:38 PM)BengalD Wrote: Hell, I wouldn't mind if they brought new ones in every year.  Maybe then the slant for the Patsies and Squeelers wouldn't be as bad.  Understand that to be the man - you have to beat the man, but to have the man in stripes always assisting those two sucks.

This.  Plus a lot of the "old guard" are just so damn arrogant and set in their ways.  They all suck and the rules are ridiculous.  Thankfully, they are addressing the latter.  

I did see that Hochuli's son is one of the new officials, so I am sure that apple didn't fall far from the tree.  

I know Gene Steratore's sister very well, and she lives (as Gene did) in pitt and they were both life long steeler fans.  

[HarleyDog]

(07-11-2018, 03:51 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: The first thought that popped in my mind the second I heard about the new lowering of the head rules I said that's going to be extremely difficult to officiate.

The NFL needs to stop pissing around and hire a full time officiating crew, that's all there is to it.

Two very good points. The new lowering of the head rules are ridiculous on linemen and as I’ve stated prior, a possible safety risk. As for hiring refs full time, don’t see why you wouldn’t? I mean, I can see why it was this way in the past was because the rules were much simpler. Now they are ridiculous with many gray areas which can let a call go in a teams favor. Specially if the ref is a fan.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(07-11-2018, 03:48 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I can't be the only one who actually preferred the replacement refs from the "normal" ones a few years back, can I? I thought they did a better job of letting the players play and it made for a more enjoyable and better paced game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5RL1zcAbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-47FvX9UY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLs4uVXj-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5Cx88uvV4

Are you sure about that?

The first three vids, those guys are unbearable, but they have a few things the last vid doesn't have.

All of these mistakes were correctable after a week or so; 8 weeks to fix and still nothing, is terrible.

[*ochocincos*]

(07-12-2018, 09:29 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5RL1zcAbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-47FvX9UY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLs4uVXj-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5Cx88uvV4

Are you sure about that?

The first three vids, those guys are unbearable, but they have a few things the last vid doesn't have.

All of these mistakes were correctable after a week or so; 8 weeks to fix and still nothing, is terrible.

Thank you for posting those videos, as I did forget about those gaffes. However, that doesn't change my opinion because it emphasizes that they did mess some things up but they didn't control the outcome of the game with penalty calls like the normal refs do by calling penalty after penalty. I still feel that the normal refs have always been way too nitpicky and too quick to call penalties whereas the replacement refs seemed to keep the flag in their pockets unless something was blatantly obvious.

To be fair, this may be because when I played hockey, I most often enjoyed refs that allowed us to get away with the small things. When we had the one ref that called every little thing, it became incredibly frustrating to stop play every couple minutes because of little things.

[*Nately120*]

(07-12-2018, 09:29 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5RL1zcAbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-47FvX9UY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLs4uVXj-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5Cx88uvV4

Are you sure about that?

The first three vids, those guys are unbearable, but they have a few things the last vid doesn't have.

All of these mistakes were correctable after a week or so; 8 weeks to fix and still nothing, is terrible.

+rep.  Everyone wants what they don't have.  Now if you'll excuse me, Im going to sit here and think about how awesome my ex girlfriends totally were.

But on a related note, isn't it funny how refs started getting "way worse" around the same time everyone started watching giant high def TVs and every play was shown in super slow mo from 100 different angles? Still, the bottom line is people can complain about refs all they want, but when that flag goes your team's way, you aren't sad to see it.

[*Go Cards*]

(07-11-2018, 03:33 PM)sandwedge Wrote: You might as well make NFL Officiating a full time job.

Does not make sense to not have full-time officials. 

Nothing is worse than a billion dollar industry being cheap. 

But what the heck Bengals have been hosed by refs so much that some new ones are welcome to me. 

Still should be a full-time job though. 

[Tiger Teeth]

(07-12-2018, 09:23 PM)Nately120 Wrote: +rep.  Everyone wants what they don't have.  Now if you'll excuse me, Im going to sit here and think about how awesome my ex girlfriends totally were.

But on a related note, isn't it funny how refs started getting "way worse" around the same time everyone started watching giant high def TVs and every play was shown in super slow mo from 100 different angles?  Still, the bottom line is people can complain about refs all they want, but when that flag goes your team's way, you aren't sad to see it.

Good point.  I'm guilty of that.  Even when it's an obvious bad call against the other team, I'm like, "We got away with one."

[bengals67]

They have needed full time refs for a long time.


NFL officiating is a joke compared to all other professional leagues. It is the fault of the league, not the part time officials. They have an impossible job to perform as part time employees.

[McC]

Officiating has sukked for quite a while so it might not be possible to even know the difference. New blood might be just what the doctor ordered.

[Stonyhands]

(07-12-2018, 09:23 PM)Nately120 Wrote: +rep.  Everyone wants what they don't have.  Now if you'll excuse me, Im going to sit here and think about how awesome my ex girlfriends totally were.

But on a related note, isn't it funny how refs started getting "way worse" around the same time everyone started watching giant high def TVs and every play was shown in super slow mo from 100 different angles? Still, the bottom line is people can complain about refs all they want, but when that flag goes your team's way, you aren't sad to see it.

I don’t mind a mistake or two...Hell I kinda expect it at the speed things are happening. However, my issue that’s been hit on multiple times is the blatant bias. When there’s a question of a catch or fumble and it benefits the Steelers when playing us it’s 100% called in favor of them. Even with the new technology of HD and replays the call always stands in favor of them.