Well, it was bound to happen. With replacement officiating entering its third OH-SO-PAINFUL week, it finally, unequivocally cost a team a game.
With seconds left on the clock, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson launched a ball deep into the Monday Night lights and into the arms of Green Bay Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings. Side judge Lance Easley, apparently oblivious to the fact that Jennings was wearing green and yellow instead of (ugh) aquamarine and neon green and sea-foam (?), signaled touchdown and halfway across the country, thousands of television sets were pelted by cheese curds and empty bottles of Leinenkugels.
And there were a million instantaneous explanations.
Jennings shared possession of the ball with Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and, well, tie goes to the runner and all that jazz.
Only this certainly didn’t appear to be a tie. M.D. Jennings—excellent name for a television show about a doctor, by the way—pretty clearly had that ball all to himself before Tate got his doughnut thieving paws on it.
This should have been an interception and a touchback, and a Packers victory.
And there are those who say, “Well, you know what? The Packers shouldn’t have even BEEN in that position. They sucked hard for four full quarters, so they didn’t deserve to win.”
Well perhaps not, but that’s flawed, playground logic and in this situation, it’s completely irrational.
The Chiefs played like dehydrated monkey dung on Sunday for a majority of the game and won it in OT in what ended up being a fluke of a contest. Does that mean it’s not a win? No—it’s still a win. (Just not a very confident one.)
So the Packers got screwed and in a sport where playoff implications are determined by quarters and sometimes even singular plays, erroneously losing an entire game due to a blown call is monumental. Suffice it to say, Packers fans, players and personnel are less than happy about the outcome.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Packers’ vice president of sales and marketing Tim Connolly said, “That was the most horse (bleep) thing I’ve ever seen.”
Packers guard TJ Lang—who will almost certainly be fined an unheard of amount—tweeted “Got fucked by the refs.. Embarrassing. Thanks nfl.”
He followed that up with a solution: “Fuck it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.”
Tight End Jermichael Finley tweeted, “@nfl Cheap as hell!! Get us some NFL REFS! Not PEE WEE league refs! But it’s all Abt the Saints!”
Rookie linebacker Dezman Moses—perhaps the smartest of the bunch—stated simply, “I’m staying off twitter for the night for my own good. Thanks again for all the support. #gopackgo.”
So what’s the takeaway here? This doesn’t validate anything for anyone who’s been paying attention. Fans have known from day one that the replacement refs were awful so this comes as no surprise. Similarly, fans and pundits have been stating the obvious for just as long: “These fill-in ass-clowns are going to cost someone a game.” Well, congrats, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, they finally did.
Much to the Packers’ chagrin, we can’t go back in time and right this wrong. You can’t take a victory away from an undeserving team, you can’t somehow make this a tie and you can’t have a do-over. So you’re left with what it is: an epic double-black-eye on an already bruised and battered opponent.
So the only thing that can be done is to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. I don’t care if the real-refs are requesting to be paid as much as the players and demanding a bee-jay from Sofia Vergara during every halftime, THE NFL MUST MEET THEIR EVERY DEMAND.
Because here’s what’s going to happen: all of this scrapping after the whistle that is currently going unchecked due to frightened referees is going to erupt into an orgy of unsanctioned violence that would make the Pistons-Pacers blush, or a referee is going to get punched in the mouth by a player eight times his size.
It’s almost a foregone conclusion at this point, and I highly doubt Goodell wants ref-blood on his hands, even if it IS less-than-human, fake-ref blood.
Pay these guys, NOW.
Shocking news from the NFL.
I saw that. They just keep shoveling on the BS, don’t they? They never even actually address the call itself– saying only that they support the conclusion that it not be overturned.
Awful, awful, awfulness.
I didn’t even touch on Goodell’s precious “player safety” in this article… with a fearful attitude about getting a call wrong, these idiots are going to end up getting a player murdered.
I’m convinced that Goodell’s goal is to leave his mark on the game — it has nothing to do with “player safety” and everything to do with his legacy. Shameful…
Absolutely, 100% agreed.
In regards to the game, at least Russell Wilson will go into the record books….As the first NFL Quarterback to throw a game winning interception.
Honey Badger Goodell don’t care, send in the zebra clowns…
This is greatest:
Replacement Google
CenturyLink Field in Seattle, September 24, 2012 the date –
The Pack could taste victory, but no, ’twas not to be their fate …
Done in by “the hand of God” in the form of Seahawk Golden Tate;
Reception? Interception? Football fans heatedly debate the call
Even as the replacement referees prepare to “take the fall” …
Looks like the regular refs may have the last laugh after all.
I kinda like the new NFL refs. It makes gambling on the games fucking crazy.
These are clowns that got fired from the Lingerie Football League ferchrisakes!!!
I love it!!!!! 🙂
Admittedly, it has been kind of funny… but only because I haven’t lost any money on it, nor has it had a big impact on any team I cheer for… oh, and nobody has died, yet.
There IS something to be said for compromising the intergrity of the game, though. Now obviously, as long as fans are still paying for games and merch, the NFL doesn’t care, but it’s fun to wonder what could happen if diehard fans give up on games they consider “meaningless.”
Oh, and according to sources, the real refs could be back as soon as this weekend.
Having referees that are temporary and lower paid is bad for the integrity of the game. What would stop one of these rent-a refs from getting bribed and deliberately affecting the outcome of a game? It would be really tempting if someone offered a big chunk of money to one of them to do so!
“What would stop one of these rent-a refs from getting bribed and deliberately affecting the outcome of a game?”
Nothing, and if you’re listening in the right places, you’ll hear grumbles that this kind of thing might already have happened.
And yeah, some of the news that has been coming out re: the replacement refs has been pretty hilarious: a diehard Saints fan wearing team apparel on his Facebook page, refs w/ players they’re officiating over on their fantasy football teams. Crazy.
Somebody made a great comment somewhere that I just recently came across: this is going to make one hell of a “30 for 30” in about 5 years.
It only makes sense. It would be hard to prove if one of them affected a game on purpose. Everyone would just chalk it up to incompitence. They aren’t worried about getting fired for doing a bad job because they are getting fired fairly soon anyway. Basically, there is no accountability.
Brandon your wrong 100% on this one. I didnt have time to read it, but Harley is right all the time, 100%, so your still wrong.
pooped my pants