Seahawks victim of bad officials?

From discussions in one of the other threads, It was implied that I was crazy that I though the officials are not all %100 honest, and that they are influencing the out comes of games every week in every game.

I believe it is naïve to believe that politicians are %80 dishonest, journalists are attempting to manipulate you %70 of the time, and we wont even talk about insurance companies or lawyers, but somehow all NFL officials are all honest and above the board. Only the NBA could have a bad official.

I believe the Seahawks are not who the majority officials or Vegas want to prevail so they will influence the game to try to change the outcome. They are not always successful because the cant be that obvious.

What do you think? Do you think the Hawks are treated equal to all other teams? Or do you think otherwise.

I'm not even going to go there. We lost. Next up, and next time, don't leave any doubt. GO HAWKS!!!

Those poll options are ridiculous. Why put spin in them? You want someone to tell you that you're right?

All of the options on this poll are loaded. How about: "the officials are a collection of humans, some of whom are better and/or worse at their job, and while it would be silly to claim that it has absolutely never happened that an official has attempted to consciously affect the flow of the game, the use of every incorrect call as justification for a greater overarching conspiracy is equally outlandish and trite?"

If you do not vote for the first one what is the point in even watching the game or following the team. You either believe it is fair or it is the WWE. Anything that happens these days has to be a conspiracy. If the plague happened today someone would blame the government for starting it. If you execute consistently you can over come penalties of your own doing or by officials accidentally. Now back to my beverage.

I predicted (to myself) this would be moved but it is more Seahawks related than many of the other hawks threads that continue in .net. But it is to controversial for our moderators. But is hawks related. unlike who's birthday it is and who's friend with some one. But if it creates controversy it is moved. we need to stop complaining about the moderators in other forums.

Its your title, a topic that concerns "others" so take ownership for it getting moved.

ivotuk":zmftw3wl said:

Its your title, a topic that concerns "others" so take ownership for it getting moved.

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ok others removed. Will it be moved back??

Offensive. Where did those percentages come from? I studied as a journalism major and was editor-in-chief of my college newspaper. I find it difficult and sometimes insulting how easy fans are to insinuate conspiracy and cheating amongst professional media and referees. They're doing the best they can in a harsh and critical environment. Trained professionals that work in a field that requires utmost diligence and commitment to honest professionalism.

I know it's hard to hear for a lot of folks who watch the games and SWEAR that the thing is rigged, or the journalists are biased, or the official can't make a correct call to save his/her life.

But I've spent four years doing my best to be the most honest, educated, and lively writer of my college's paper. I took classes and strove for 100% accuracy. And still, sometimes things slipped through the cracks despite my staff's best efforts. We printed retractions and corrections like any self respecting newspaper.

My point is that the world is full of critics. Critics are fine. But most of them have never learned the discipline of which they blatantly criticize. It's unfathomable for me to believe that any type of widespread media or NFL official bias could ever exist.

Not widespread. There's no conspiracy. The refs are professionals who are simply doing their best. The "media" refers to multiple entities that make up the whole of how we garner information. "mass media" literally refers to any and every way that we humans receive information...radio, newspaper, internet, pamphlets, ads, television..That's the correct meaning of "mass media." Media is not a singular like-minded entity, which is absolutely necessary in the instance of a conspiracy.

I've worked retail. Customers are stupid a lot. They think they're 100% right always, but they aren't. Fans as a whole are a lot like retail customers. Fickle. Anyone who's ever managed or even worked for the companies I've worked for will likely tell you the same.

Not a conspiracy. Media and refs are just professionals who do the best they can like anyone else.

I voted option three.

Yes, there are too many nitpicky calls this season not just against the Seahawks, but against every team that doesn't make the NFL the big cheddar.

What's really annoying are the "make-up calls" the zebs are throwing as paybacks for past mistakes in prior games. The zebs obviously today attempted to kiss and make-up with the Patsies because of the two straight losses the Pats had a month or so back due to bad calls which got Tom Brady so riled.

That Cleveland CB did not interfere with the pass Brady threw to his receiver in the game's final 30 seconds today. That was just a terrible, game-changing call.

But see, Cleveland doesn't make the NFL the money that the Patsies do. And that's what the spectacle is really all about.

Follow the money.

If anyone honestly thinks games are officiated differently due to monetary incentives...sheesh. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes..it's just downright HARD to make a call on the spot. Everyone's a critic, but let's see any random fan referee a a few games with utmost honest intention and see how easy it is to become a villain to fans who are so quick to judge.

SeeHawkRun":1pt2m65b said:

If anyone honestly thinks games are officiated differently due to monetary incentives...sheesh. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes..it's just downright HARD to make a call on the spot. Everyone's a critic, but let's see any random fan referee a a few games with utmost honest intention and see how easy it is to become a villain to fans who are so quick to judge.

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so u believe %100 of the people in the world are honest??

rainger":fx8o8v36 said:

SeeHawkRun":fx8o8v36 said:

If anyone honestly thinks games are officiated differently due to monetary incentives...sheesh. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes..it's just downright HARD to make a call on the spot. Everyone's a critic, but let's see any random fan referee a a few games with utmost honest intention and see how easy it is to become a villain to fans who are so quick to judge.

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so u believe %100 of the people in the world are honest??

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Of course not. But I also believe in the difficulty factor of making the correct call when *everyone's* a critic. As I mentioned. I edited a college newspaper and had my share of students writing in to tell me how "incorrect" I or my staff was. People have opinions. They're allowed to.

Sometimes they have a case, sometimes they don't, but the people who're entrusted with reporting on/keeping the news go through years and years of school that teach about integrity. People that are accepted into the journalism major are already great students who show outgoing promise. They show good writing skills and the ability to learn.

I've seen far too many fans casually toss around the whole "corrupt" and "conspiracy" thing to not say something.

I had to see things I cannot unsee when it comes to my personal journalism training. I had to look at dead bodies and write papers on why I would or would not publish the photograph.

It's frankly insulting to me that random fans who work at Target or whatever cry "CONSPIRACY" when they literally know nothing of the profession of which they're accusing.

I don't think everyone is 100 percent honest, I beleive there are very few professions that have as much pressure with the cameras and league and fans all looking for the Officials to make a mistake.

I think the replay and video boards in stadiums and grading system by the league create as much doubt on close calls as they try to help. Additionally the mandate about the push for safety during games is creating a different level of flags that were never thrown before. Lots of things are causing what we are seeing. I also think that officials are like everyone else. They know these guys after years of doing games, that human factor comes into every aspect of the world and effects some judgement. I don't think it's very high because of all the said scrutiny but it's there.

This is embarrassing.

Officials are charged with trying to monitor the play of 22 incredible athletes at a time at a break-neck pace and then making correct calls on the spot based on a rulebook that's complex and often arcane. And as they do this, their performances are scrutinized by pundits and millions of fans who have the benefit of slow-motion, instant replay, etc. They're under a not insignificant amount of pressure each game, and they sometimes get calls wrong.. it's part of the human nature element of the game. To suggest a conspiracy ignores the simpler explanation that it's a really tough job with which some of the officials often struggle.

And if you want to suggest that the officials have it out for the Seahawks, I implore you to go spend significant time on message boards for every other team. Every single one of them will have people talking about how the officials are biased against their team.

The thing that pisses me off is that the decisions of these guys affect games in a short season, and in some cases an entire season of hard work, draft luck, player aquisitions etc. that are all rendered moot by some guy that works at Der Weinerschnitzel during the week.

Why can't the nfl have dedicated refs that ONLY work at their craft? Who knows if that would be an improvement but it would give more credibility to the game. As I watched that game yesterday, I was so angry at the refs that I started doing the dishes !!!!

I have been seeing complaints from just about every team. I have sadly seen certain teams or players get the benefit of the doubt on plays. Fitz gets some questionable pass interference calls that I don't think a "lesser" receiver would get for example. I saw a statement saying the worst officiating by a Redskins receiver so it isn't just Seattle.

The officiating sucked, but it was bad for both teams. Niners would be complaining about the refs had we won. It happens. Sunday can't get here soon enough.

not much of a poll..not an option to pick for that makes any sense..ya there was some bad calls and also some stupid penalties made by the hawks players...same shit happens in every game, more so this year. Some of these refs look like they are ready for an old age pension cheque. As for conspiracy theories lets see what happens when Denver plays the Hawks in the super bowl....Manning is the feel good story this year....Yes 2006 is still fresh in all our minds.

Epic post Z