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There seems to be a variety of parallels going on in life right now. The Republicans had a kind of a non-convention-convention and today the Democrats launch theirs. In more important news; Replacement Referees and Officials have been calling NFL Pre-Season Games while the so-called Professional Refs fight with the NFL, On Strike – over how many games, how much they get per game, who gets to Ref what games and etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! So, the questions remain: How much difference do Professional Refs make to the game of Professional Football and how much difference will the Democratic Convention be from the Republicans?
Let’s start with the NFL Refs. For several seasons, NFL Refs have been able to manipulate the outcomes of games. The Professional Gamblers have been using this process for about 50 years. Pay off one Ref to simply call a penalty when one team is on a roll and it kills their drive and subsequent winning score. How often are False Starts called in the last few years? They should not call them False Starts….they should call them Illegal Motion and charge 10 yards not five! Their needs to be some Rule Changes that make sense and don’t slow down the game. If an Offensive lineman moves enough to influence a Defensive Player and moves off his spot…..that is Illegal Motion….not a False Start. Coming off your three-point stance before the ball is snapped is Illegal Motion. No more False Starts….EVER!
OK, the Professional Refs get $8,000 dollars a game. The Replacement Refs get $2,000 a game. So, why are the Professional Refs on strike? They want to control who plays in what games! Is their a reasonable reason for that? Yes, the Professional Gamblers have better control over the process. The Professional Gamblers can still pay off Kick Return people, Place Kickers and Running Backs without a problem – but for the integrity of the game; better have control of the Game Officials…just to make sure! How about those Bounty Hits? Will Replacement Refs get it any better than the Professionals who have been doing this stuff for years? The guess is; that the Replacement Officials will be just as corrupt by the end of this season as the Professional Refs have been all along the way.
Instant replay has done a bunch of good in the process. Without it, most folks wouldn’t even bother to watch NFL Football anymore. That along with the chance for a Coaches Challenge every now and then – can make some of the major wrong calls – corrected momentarily. Along these lines, just think about how dirty the College Refs are? They don’t make the big money, are usually partisan – they do come from some College or Regional Background and who would know if they were calling a dirty game or not. Just the millions of fans – that get fired up when they see those “Phantom Pass Interference Penalties” in the last five minutes of the game or half. Those non-scores that were really scores? The list is endless really.
The Democrats won’t have a hurricane to fight in the Carolina’s, so – there will be no reason to hold up proceedings! It is our bet that the Republicans made a serious error in judgement when they did two things: (1) Pick on Joe Biden and (2) Have Clint Eastwood speak at their Convention. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats can get through their Convention with (1) A Message and (2) Without a major gaff.
The time has come to get the NFL Season under way and they need to bring back the NFL Professional Refs – without the ability to name their own games. Heck, give them all raises to $10,000 a game but create an Enforcement Arm of the NFL to prosecute Officials they find either Partisan or On the Take! The Coaches should also get Three Video Replay Assessments per half – should they disagree with any Line calls – Placements of ball and when Players go Out of Bounds.
The Democrats should kick butt and explain what they plan on doing different in the next four years. The Democrats needs to set a positive agenda that does not include screwing the middle class, charging seniors for prescription drugs and creating ways to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States through giving companies tax write-offs. The Manufacturing Jobs we need are the New Technology Jobs first.
Will any of our prognosis come to pass? It will be fun to watch! Extras off stage…bring on the Stars! When will Mitt meet Obama for their first debate? When will Paul Ryan meet Joe Biden in their first debate? Will Elizabeth Warren beat Scott Brown in Mass – when is their debate on C-Span? Like we said – it all will be fun to watch!
‘Ships, is there any evidence of widespread corruption of referees by professional gamblers, or is this just your surmise?
*Dr. D., this is a very very old story….starting with the point shaving of college basketball games in the 1930’s. You might have heard of the 1914 Blacksocks fixing of the World Series by Arnold Rothstein? You might have more recently heard of the NBA point spread gambling fixing by NBA Officials. You might have heard of Jerry Sandusky…..but not until just recently. Trust us when we say…..that $14 Billion dollars a year in just Online Betting may have some influence over an NFL Official making $8K a game for 16 games…….you have to be joking.
Our point is simple….”seek and you will find”. In the current negotiations the NFL wants to fire some so-called “bad apples” that are long time Officials. You don’t need a Disney Image background to get the meaning of that statement. Do you?
I’m sure you can appreciate why I would hesitate to make an allegation of impropriety against some group based on the fact that it happened in 1914 and in the ’30s (with the possible exception of World Wars starting in Europe.) Yes, things like this have happened. You write as if you know that they’re happening now to a significant enough to degree to be exercised over them. I don’t see a shred of evidence.
Dr D., Ask Roger Goodell…..this is one of the reasons for the lock out of
the NFL Officials. The arguments are not about wages as much as control
over what crews officiate what games and the make up of those crews. Try listening to Sports Radio once in a while.
*Disclaimer – The reason we mentioned Sandusky was to explain how “cover-ups” occur at the highest levels…including the current Governor of Pennsylvania who was
at the time Attorney General….. and what about Ray Gricar?
His disappearance a little too coincidental….ya think?
*Gricar was the District Attorney at State College in 2002!