Bobref

This forum didn’t start that way. It takes time to build up credibility. Of course, if the expectation is to get 100% of all people interested in the outcome of a game to see it your way, that’s stupid pie-in-the-sky thinking. But with increased transparency and a well thought out process, you can get some, perhaps many, to change their outlook, to understand more about what we do, and to see things in a different light. This forum is living proof.

The responsible opposing viewpoint to the status quo comes from our most innovative and forward thinking professional sports league. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2019/01/22/nba-referees-pool-report-nfl-saints-rams/2648324002/

Knowing several NFL officials ... and what they had to do to get there and stay there, my own opinion is that hiring officials on a full time basis will not noticeably improve the quality of the product. But the NFL started hiring full time officials in 2017, and they now comprise about 16% of the staff. However, I have not heard of any plan to replace retiring officials with full timers until the staff is 100% employees.thnn C i don’t think anyone would characterize that DPI no-call as anything other than an egregious mistake. I’m certainly not advocating that there be no consequences. But that official has spent years and years getting to the position where he excelled even in the rarified air of NFL officiating.To call for his ouster on the basis of that one call is senseless.

You are right with respect to many, but not nearly all. The experience on the GID is illustrative. There are many on here who are unwilling to learn, or see other viewpoints. But there are many on here who have been educated, and are now much more knowledgeable because they have read explanations and participated in discussions about officiating issues. You’re not going to alienate the haters and fanatics: they’re already there. But you can do world of good by carefully pulling back the curtain behind which the officiating community lives. Frankly, I think most officials endorse the climate of secrecy because of fear. That wastes opportunities to educate, if not convert.

You are right with respect to many, but not nearly all. The experience on the GID is illustrative. There are many on here who are unwilling to learn, or see other viewpoints. But there are many on here who have been educated, and are now much more knowledgeable because they have read explanations and participated in discussions about officiating issues. You’re not going to alienate the haters and fanatics: they’re already there. But you can do world of good by carefully pulling back the curtain behind which the officiating community lives. Frankly, I think most officials endorse the climate of secrecy because of fear. That wastes opportunities to educate, if not convert.

I have a friend who has been both a coach and an official for many, many years. Here’s a portion of a recent message he sent me: “Wondering why after athletic and newsworthy events both good and bad, in this Age of Information, reporters, cameras and microphones are thrusted in the faces of Coaches, players, criminals, heroes, grieving individuals etc, as soon as possible, very often at the site or on the court, field, etc to report the event with one noteworthy exception. Why are Officials protected better than professional sports protects their superstars while competing? Why are professional coaches and players made to be accessible after a game, by rule, to the media but not the officials?” Frankly, I think he’s spot on. If officials had the opportunity to explain why things happened the way they did during a game, I think it would improve their public image. After all, we are all taught that “selling the call” is important. Why should the “sale” be limited to a few seconds during the game? Discuss.

The theory - being freely reported as “fact” here and many other places — is absolutely wrong. Not only will it not happen ... it CAN’T happen. This, and several other widely reported myths about the NFC championship game debunked here: http://www.footballzebras.com/2019/01/commissioner-can-issue-a-rule-17-overturn-of-saints-loss-and-other-myths-from-championship-sunday/

A drop kick can be used for a free kick, and yes, it can be fair caught. While the ball has touched the ground, the “kick” has not. It doesn’t become a kick until it is actually kicked.

This is the sort of things that is not funny,. To any official, the photo is an obvious fake. The uniform is clearly wrong, and the NFL has prohibited this sort of fraternization since 1995. Even though retractions have been printed, there are thousands upon thousands of people out there who are now convinced that Bill Vinovich did something shady. As an official who has been accused in print of unethical behavior relating to a game — based on misinformation, resulting in a public retraction — I speak from personal experience in saying there’s no humor in this. Gurley should get at least a game suspension. I’ve seen the retractions from national publications like USA Today that printed this as fact. Not good enough. And i’ve not seeing anything from Gurley. https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/sports/saints/article_2ed73e78-1d1d-11e9-b1d9-ef902aa926fa.html

With perhaps a dozen games going on simultaneously?

Probably ... as a PR move. But it won’t change the quality of the officiating product. The NFL started hiring full time officials in 2017,, and I believe there are currently 21 out of a staff of 121..

The only thing that will end this never-ending debate is to let go of the expectation of perfection. Doesn’t mean officials should stop trying to get every call right. It means coaches, players, fans, media, etc., should stop expecting them to get every call right ... and expressing outrage when they don’t. Officiating has been a huge part of my life for 40+ years, and I can tell you the mechanics, clinics, instructional materials, and other aids to improvement are far, far better now than they were even 20 yrs. ago. The officiating product is correspondingly much better than it was. Yet dissatisfaction with officiating is greater than ever. The reason: technology has changed expectations. Seeing all those camera angles, slo-mo and stop action replays have changed expectations. After all, it looks so easy, the calls so obvious ... even though it iisn’t and they aren’t. The more we expect perfection from human beings, the less likely we are to be satisfied, even when the officiating product approaches the limits of human performance, which is where I believe the NFL is now. You are not going to find better officials than we have in the NFL. You can keep trying to improve the selection process and the training. But that will result in marginal improvement at best, because it is already just about as good as you’re going to get from the human performance standpoint.

Like all liability insurance issues, this one is based on underwriters’ predictions about future claims. And like most liability insurance markets, it tends to overreact and cause the pendulum to swing farther than it needs to in the other direction (see the medical malpractice insurance market in the 80s). There will be a period of instability, which may include some insurers exiting the market. Then, as we get more and more claim experience, the market will reach equilibrium and stabilize.