September 24

RefGate ’12

We thought that the weekend games were “interesting!” The emotional roller coaster almost knocked me out. I am still tired after watching Belichick grab a ref’s shirt, Harbaugh cons a ref out of two challenges and penalty yards miscalculations. The word we used following the Patriots loss to the Ravens was “WOW!”  But then Monday Night Football happened. We’re all speechless. All we could do was rewind the ending to make sure that we saw what we thought we saw.

Jules Winnfield comments.

Green Bay Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy looked like he could spit nails following a convoluted series that led to a questionable call. It looked like his defender Jennings intercepted the Hail Mary pass. The scrappy 5’10″ Golden Tate put his hands in there after they were down but he was credited with the touchdown that gave the Seattle Seahawks the victory. I rewound and rewound. I stopped the feed to look at the hands underneath a ball that rested on the chest of Jennings. But we can talk about it until we’re blue in the face, the victory will stand. Today, folks just tweet about it. Tomorrow’s playoffs, we can expect some angry, upset teams and fans if someone is kept out of the postseason due to a misplaced flag.

Even Samuel L. Jackson was tweeting  his displeasure at the call.

Coaches Losing $55,000 +

Two Denver Broncos coaches will have to dig into their pockets to pay $55,000 in fines for intimidating and abusing the replacement refs. Head Coach John Fox and Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio were assessed fines following actions during their team’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Kyle Shanahan and Bill Belichick will be next after the weekend’s events. I don’t know if the coaches know what to to do.

I suggest providing them with two extra challenge flags. Currently, 80% of this season’s calls by the refs have been reversed. That means that the challenge flags are really officiating the game properly. The refs aren’t well-versed on of the all of the rules and aren’t up to game speed. That means the coaches need to use their challenges to get the refs to understand the penalties. That’s not fair to the teams who now can’t focus on simply playing against they other team. They may feel as if they’re playing against the refs’ ineptitude as well.