You despise NFL officials and the league is counting on it! - Opinion from Buffalo Rumblings

[1st&Goal]

Here is a link to an article, in Buffalo Rumblings. In it, Skarkrow takes us through the reasoning behind our disdain for the NFL refs. I thought that it was an interesting read.

 

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2022/1/6/22837636/opinion-you-despise-nfl-officials-and-the-league-is-counting-on-it

 

Mods: Please delete, if there is already another thread on this. Thanks!

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

You do know you can delete them yourself 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

That’s actually a very interesting read.  Thanks.

[quinnearlysghost88]

What concerns me most is this invisible hand in the booth that sometimes arbitrarily decides to step in and correct a call re: overturning our first down. If that’s the best way to officiate, make the entire game officiated from the booth with on field refs serving as game managers (placing the ball, interacting with coaches, breaking up fights, calling recovered fumbles). 

[Mr. WEO]

No major sport "promotes" it's rulemaking process or rule book, nor do they bother to "teach fans" about their ref/ump quality control procedures.  No need.

 

NFL/MLB/NBA fans have always complained about officiating always.  It's part of the show.  Part of the enjoyment and entertainment experience.  It affords the fans an opportunity to tell themselves and those around them that they KNOW THE GAME---probably better than these bum refs.

 

NFL doesn't "do it" different than other leagues, but, to agree with this guy, they certainly understand better than any of the other major sports that there's no such thing as bad press.  This is why a single off season NFL story can dominate the headlines/internet--even during other sports' playoffs.  

[Shaw66]

4 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

That’s actually a very interesting read.  Thanks.

You know, I wasn't going to read until I saw this comment.   So, I clicked on the article, and "very interesting read" is an understatement.   It's really insightful analysis, both of the rules and officiating and of why the NFL is happy when fans blame the loss on the refs.  

 

Great stuff.  And I've never known where to go to find the definitive rule on anything, and the link is there.  

 

My only complaint is that he doesn't address a few things that really do seem to be problems.   Like, how badly the NFL screwed up the rules about what is and what isn't a catch, and why it took them so long to fix it which, mercifully, they did.  Or, like how it can possibly make sense that if I'm running toward the goal line and fumble, if the ball goes our of bounds at the one-foot line, I get the ball back, but if it goes out of bounds a foot farther downfield, at or beyond the pylon, the other team gets the ball.  Really?   Or, like how if a guy catches a kickoff in the endzone and voluntarily tosses the ball forward it is not an illegal forward pass and a safety but instead, it's a touchback.

 

Still, great article.  It changes my opinion about things. 

[Freak-O]

10 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

You know, I wasn't going to read until I saw this comment.   So, I clicked on the article, and "very interesting read" is an understatement.   It's really insightful analysis, both of the rules and officiating and of why the NFL is happy when fans blame the loss on the refs.  

 

Great stuff.  And I've never known where to go to find the definitive rule on anything, and the link is there.  

 

My only complaint is that he doesn't address a few things that really do seem to be problems.   Like, how badly the NFL screwed up the rules about what is and what isn't a catch, and why it took them so long to fix it which, mercifully, they did.  Or, like how it can possibly make sense that if I'm running toward the goal line and fumble, if the ball goes our of bounds at the one-foot line, I get the ball back, but if it goes out of bounds a foot farther downfield, at or beyond the pylon, the other team gets the ball.  Really?   Or, like how if a guy catches a kickoff in the endzone and voluntarily tosses the ball forward it is not an illegal forward pass and a safety but instead, it's a touchback.

 

Still, great article.  It changes my opinion about things. 

***** it, now you've convinced ME to read it, which I really don't have time for... 

[hondo in seattle]

The rule book is 95 pages long - about 65,000 words.

 

Does anybody know how long the rule books are for soccer?  Baseball?  Basketball?  

 

Sometimes I think the NFL rulebook is unnecessarily complicated.

[DrW]

29 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

The rule book is 95 pages long - about 65,000 words.

 

Does anybody know how long the rule books are for soccer?  Baseball?  Basketball?  

 

Sometimes I think the NFL rulebook is unnecessarily complicated.

 

"The Laws Of The Game" by the U.S. Soccer Federation's Referee Program takes up 36 pages in a rather small format (half letter size).

Edited January 6, 2022 by DrW

[HamSandwhich]

34 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

The rule book is 95 pages long - about 65,000 words.

 

Does anybody know how long the rule books are for soccer?  Baseball?  Basketball?  

 

Sometimes I think the NFL rulebook is unnecessarily complicated.

Complicated yes, infuriating sometimes, but man do I love this game! 

[Ice bowl 67]

I think the officiating is awful nowadays.

[JoPoy88]

On 1/6/2022 at 4:21 PM, hondo in seattle said:

The rule book is 95 pages long - about 65,000 words.

 

Does anybody know how long the rule books are for soccer?  Baseball?  Basketball?  

 

Sometimes I think the NFL rulebook is unnecessarily complicated.

you got me curious so I looked around a bit - NBA rulebook is ~68 pages (in pdf format.)