From wikipedia:
"By June 2012, the [National Football League] and the NFL Referees Association had not yet come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, thus failing to resolve a labor dispute. Accordingly, the NFL has locked out the regular NFL game officials, and thus have opened the 2012 season with replacement referees. These replacement officials consist of low-level college and high school officials."

And, the NFL is getting what they've paid for, because these replacement guys are making some serious officiating errors, which is what everybody's talking about.

Including one big error on Monday night during the Packers/Seahawks game, which I, too, am hoping someone will explain.

I'm kind of hoping no one will explain it. I get a smug sense of superiority from not knowing/not caring what the hell happened. And now you can, too! Just brag smugly about how smug you are on the Intersmug. Err, net.

(Really, though, I'll just avoid the thread.)

All I know is second-hand. I didn't watch it, nor have I seen any video.

At the very end of the game, apparently the quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass. This is when he lofts the ball into the scoring area hoping that someone on his team catches it. The usual result is a bunch of players from both teams jumping into the air and a lot of different hands all over the ball when everyone falls to the ground. Judging who controls the ball is often a very tough call to make even for experienced referees.

However, while the ball was in the air, one of the players on the quarterback's team committed a foul that should have made the play invalid. None of the referees called this foul.

That is the specific play that caused the most howling, however supposedly the entire game was a shambles in that the players were just as sloppy in their technique as the referees were in making judgment calls.

The tragically hilarious part of this is that these bad calls (which both compromise player safety and the integrity of the game itself) are happening because team owners are unwilling to compromise with the referees union over a restructured pay and benefits deal worth less than $3.2 million. That's roughly one quarter of commissioner Goodell's yearly salary. It's a drop in the bucket to a league with television contracts worth billions. Heck, players have offered to pay the difference out of their own pockets! It's CHUMP CHANGE to the owners, yet they refuse to compromise. They'd rather wreck the sport than compromise to a union. It's that simple. It's union-busting. Over literal pennies.

oh dear lord I watched that Monday night game. And I even LIKE Seattle and was hoping for them to win, but. Not. Like. That.

Here's an article detailing the atrocious, shamefully bad call that's brought a head to the entire kerfuffle; hopefully the video will work for you.

I'm going even simpler for Senyar, based on my own level of interest in football. I actually understand the game but am not a fan. So:

1. A pay dispute meant that the regular referees went on strike.

2.They were replaced by cheap scabs from smaller-time leagues who don't have the experience to properly call an NFL game.

3. Bad call after bad call has screwed up the games and scores, and made fans mad.

I'll make it even shorter!

1. Referees went on strike because the owners were being dicks.

2. Replacements who don't precisely know what they're doing got called in.

3. EVERYTHING IS RUINED FOREVER!

The takeaway here is that the owners are being dicks. :)

Also there was never a controversial/bad call in pro football ever before.

This is important: it's not a strike, it's a lockout.

But apparently it's over, and the regular crews will start work this weekend.

Actually, tonight (?I read)

Seahawks fan here. I saw it.

Here's what happened: the quarterback threw the football into the end zone. Before the intended receiver got it, an opposing player caught the ball. The intended receiver was meanwhile already up in the air too, and the two players, intended receiver and opposing player, came down to the turf together, the intended receiver still grabbing at the ball in the opposing player's arms. Because this is football, lots of other players were in the area too.

The ref who made the initial call was standing near the intended receiver, and he thought, seeing the intended receiver jump for the ball and come down with his arms and hands on the ball, that it was a simultaneous possession by the opposing player and the intended receiver. When that happens, the offense (intended receiver) is credited with the ball. Catching the ball in the endzone is a touchdown.

But apparently the interception happened first, not simultaneously. So it wasn't a touchdown and the Seahawks shouldn't have won.

I'm glad to keep the win, though. I was really proud of Seattle's play, and rather awed by the quality of our first half defense.

MetaChat: EVERYTHING IS RUINED FOREVER!