I was drawn to the BBC headline 'Touchdown Controversy Rocks NFL' and then watched the above clip with some bemusement/amusement. The clip features a 'Hail Mary' pass from Seattle Seahawks Quarterback.... intended for wide receiver Golden Tate (do they make these names up?). Hail Mary?That's a new one on me too, but I am imagining it bears a passing resemblance to the miracle pass that Glenn Hoddle used to be famed for trying in my formative football years (well my 20s actually). Anyway my untrained eye saw Green Bay Packers defense Jennings catch the ball on an interception (no touch down!), but then find himself engulfed in a bundle of players and engaged in a wrestle for the ball. The umpires signalled 'touch down' or did they? One seemed to signal quite the opposite to the other. One initially got it right, but eventually both got it horribly wrong. Eventually with the 'assistance' of TV replays a touch down was (wrongly) awarded.
All good fun. However joking apart there are some mighty serious issues arising, not least in my view for player safety and control of the game.
Firstly this was a game deciding decision. The Seahawks won a game which they truly lost. It was played out before millions of viewers on Live Monday Night Football. The story is no longer the game, but the refereeing spectacle. Many feel NFL has become a laughing stock.
Why is this happening? 3 weeks into the NFL season the League is in dispute with the National Football League Referees Association (NFLRA). The referees are on strike and the NFL has drafted in referees from smaller conferences and are using 'elite retired college officials'.
The result has been carnage.
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The game's integrity is at stake. The billion dollar betting industry which surrounds the game is compromised.
The NFL has been forced to threaten players and coaches who 'intimidate' replacement officials.
Its all about dollars. The NFL pays its officials the least of the Big Four US Sports. Incredibly the officials are only part time. They officiate perhaps 20 games per annum. Most have alternative careers. The dispute is roughly over $2 million dollars per year, a drop in the ocean for the sport.
The NFL has been on the back foot over player safety issues. It has launched crackdowns on players and teams suspected of endangering the health and safety of other participants. The referees were intended to play a significant role in the protection of players. They have undergone concussion awareness training, are trained to identify concussion issues during games and to alert medical staff.
Suddenly the game is being policed by a second string at best.
The mistakes and embarrassments of these B Listers have become the story.
How long before mirth and ridicule turns to disaffection and fans reject the game.
What happens when a team misses out on end of season glory due to basic refereeing errors. Worse still, what if a player is seriously hurt or worse because the replacement referees lack the awareness or assertiveness to step in?
UPDATE 26.9.12
Unsurprisingly the NFL is scurrying to come to an accord and the word is that a deal (even provisional) will see 'regular referees' back in place for this Sunday's games (week 4). If ever a 'strike action' proved the value of the 'strikers' it is this occasion.
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