unofficially

I’ve been watching Super Bowls since 1986 and Sunday’s game was by far the worst officiated game in all of sports that I can remember. While the Seahawks had many miscues on offense, it seemed like every call went against them and the timing couldn’t haven’t been worse–just when the Seahawks were gaining momentum. We know that dropped balls and other miscues can often be a case of nerves and you have to wonder if had the poor calls not been made, some of those miscues may not have happened because Seattle probably would’ve gained confidence and not get all jittery that they screw up. And over 100 million viewers got to see what a joke Instant Replay is. Especially if certain calls can’t be challenged. Instant Replay assumes that the refs are unbiased, well, if the refs were biased, if the replay shows undeniable evidence, then it’s a lot harder for them not to overturn, but if the replay doesn’t 100% refute the call on the field, then the biased ref could just let the call on the field stand.

It’s not that hard to imagine the possibility of some sleight-of-hand. All it takes is a phone call before the game and an offer (econ 101–everyone has their price). There are so many ways for the officials to cheat. Probably the most common way is to blow the whistle on trivial or borderline events, especially when you see that the team you don’t want to win for whatever reason (most likely due to cha-ching) just scored a touchdown or gained big yardage all the way down to the one yard line.

If it can happen to Sumo Wrestling, it could happen in the NFL.

We ought to be reminded of the words of Agatha Christie, the mystery fiction writer:

“Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody.”

Those refs oughta be put in jail or at least fired from the NFL for their gross incompetence.