Message To Fans…The NFL Does Not Care

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527357_4636488312284_520134492_nThe sports-talk airwaves are blowing up over the latest botched call by the substitute NFL officials.  For those of you who don’t follow the game, last night’s Packers/Seahawks game came down to a last second Hail-Mary pass.  The replay clearly showed the Green Bay defender intercepting the ball, but the officials ruled “Dual Possession” and awarded the Seahawks the Touchdown.

Now even the regular officials have been known to blow calls (see Ed “Guns” Hochuli”), but this latest mangled call was reminiscent of a Marx Brothers movie.  As you can imagine, the sports-talk show hosts are outraged.  They remind us in no uncertain terms that the fans are not going to accept this type of football.

The fans?  Really?  They think the NFL is that worried about the fans?

Let us visit the replay booth for a moment…

  • This is a league whose goal it was to increase player safety, yet see no problem throwing scrub officials who are in way over their heads, increasing the risk of injuries from uncalled/missed penalties like chop blocks and blows to the head.
  • This is the league that makes its fans purchase preseason game tickets at regular season prices even though most of those games are played by people you’ve never heard of before (or after).
  • This is the league that makes fans purchase PSL (Personal Seat Licenses) which require paying them for the right to purchase tickets.
  • This is the league that rewards Buffalo fans (Disclaimer:  I am a long suffering Bills fan) by taking away one home game each year and having them play in Toronto so they can make even more money.

Now sports-talk hosts are preaching to us that we should boycott the games.  Don’t watch them they tell us.  Don’t attend the game (even though you had to take a second mortgage to buy the tickets in the first place).

This issue will be resolved, not because the fans are upset,  but because Las Vegas cannot be happy.  The Packers were 3 to 3 ½ point favorites to win that game.   The final score was 14-12 which means a lot of people lost money on that final play.   If I were the NFL, I would be a lot more worried about a visit from Tommy DeVito than Jim Rome.