Anyone that has had the pleasure of talking about sports with me knows a few things. First, that I am very passionate about sports. The teams that I root for, or claim as 'my team' are very dear to me. I am not a fair weather fan by any means. I support my team through the bad years and the good. 20 years of being a fan of the New Orleans Saints and Utah Jazz should prove that point.
Another thing you should know about me is that I take sports very seriously, and hate when teams, owners and commisioners try and cut corners to save money, lie about making the game better and single out teams for crimes that everyone is committing.
I hate lock outs, wether its the players or owners fault, I hate teams selling/trading their best pieces and getting nothing back in return.
And I hate replacement officiating.
I've hated it from the pre-season.
I knew it was going to be a disaster. I knew that multiple calls were either going to be called wrong, or not called at all. I knew players, coaches and fans were going to be upset. But the owners, they'd be ok with it. After all, the NFL is a multi billion dollar behemoth. It makes so much money because the product is so good and fun to watch. The owners knew that fans would still go to games at the stadiums, and still watch on sundays. The owners knew they would still make money off of the fans, even though the officiating would be subpar to say the least.
What the owners didn't know or expect was the aftermath of monday nights game. Many people said that eventually, these replacement refs would cost one team a victory. Luckily for us it game this early in the season.
As of right now, news is that a new agreement is being finished and that the new refs will be officiating tonights game. They will be a little slow and behind as this is their first game, but it will still be better than what we had before.
It took a giant mistake to get this deal done. It took a day that was filled with news about this one blown call. Constant replays, discussions, arguments and frustrating rants was everywhere on the news on tuesday. And it wasn't just on ESPN. National news had tons of coverage on this, even President Obama chimed in on the subject.
This is what had to happen for the NFL to get this deal done. And its lucky that it happened this early. Many fans had either stopped watching, thought about stop watching, or were about to stop watching even before the fiasco on monday occured. I was one of these fans.
After watching some games on sunday afternoon I announced that I was done watching the NFL until the refs are back. I had seen too many games with just bad officiating. Bad calls, no calls, late calls you name it, it happened.
While watching my pathetic Saints lose to the Chiefs I saw multiple no calls for holding, pass interference(offense and defense) and the calls that were made were wrong(on both sides).
This pushed me over the edge. Three weeks of watching this garbage was enough for me to do my part to send the NFL a message. I was going to stop watching the NFL.
I didn't watch the Sunday night game, or the Monday night game. I've seen enough highlights from the games to see how bad the officiating was.
The NFL was always tried to say they stand for integrity. When in reality, they will only stand for integrity when it makes them money.
I am glad the NFL has the refs back. I am unhappy about how it was handled and I don't blame the refs at all. They clearly deserve a pay raise(and a pension fund) as anyone other than these refs is not good enough.
I think Roger Goodell should be on the hot seat as a commisioner. He made the NFL players lockout much more difficulty by trying to blame the players for the lockout, when clearly the owners were greedy. He also tried to save a tiny amount of money on the refs, we are talking about pay raises to 149,000 this season. That's nothing cmpared to the billions of dollars teh NFL brings in.
The NFL is getting harder and harder to watch. And although I am happy the refs are back, I do not have solid faith in the NFL. Not after the two lockouts, the still constant head injuries despite Goodell claiming he is 'worried about player saftey'(and Goodell wanting to go to an 18 game schedule). Not to mention him singleing out specific players and teams for crimes every team committs.
I'm happy to be able to watch the NFL again, but I'm even more happy that I have college football and that the NBA season is only a month away from starting.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Week 5 Picks
This last week has been my best week for picks of the year easily. I posted a strong 14-1 record to get me out of my .500 slump. We're getting a better feel for each team and figuring out which teams look elite, and which ones are fake.
Cardinals vs Rams - The Cards are the surprise of the year, the Rams are playing much better as well though. The Cardinals win, but its close. Cardinals win.
Dolphins vs Bengals - Both teams are hard to get a read on. Sometimes they play great, other times they can't hold a lead. I like Andy Dalton at QB for the Bengals, so I guess I take them. Bengals win.
Packers vs Colts - The Packers offense is slowly getting back to last years form, adn the defense has been better, especially against the run. The Colts have a bright future, but Sunday will be a tough game. Packers win.
Ravens vs Chiefs - The Ravens keep trying to prove to us that they aren't the Ravens of old that lose games they should win, and this is a perfect trap game for them. Playing on the road in a tough stadium. However, the Chiefs defense is bad and the Ravens offense is clicking. Ravens win.
Falcons vs Redskins - The Falcons squeezed out a win over the Panthers, but they still look like the team to beat in the NFC and possibly the NFL. Falcons win.
Browns vs Giants - The defending champs lost a close game to the Eagles, and should be looking to silence any critics by beating up on the lowly Browns.
Eagles vs Steelers - The Steelers are coming off of their bye, and hopefully for them their starters on defense are ready to go. The Eagles played tough defense against the Giants on Sunday. It should be a good game with the younger Eagles winning. Eagles win.
Seahawks vs Panthers - The Seahawks are a confusing team, beating the Packers two weeks ago, but losing to the Rams last week(and ruining my chance for a perfect week). Its offense vs defense and I'm going with offense this time. Panthers win.
Bears vs Jaguars - The Bears looked good on Monday and the Jags are still hopelessly rebuilding. Bears win.
Titans vs Vikings - Minnesota has been a big surprise this year, playing tough defense and winning close games. Nothing should change this week, Vikings win.
Broncos vs Patriots - I'm not sure what to think of the Pats so far, they are 2-2 with wins against the Titans and Bills. The Broncos always dig themselves into a whole early on. This game can go either way, but in the Brady-Manning rivalry I've always chosen Brady, so Patriots win.
Bills vs 49ers - Unless the Niners fall apart like they did against the Vikings two weeks ago, it'll be an easy win against the injured Bills. 49ers win.
Chargers vs Saints - Rivers vs Brees. Brees is the better QB(by far), but Rivers has a better team and an actual coach around him. My sad Saints keep losing close games, but with the Chargers playing well it will be a long night in New Orleans. Chargers win.
Texans vs Jets - Houston is rolling, and the Jets are confused and look like they are on the verge of needing to rebuild. Texans win.
Last Week's Record - 14-1
Season 38-15
Cardinals vs Rams - The Cards are the surprise of the year, the Rams are playing much better as well though. The Cardinals win, but its close. Cardinals win.
Dolphins vs Bengals - Both teams are hard to get a read on. Sometimes they play great, other times they can't hold a lead. I like Andy Dalton at QB for the Bengals, so I guess I take them. Bengals win.
Packers vs Colts - The Packers offense is slowly getting back to last years form, adn the defense has been better, especially against the run. The Colts have a bright future, but Sunday will be a tough game. Packers win.
Ravens vs Chiefs - The Ravens keep trying to prove to us that they aren't the Ravens of old that lose games they should win, and this is a perfect trap game for them. Playing on the road in a tough stadium. However, the Chiefs defense is bad and the Ravens offense is clicking. Ravens win.
Falcons vs Redskins - The Falcons squeezed out a win over the Panthers, but they still look like the team to beat in the NFC and possibly the NFL. Falcons win.
Browns vs Giants - The defending champs lost a close game to the Eagles, and should be looking to silence any critics by beating up on the lowly Browns.
Eagles vs Steelers - The Steelers are coming off of their bye, and hopefully for them their starters on defense are ready to go. The Eagles played tough defense against the Giants on Sunday. It should be a good game with the younger Eagles winning. Eagles win.
Seahawks vs Panthers - The Seahawks are a confusing team, beating the Packers two weeks ago, but losing to the Rams last week(and ruining my chance for a perfect week). Its offense vs defense and I'm going with offense this time. Panthers win.
Bears vs Jaguars - The Bears looked good on Monday and the Jags are still hopelessly rebuilding. Bears win.
Titans vs Vikings - Minnesota has been a big surprise this year, playing tough defense and winning close games. Nothing should change this week, Vikings win.
Broncos vs Patriots - I'm not sure what to think of the Pats so far, they are 2-2 with wins against the Titans and Bills. The Broncos always dig themselves into a whole early on. This game can go either way, but in the Brady-Manning rivalry I've always chosen Brady, so Patriots win.
Bills vs 49ers - Unless the Niners fall apart like they did against the Vikings two weeks ago, it'll be an easy win against the injured Bills. 49ers win.
Chargers vs Saints - Rivers vs Brees. Brees is the better QB(by far), but Rivers has a better team and an actual coach around him. My sad Saints keep losing close games, but with the Chargers playing well it will be a long night in New Orleans. Chargers win.
Texans vs Jets - Houston is rolling, and the Jets are confused and look like they are on the verge of needing to rebuild. Texans win.
Last Week's Record - 14-1
Season 38-15
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