Here's An Idea….

[MSchmidt]

How about the NFL starts fining the refs? Seriously, think about it. Everyone can get fined players, coaches, teams, etc. What about the refs? They need to have some skin in the game, some accountability. The process is simple…..all flags that are thrown in a game are reviewed the following week by a "Master" referee and he makes the determination on if a flag shouldn't have been thrown (not worried about non calls). I'm not saying kill the refs with high dollar fines, but definitely some fining should occur. Not sure what their accountability process is, but whatever it is, doesn't seem to work.

Ok, just venting a bit about the shitty calls lately. And no, I don't think it why we always lose. It's definitely 1 of many components of why we're not winning though.

Schmidt

 

[mr.stlouis]

Yep, I said that yesterday lol. Missed calls and blown calls should come out of their pay checks. I also think you should be able to challenge flags.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Not sure what their accountability process is,

I don't know that there is such a thing for the Ref's!

 

[StevenG-BR]

It's a good thought but a terrible idea to actually go through with.

1) The refs aren't millionaires like the players. They're regular guys. Would you be fine with your work fining you every time you make an error?

2) Instead of BS calls, we'll start getting BS no-calls because refs will be scared to throw the flag.

It sucks that refs are deciding the outcome of Rams games with terrible calls, but that's unfortunately not the solution. There has to be another answer.

 

[StevenG-BR]

I think one better alternative would be to make certain penalties reviewable. I realize you can't do this for every penalty... such as holding and PI, which are opinion based and occur frequently. But for other penalties, such as false start, encroachment and roughing the QB, where the rules are clearly defined, those penalties can certainly be reviewed very easily.

 

[Jumava1968]

Being able to challenge a bad call on the field and have it reversed would determine the outcome of the game the right way like the Dallas game.

 

[ZigZagRam]

I think at the very least, the head referees of each game should have a video segment on NFL.com where they discuss controversial calls and at least admit when they screwed up and what they should've done differently.

But, unlike anything else the NFL does, they'll never be that transparent.

 

[rhinobean]

It's a good thought but a terrible idea to actually go through with.

1) The refs aren't millionaires like the players. They're regular guys. Would you be fine with your work fining you every time you make an error?

2) Instead of BS calls, we'll start getting BS no-calls because refs will be scared to throw the flag.

It sucks that refs are deciding the outcome of Rams games with terrible calls, but that's unfortunately not the solution. There has to be another answer.

We're already getting "no calls" that affect the games! How can 2 officials not call holding/tackling of Sims last game? Ridiculous officiating!

 

[rdlkgliders]

You could go the opposite way as well and give bonuses to the refs that get the best score using a grading system. The caveat being all ref scores are public.

 

[bluecoconuts]

I think at the very least, the head referees of each game should have a video segment on NFL.com where they discuss controversial calls and at least admit when they screwed up and what they should've done differently.

But, unlike anything else the NFL does, they'll never be that transparent.

NHL does that, they also do videos about suspensions where they explain it. Its not perfect, but its something at least. Explaining controversial calls is nice though, sometimes they will say they got it wrong.

 

[Ram Quixote]

IIRC, one of the things the NFL was wanting to do within the last contract with the refs was to create a review board. In that way, they could discipline referees with a loss game pay. That is, keeping them off the roster of active referees. That also required a larger pool of referees. What I don't know is if this made it into the last CBA for the refs.

 

[Robocop]

It's a good thought but a terrible idea to actually go through with.

1) The refs aren't millionaires like the players. They're regular guys. Would you be fine with your work fining you every time you make an error?

2) Instead of BS calls, we'll start getting BS no-calls because refs will be scared to throw the flag.

It sucks that refs are deciding the outcome of Rams games with terrible calls, but that's unfortunately not the solution. There has to be another answer.

so you're saying they aren't paid real big so there would be a pretty good incentive to take large bribes... so glad the NFL really though that one fucking through

 

[LesBaker]

IIRC, one of the things the NFL was wanting to do within the last contract with the refs was to create a review board. In that way, they could discipline referees with a loss game pay. That is, keeping them off the roster of active referees. That also required a larger pool of referees. What I don't know is if this made it into the last CBA for the refs.

The refs union shot down the idea of any new accountability and having other guys as back ups and the wrong headed public outcry driven by the idiotic media had everyone wanting to get this settled quickly so the NFL rushed the deal through.

IMO a few years ago the replacement refs, who did every bit as good of a job, should have been left to play out the entire year, that's what I would have done if I was the commish.

 

[Pho Kadat]

I recall Mike Pereira mentioning that the NFL is looking into making certain calls reviewable. For a game dominated by judgement calls, there certainly needs to be a greater emphasis on getting those calls right.

 

[blue4]

The refs union shot down the idea of any new accountability and having other guys as back ups and the wrong headed public outcry driven by the idiotic media had everyone wanting to get this settled quickly so the NFL rushed the deal through.

IMO a few years ago the replacement refs, who did every bit as good of a job, should have been left to play out the entire year, that's what I would have done if I was the commish.

The refs union was right to shut that down. Making calls reviewable would do far more to correct the errors than just fining people. That's just a feel good measure so fans can think the ref is going to be "punished" for calling flags against their team. Part of the larger trend in America today to cry about everyone else's pay but your own. If our jobs fined us for every mistake (with a couple of million witnesses), there wouldn't be anyone left on ROD who could afford the internet connection. Unless you raised the pay of the refs to compensate, all you will have is less refs willing to make calls, or even willing to do the job. That's the only reason the players fines half ass work, cause they make enough money to cover it. What's next? Fining them for non-calls? Maybe a public shaming? They need a ref up in the booth who can override the call on the field if need be, and that will solve a large part of the problem.

I very much disagree that the replacement refs did as good a job as the regular crews.

 

[Akrasian]

What they need is to make the Refs full time. There's too much money in the NFL to keep using the old part timer model for officials. Pay them well, so they don't need to work another job, and so there is a powerful incentive to accept the other terms of the deal.

During the week, officials should be watching videos for training purposes - both of their performance in the previous game and of other games for things to keep an eye on. The videos can be put together by the league office with the main refs each week.

They should be evaluated and told what to work on. Those who show incompetence over a long enough period of time, should be replaced. Not a set percentage but never too many at one time, just so that any who are just incapable of handling NFL pace, or just refuse to make an honest effort, will not be around for long.

 

[LesBaker]

The refs union was right to shut that down. Making calls reviewable would do far more to correct the errors than just fining people. That's just a feel good measure so fans can think the ref is going to be "punished" for calling flags against their team. Part of the larger trend in America today to cry about everyone else's pay but your own. If our jobs fined us for every mistake (with a couple of million witnesses), there wouldn't be anyone left on ROD who could afford the internet connection. Unless you raised the pay of the refs to compensate, all you will have is less refs willing to make calls, or even willing to do the job. That's the only reason the players fines half ass work, cause they make enough money to cover it. What's next? Fining them for non-calls? Maybe a public shaming? They need a ref up in the booth who can override the call on the field if need be, and that will solve a large part of the problem.

I very much disagree that the replacement refs did as good a job as the regular crews.

I don't remember reading that the NFL wanted to fine refs, I only heard that they wanted a better grading system and better training and a bench if there were guys who weren't cutting it. ANd I have been a proponent of penalties being reviewable like you, it's the smart play for the NFL in my opinion.

I thought someone did a breakdown of calls by the replacements that showed the errors were no more prevalent among the replacements.

 

[LesBaker]

What they need is to make the Refs full time. There's too much money in the NFL to keep using the old part timer model for officials. Pay them well, so they don't need to work another job, and so there is a powerful incentive to accept the other terms of the deal.

During the week, officials should be watching videos for training purposes - both of their performance in the previous game and of other games for things to keep an eye on. The videos can be put together by the league office with the main refs each week.

They should be evaluated and told what to work on. Those who show incompetence over a long enough period of time, should be replaced. Not a set percentage but never too many at one time, just so that any who are just incapable of handling NFL pace, or just refuse to make an honest effort, will not be around for long.

Agreed on the full time thing, it's long overdue.

 

[LooNaTik83]

Ed Hochuli lost some prestige for making a bad call during a Chargers/Broncos game.

See below.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3589407

 

[blue4]

I don't remember reading that the NFL wanted to fine refs, I only heard that they wanted a better grading system and better training and a bench if there were guys who weren't cutting it. ANd I have been a proponent of penalties being reviewable like you, it's the smart play for the NFL in my opinion.

I thought someone did a breakdown of calls by the replacements that showed the errors were no more prevalent among the replacements.

I misunderstood you then. Your post that I responded to was actually your response to Ram Quixote's post about lost game pay, so when you said accountability I assumed you meant fines.

I would be interested to see the comparison between the replacements and the regulars. I do remember that they took forever to make decisions and the games always had a confused, inconsistent feel to them. Now, the regulars jobbed us pretty good in the Dallas game by being woefully inconsistent, but they weren't confused about what they were doing.