Cowboys + Refs = Trouble

[SomersetHawk]

Still, in this instance I find it hard to believe how anyone can be unequivocally convinced there's no bias.

But in order for there to be bias, there's has to be some sort of incentive or reason that the refs would make calls for one team over another.

Why do they care who wins? IMO all they care about is making the right call so they get to keep their jobs.

The NFL's a business. Some franchises are more profitable than others.

 

[el capitan]

I think the rules have been tampered with so much in the last few years (especially with regards to pass interference) that the refs genuinely don't fully understand how to implement them during the games.

These kind of calls happen way too often. This one has been hyped, and rightly so, due to the circumstances.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Still, in this instance I find it hard to believe how anyone can be unequivocally convinced there's no bias.

But in order for there to be bias, there's has to be some sort of incentive or reason that the refs would make calls for one team over another.

Why do they care who wins? IMO all they care about is making the right call so they get to keep their jobs.

The NFL's a business. Some franchises are more profitable than others.

But that's from the perspective of the league office, not the ref's union. Like I said two posts ago, we're talking about two separate entities.

Are you guys saying the refs are on the take? Because in the history of sports, that's the only time refs were crooked, when they were paid off by the mob, or gambling themselves.

 

[volsunghawk]

I'm curious how much the NFL paid Jim Caldwell to not go for it on 4th down and Sam Martin to shank that punt. Because, obviously, the only reason Detroit lost was due to a widespread conspiracy and not to simple incompetence/errors by officials or Lions personnel.

 

[SomersetHawk]

Still, in this instance I find it hard to believe how anyone can be unequivocally convinced there's no bias.

But in order for there to be bias, there's has to be some sort of incentive or reason that the refs would make calls for one team over another.

Why do they care who wins? IMO all they care about is making the right call so they get to keep their jobs.

The NFL's a business. Some franchises are more profitable than others.

But that's from the perspective of the league office, not the ref's union. Like I said two posts ago, we're talking about two separate entities.

Are you guys saying the refs are on the take? Because in the history of sports, that's the only time refs were crooked, when they were paid off by the mob, or gambling themselves.

I don't lean one way or the other. I think it's difficult to justify either stance.

It's conceivable that the refs would get some kind of 'pointers' when being briefed. It also doesn't seem very likely. But saying some of the calls that have influenced certain results are a coincidence is just one way of looking at something. Personally there's enough there for me to entertain more than that.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Face guarding isn't even a rule in the NFL, champ.

Correct it's an automatic DPI no 200.00 dollars and no pass go.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It's conceivable that the refs would get some kind of 'pointers' when being briefed. It also doesn't seem very likely. But saying some of the calls that have influenced certain results are a coincidence is just one way of looking at something. Personally there's enough there for me to entertain more than that.

Maybe, I'm more willing to chalk it up to old men who are incompetent at their job, because I just don't see a motive on the refs part.

If you're Goodell, do you risk literally billions of dollars of annual revenue over damaging the NFL brand forever by getting caught influencing refs to make calls so you can get higher advertising dollars?..........and is that even true? Would a Dallas vs. Green Bay conference playoff game get higher ratings than a Detroit vs. Green Bay?

The NFL's ratings are off the charts as it is, I doubt the small increase in viewership from one team over another is worth the risk of an influencing refs scandal.

 

[vonstout]

Just gonna leave this here:

Why didn't you show the whole play where the defender is holding him before that or the interference that came at the end of your video? I'm not going to disagree that there were some pushoffs both ways, but it was certainly holding AND OPI too.

 

[RunTheBall]

It's conceivable that the refs would get some kind of 'pointers' when being briefed. It also doesn't seem very likely. But saying some of the calls that have influenced certain results are a coincidence is just one way of looking at something. Personally there's enough there for me to entertain more than that.

Maybe, I'm more willing to chalk it up to old men who are incompetent at their job, because I just don't see a motive on the refs part.

If you're Goodell, do you risk literally billions of dollars of annual revenue over damaging the NFL brand forever by getting caught influencing refs to make calls so you can get higher advertising dollars?..........and is that even true? Would a Dallas vs. Green Bay conference playoff game get higher ratings than a Detroit vs. Green Bay?

The NFL's ratings are off the charts as it is, I doubt the small increase in viewership from one team over another is worth the risk of an influencing refs scandal.

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

Yep, my bad.

Still IMO not worth the scandal of influencing refs coming to light. All it'd take is one of those refs to expose this conspiracy as true. For what? An extra 2 share in the ratings..........when NFL playoff games already get crazy ratings?

 

[RunTheBall]

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

Yep, my bad.

Still IMO not worth the scandal of influencing refs coming to light. All it'd take is one of those refs to expose this conspiracy as true. For what? An extra 2 share in the ratings..........when NFL playoff games already get crazy ratings?

Why would the scandal ever come to light if it happened? People get paid off to be quiet. FIFA has done it for decades and it's worked.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

Yep, my bad.

Still IMO not worth the scandal of influencing refs coming to light. All it'd take is one of those refs to expose this conspiracy as true. For what? An extra 2 share in the ratings..........when NFL playoff games already get crazy ratings?

Why would the scandal ever come to light if it happened? People get paid off to be quiet. FIFA has done it for decades and it's worked.

If FIFA has done it for decades without us knowing about it, then why do we know about it?

 

[RunTheBall]

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

Yep, my bad.

Still IMO not worth the scandal of influencing refs coming to light. All it'd take is one of those refs to expose this conspiracy as true. For what? An extra 2 share in the ratings..........when NFL playoff games already get crazy ratings?

Why would the scandal ever come to light if it happened? People get paid off to be quiet. FIFA has done it for decades and it's worked.

If FIFA has done it for decades without us knowing about it, then why do we know about it?

We do know parts of it, but they just always "internally investigate" scandals and nothing comes out of it.... The same thing the NFL would do.

 

[hoxrox]

Still, in this instance I find it hard to believe how anyone can be unequivocally convinced there's no bias.

But in order for there to be bias, there's has to be some sort of incentive or reason that the refs would make calls for one team over another.

Why do they care who wins? IMO all they care about is making the right call so they get to keep their jobs.

There doesn't need to be a monetary incentive for there to be bias. It could be something as simple as Mike Carey being a 49ers fan. It could be something like Bill Leavy rooting for Bettis to go out on top. The refs are not as perfect nor as professional as they need to be. We've seen that first hand.

What makes these series of non calls (defensive holding, DPI, no helmet on the field, offensive holds) more troubling is the institution of the "second set of eyes" by the NFL's VP of Officiating. That was supposed to help, but this year has been among the worse officiating league-wide as far as I can remember.

It may have been gross incompetence/negligence by the refs on the field, but why didn't the league cameras catch these mistakes, especially at such a critical juncture of a critical game?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Still, in this instance I find it hard to believe how anyone can be unequivocally convinced there's no bias.

But in order for there to be bias, there's has to be some sort of incentive or reason that the refs would make calls for one team over another.

Why do they care who wins? IMO all they care about is making the right call so they get to keep their jobs.

There doesn't need to be a monetary incentive for there to be bias. It could be something as simple as Mike Carey being a 49ers fan. It could be something like Bill Leavy rooting for Bettis to go out on top. The refs are not as perfect nor as professional as they need to be. We've seen that first hand.

What makes these series of non calls (defensive holding, DPI, no helmet on the field, offensive holds) more troubling is the institution of the "second set of eyes" by the NFL's VP of Officiating. That was supposed to help, but this year has been among the worse officiating league-wide as far as I can remember.

It may have been gross incompetence/negligence by the refs on the field, but why didn't the league cameras catch these mistakes, especially at such a critical juncture of a critical game?

You're saying two different things here. You're saying there's individual ref bias due to allegiances, etc and then you're saying there's a league influence.

Now I can certainly buy the individual ref bias, these guys are human............well most of them. It's the league influencing ref calls that you guys lose me on.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Whether you believe in conspiracy theories or not is kind of irrelevant, I'm pretty sure everyone can agree that the standard of officiating in today's NFL is nowhere near good enough. Bad calls happen in every game and there's no excuse for it. What's worse is that no one is ever held accountable for bad officiating and the media doesn't seem to bothered by this either.

If it's a case of the refs not implementing the rules properly then maybe they're too complicated, or if not maybe they (or their bosses) should be held accountable somehow.

It easy to see "something is up" when the NFL allows crap officiating to continue and doesn't fix the problem, no accountability to those that "screw up" what so ever.


....and then you look and see that it's "the legacy" teams that always be benefit from said calls in the postseason, it's pretty clear what's going on and how it's driven by $$$.

I might have seemed like the old bearded bum on the corner holding the sign that said the "end is near" when right after XL* I said the NFL is a "desired results" league and the NFL knew they'd make more money selling "one for the thumb" T-shirts in Pissburgh, but it looks like my crazy theory was and is spot on. Something I'm not happy about being right on.

 

[hoxrox]

You're saying two different things here. You're saying there's individual ref bias due to allegiances, etc and then you're saying there's a league influence.

Now I can certainly buy the individual ref bias, these guys are human............well most of them. It's the league influencing ref calls that you guys lose me on.

I don't know if I buy the theory that the league is influencing ref calls, but IF they did, the easiest way to do it would be via non calls.

The NFL's #1 goal is revenue and profit. The best way for them to increase revenue would be expansion into additional markets. The Cowboys were not only "America's team", they are now Mexico's team. It is known that the NFL has been trying to expand globally.

Romo the "playoff choke artist" is no longer a profitable narrative, especially not in their shiny new stadium. Romo the "comeback hero seeking redemption" is. What a storyline it would be for Romo to redeem himself against the defending SB champions, the same team he notoriously choked against in the playoffs.

I'm not saying it's a conspiracy, but it will be interesting to see how the next couple of games play out.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'm normally down for a good conspiracy theory, but if the league wanted Dallas to win before the game even started then why'd they reverse the Suh suspension?

Also the league and refs are two separate entities, and two entities that hate each other. So why the hell would the refs jeopardize their jobs and integrity for a front office that they've had nothing but contempt for?

Horrible botched call? Hell yes. Conspiracy? Nope.

They let Suh back so folks would say what you just did. It couldn't have been fixed because look we let Suh play. Then NFL was just trying to cover their ass for any "potential" future controversy in the game.

 

[titan3131]

It's conceivable that the refs would get some kind of 'pointers' when being briefed. It also doesn't seem very likely. But saying some of the calls that have influenced certain results are a coincidence is just one way of looking at something. Personally there's enough there for me to entertain more than that.

Maybe, I'm more willing to chalk it up to old men who are incompetent at their job, because I just don't see a motive on the refs part.

If you're Goodell, do you risk literally billions of dollars of annual revenue over damaging the NFL brand forever by getting caught influencing refs to make calls so you can get higher advertising dollars?..........and is that even true? Would a Dallas vs. Green Bay conference playoff game get higher ratings than a Detroit vs. Green Bay?

The NFL's ratings are off the charts as it is, I doubt the small increase in viewership from one team over another is worth the risk of an influencing refs scandal.

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

Last I checked the highest rated game of the year was the hawks cowboys.

So Im full tin foil hat, dallas will win in gb and come to seattle.

And on the point of why did they unsuspend suh?
because having him in the game makes the cowboys win mean even more. Unsuspending him brings more attention to the game, its more hype, and based off the bs that i pointed out in my other thread the refs made sure the boys won.

 

[Uncle Si]

It's conceivable that the refs would get some kind of 'pointers' when being briefed. It also doesn't seem very likely. But saying some of the calls that have influenced certain results are a coincidence is just one way of looking at something. Personally there's enough there for me to entertain more than that.

Maybe, I'm more willing to chalk it up to old men who are incompetent at their job, because I just don't see a motive on the refs part.

If you're Goodell, do you risk literally billions of dollars of annual revenue over damaging the NFL brand forever by getting caught influencing refs to make calls so you can get higher advertising dollars?..........and is that even true? Would a Dallas vs. Green Bay conference playoff game get higher ratings than a Detroit vs. Green Bay?

The NFL's ratings are off the charts as it is, I doubt the small increase in viewership from one team over another is worth the risk of an influencing refs scandal.

Detroit cannot play GB in the divisional round, it would have been Carolina @ GB had the Lions won... no way that gets as good of ratings as Dallas @ GB.

and based off the bs that i pointed out in my other thread the refs made sure the boys won.

you have more than one thread on this?