how to stop conspiracy theories

[LesBaker]

Again, I'd like to see refs under the employment, part time or otherwise, of an independent 3rd party outside the reach of the NFL. This would go a long way to altering the perception of impropriety.

They already are.

 

[CoachO]

As far as replay, I would like to see them go to a system a little more like the NCAA replay system. Every play is reviewed, and the on field officials are notified if further review is necessary prior to the next play.

I also like the concept of having the replay official being the one to make the decision on the play, and just inform the Referee of the outcome. If there is any question on the call on the field, allowing the on field Referee to have the final say in the decision opens up some question as to whether or not he gives the benefit of the doubt to his crew mate when there isn't "clear and concise" evidence to change a call.

They also allow for replay to take a look at the "targeting" penalty, as in the college game it is also an ejection in addition to the 15 yard penalty. If the call is found to be made in error, (as to the targeting and illegal hit to a defenseless receiver) not only is the ejection retracted, but this year, so is the 15 yards.

There may be a way to review certain penalty calls, (roughing the passer being the most obvious) and have incorrect calls like the one on Eugene Sims in the Dallas game overturned. But to use replay to call penalties that are not called on field just isn't practical. The games would last 5 hours.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

I think every play, scoring or not, should be reviewable. Penalties called from the field would be reviewable. And blatant obvious missed penalties would be called down from the replay officials to the on-field officials for immediate enforcement. I don't understand the need for so many on field officials when so many make bad calls. With the number of cameras and angles televising the game, they should minimize the number of calls they make from the field, where your vision is so easily obstructed, and depend primarily on replay officials. I don't see a need for more than 2 or 3 on-field officials to break up fights and clear piles. I'm close to quitting the NFL if they don't get their officiating mess fixed. I've got tickets to 2 more Rams games this year. This might be the last year for me.

Use replay as the primary rule enforcement tool and not on field eyeballs. If this doesn't fix nearly all the bad calls then you know the NFL is orchestrating the outcomes. If the NFL doesn't make it a priority to ensure their games are being fairly officiating then I'm done with the NFL after this year until they fix it.

I agree with everything but the blatant missed penalties part being enforced "from above" would be a disaster. Every time we score or have a big play, it would be taken away by the leagues agenda. Not that it isn't already, but they could call a hold any time they want to if that happened.

 

[Ken]

I agree with everything but the blatant missed penalties part being enforced "from above" would be a disaster. Every time we score or have a big play, it would be taken away by the leagues agenda. Not that it isn't already, but they could call a hold any time they want to if that happened.

I'm talking about blatant obvious holding and other penalties. I want fairly officiated games by the rule book. Players would have to adjust to the rules or the rules would need to be rewritten. I don't care if games take 5 hours, but I bet they wouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes longer than they do now. I'll quit the NFL if they don't fix it. If there is an NFL agenda against the Rams then obviously I quit, but I'm not yet convinced its anything more than inept officiating.

 

[CoachO]

Can we please stop with the NFL agenda against the Rams, it doesn't exist. Good teams will always get the majority of the calls, and that's a fact. They usually put themselves in better positions to make plays that the poorer teams don't. There is no way they will, nor should they EVER let the replay booth CALL penalties.

That would actually be worse than having a computer calling balls and strikes in a baseball game.

For every bad call the Rams get, they commit twice as many dumb penalties. Presnap penalties on both sides of the ball; after the whistle personal foul penalties, drive extending mistakes on defense, drive killing mistakes on offense that have absolutely nothing to do with the officiating. Start executing and stop making the mistakes and the "bad calls" aren't an issue.

 

[Ram Quixote]

they have their union, and it serves as the same purpose. It protects the members from any "improper" treatment by the league. But at the end of the day, these guys are paid to enforce the rules that are written by the NFL. Regardless of whom they are "employed" by, the job remains the same. Officiate the game as the league mandates it to be Officiated.

A long as the threat of lawsuits continue to hang over the head of the league, they will continue to make changes to the game. And there is nothing that will change the perception.

Ah, there's the rub. The point being made is that the NFL has too much at stake to mandate how the games are officiated. Absolutely, the owners won't allow anything like this to happen; they must have control.

 

[Ken]

Can we please stop with the NFL agenda against the Rams, it doesn't exist. Good teams will always get the majority of the calls, and that's a fact. They usually put themselves in better positions to make plays that the poorer teams don't. There is no way they will, nor should they EVER let the replay booth CALL penalties.

That would actually be worse than having a computer calling balls and strikes in a baseball game.

For every bad call the Rams get, they commit twice as many dumb penalties. Presnap penalties on both sides of the ball; after the whistle personal foul penalties, drive extending mistakes on defense, drive killing mistakes on offense that have absolutely nothing to do with the officiating. Start executing and stop making the mistakes and the "bad calls" aren't an issue.

IMO properly enforced rules are the most important aspect of any fair contest. I would have no problem with a properly programmed, calibrated and operated automatic ball/strike call system, though MLB doesn't need one nearly as much as the NFL needs to rely on a vastly expanded replay system. I agree the Rams play has lots of room for improvement and the bad calls haven't been the only reason the Rams have lost all but one game, but its a contributing factor, and it shouldn't be. This is not just an issue to me because I'm a Rams fan.

Officials are human. They make mistakes. Fans watch sports to see players, not officials, being human. To the extent that technology and profitability make it feasible, pro sports should implement changes to improve rule enforcement. I don't understand what would be so bad about replay officials calling obvious penalties that are missed by the on field officials, but let's at least start with replay of all called penalties in addition to scoring plays.

 

[Stranger]

they have their union, and it serves as the same purpose. It protects the members from any "improper" treatment by the league. But at the end of the day, these guys are paid to enforce the rules that are written by the NFL. Regardless of whom they are "employed" by, the job remains the same. Officiate the game as the league mandates it to be Officiated.

A long as the threat of lawsuits continue to hang over the head of the league, they will continue to make changes to the game. And there is nothing that will change the perception.

Create a 3rd party that is independent of the NFL, and funded jointly by the NFL & Media, and which provides total transparency. That means, every call & play is reviewed in every game, and a database is setup containing that data that is publicly accessible. With the data analyzable, patterns of bias would be known, and poor performing refs would be revealed, and could be replaced.

 

[Stranger]

Again, if the data on every play, every ref, every ref team is made available, and standards about ref performance are known, public and agreed to in advance, then refs performing below a given standard would be warned, then dismissed. It would all be a very open and transparent process, unlike what we have now.

 

[Stranger]

Can we please stop with the NFL agenda against the Rams, it doesn't exist. Good teams will always get the majority of the calls, and that's a fact. They usually put themselves in better positions to make plays that the poorer teams don't. There is no way they will, nor should they EVER let the replay booth CALL penalties.

That would actually be worse than having a computer calling balls and strikes in a baseball game.

For every bad call the Rams get, they commit twice as many dumb penalties. Presnap penalties on both sides of the ball; after the whistle personal foul penalties, drive extending mistakes on defense, drive killing mistakes on offense that have absolutely nothing to do with the officiating. Start executing and stop making the mistakes and the "bad calls" aren't an issue.

are you saying that there isnt a very strong bias in favor of offensive lines that we play against?