Loading ...So much hype was brought before the season opener this past Wednesday night, no doubt. Was it too much? Not for the teams.
The New York Giants remained focused on the game itself. Their opponent capitalized on the usual trash-talking and so-called news-worthy headlines that brought their name to a light. And they apparently fed off of that. They came in fired up and definitely glaring at the bull’s-eye on the backs of every World Champion Giants player on the field. Well, that and they played a more physical type of football – knowing the replacement referees couldn’t and wouldn’t see everything.
There is no way that officiating will be blamed for dropped passes, blown coverages and poor tackling/lack of wrap-ups. However, it cannot and should not be overlooked. Several times last season – after taking a closer look at officiating in particular games – it drew more attention from us here and sometimes, we included picture proof with our writes. This time, there’s game tape, where you can watch wideouts get held way after five yards and the first two lines of Big Blue defense get put in full Nelson’s as they attempt to get to their assignments.
Why focus again on this matter of replacements? It’s not going away anytime soon.
"Consistency is the most important thing with officiating…officiating is not perfect, but we believe that we have the best officials and that we can get better, and that's what we're trying to do long-term," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said recently.
How many are still buying what the commish is still selling? Seriously. The NFL and Goodell claim they will continue to evaluate every play (official by official) to see if they’ve made the right calls. Mmm’kay. Then what? It’s after the fact. The game/s is/are in the books.
As teams prepare for their respective upcoming seasons, so should the NFL, accordingly. For this past Wednesday’s regular ’12 season opener between the New York Football Giants and Dallas Cowboys, the NFL put an officiating crew on the field at MetLife Stadium that happened to be headed by Jim Core. Mr. Core is a replacement official and his past “officiating” resume consists of stretches in the Frontier Conference and Arena2 Football. Frontier Conference. Anyone? Yeah – it’s a division of college football in Montana and Oregon that most of our readers probably have never heard of.
Head Referee Core had to take a few days off from his full time job as an activities director at Sawtooth Middle School in Meridian, Idaho (with the principal’s—who has officiated Frontier Conference games with Core over the last five years—permission, of course).
"I think it's a great opportunity for him,'' Sawtooth principal Kevin Leishman told the Idaho Statesman. “He will take a day off here and there, it's not a conflict.''
So he’s not even all in to this NFL ref thing, even if it is as a replacement. Might we suggest a sabbatical?
Even though this guy has been endorsed by [Neil Peterson] the supervisor of officials for the Frontier Conference, Core is levels below NFL-caliber officiating.
"[Core] is a competent official. He does a great job in our conference,'' stated Peterson.
Is that enough for you for a head judge? Imagine the guys “under” him.
Just as players that don’t practice/play together regularly don’t gel right away, neither would these replacements. Playbooks take time to learn. An NFL Rulebook should too. Something needs to get done quickly or all 32 teams (keep an eye on games this weekend) are going to have to overcome that 12th man on all sides of the ball again.
photo credit: jotefa via photo pin cc
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Good piece Jen.
I’m going to repeat what I said the day after that game: if Goodell doesn’t bring in the real officials the Giants are in trouble because their fundamental strengths are their quarterback-to-wide-receiver throwing game and their pass rush, and both were neutralized by holding by the Cowboys that wasn’t called. There were so many obvious calls that weren’t made in that game it was ridiculous.
Does anyone really believe that Tony Romo was just so elusive that we could only sack him once all game? What, did he suddenly get much quicker over the course of this off-season? And does anyone believe that neither Hakeem Nicks nor Victor Cruz could get serious separation on a consistent basis from the people Dallas had in their defensive backfield? Yeah, a rookie was going to adequately cover either of them. If you believe that, and you don’t think holding explains just about all of the above, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.
This is a SERIOUS problem, and the media, idiots that they are, really didn’t do an even decent job of exposing it after the game, so Goodell has so far escaped the pressure he should be feeling. These owners are going to ruin this season because they don’t want to spend a few millions more out of a multi-billion revenue base to get decent officiating. It’s a disgrace.
The press in general is reporting that the giant/cowboy game was well officiated so our gripes will look increasingly like sour grapes b!thing as the season progresses
Moreover, aren’t we always complaining about the absence of holding calls on our D-Line? Was it really that much worse than normal?
There was the hold on Cruz at the goal line and lots of physical play beyond 5 yards past the LOS, but that happens often in regularly officiated games as well
There were simply no obviously blown calls on which the game turned and that’s enough for the NFL
We better get used to it and so should the Giants
Hopefully this will not be like 87 where the giants refused to take the replacement games seriously and spotted the conference 3 games before staggering home at 6-6, 6-9 overall, and missing the playoffs
The rel refs are not going to return until either they cave or something truly disastrous happens
And if the replacement refs have been told to call very little unless it is super flagrant, then the NFL can ride this puppy quite a ways I fear
Today there is a full slate of games that count in the standings. We will have a much broader sample from which to scrutinize. Initial impressions are strong so how things go today will have a large impact on how things pan out in the current labor dispute. All it will take is one game deciding call today to light the fuse.
Or lack of call.
Not sure “real” refs would have mattered much. We wouldnt have gotten a single snap off without a penalty. Our O-Line held as much as Ive ever seen, I can only imagine what happens if 50% of those holds were called.
Holding is really a penalty of the past, at least on offense. The oldsters will recall a time when the hands had to be in on ones own chest and blocking could be done only with braced forearms. Once the rule changed to allow hands to be used it was only time until grabbing was permitted. Now, about the only thing that rates as holding is taking a defensive player to the ground or reaching and grabbing after the player has gotten by you. But if you keep your defender in front of you and upright you can basically grab and hold at will
A thing of the past? I didn’t know that. When did they ban it?
After they called it on Kevin Boothe in the Super Bowl?
Holding by the offensive line that’s let go is one thing. Seeing our D-Line get choked out from behind on quite a few plays (JPP, Kiwi primarily) is what prompted part of this write. I watched Keith Rivers make an awesome one-handed tackle even though Witten was holding him the entire time. No call. Collinsworth praised the refs one moments and then took it back moments later…for a reason. Many of the holdings/calls weren’t called until the 4th qtr when Kiwi and a fired-up Coughlin were on the field in the ref’s faces screaming and gesturing about the holds. Ignorance is one thing the media loves to wrap itself in when things like sides (NFL vs. NFLPA/NFLRA) are concerned. No one wants to go one record as picking “for” the NFL or the representing association. Meanwhile, as things are covered up (see what Mike Pereira HAS gone on record with), WE and TEAMS suffer.
Granted, the outcome of THIS game may not have been affected by these replacements, but keep an eye on the games this weekend…a least ONE may very well be.
While you MUST fight through bad officiating, I don’t agree that the outcome wasn’t affected. A good number of the Cowboys’ best plays were made when Romo escaped the pocket and then found an open receiver because he had extra time thanks to the outrageous amount of holding (including from behind) on our pass rushers who were given no chance to get to him even after the pocket had broken down.
As they watch the game tape I sure hope the Giants’ coaching staff is telling the players to go WAY over the line in regard to legal play because the line they have learned to respect ain’t the line right now.
No matter what you think about this situation, it is inescapable that the owners are acting like greedy pigs and sending a clear message to the players’ association that they’d better toe the line or they’ll get the same treatment. They could settle this dispute with the zebras in an hour if they’d pay them a little more and allow officials who weren’t up to snuff to have a few chances at formal retraining before dismissing them. The money is a rounding error in $12 billion of revenues.
“May not have been affected”…we were STILL about to over come most of them. Again.
I refuse to blame this game on th refs, but I feel it’s comin’… Howie Long JUST reiterated my points. I almost fell out.
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