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Jobu discusses the return of the NFL referees.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the referees. They probably deserve everything they’ve been asking for this whole time, and the NFL came off pretty douchey throughout the entire endeavor anyway. I know everyone got all fired up about the blown call at the end of the Seattle, Green Bay game. I know it was the worst call in the history of calls, and the refs that made it are all Division I or Lingerie Football League rejects. I know all of this. Guess what? this coming Sunday, one of the real refs is going to make a mistake that costs someone a game, and no one will have the replacement tag to hide behind.

Remember when the real refs were perfect and made every call correctly? I certainly don’t. Why do you think the NFL allows challenges now? If the real refs are so perfect and great, we wouldn’t need challenges, we wouldn’t have tuck rules and we certainly never would have had the coin toss game. Remember that? When a real professional ref messed up the ceremonial tossing of a coin? Do you know what it takes to screw up a coin toss? You have to throw it in the air, listen for someone to say one of two words (heads or tails), wait for the coin to land and figure out if you’re looking at the front or the back of the coin. A real ref messed that up. In a playoff game, no less!

We all remember Ed “Hercules” Hochuli awful call in 2008. It cost the San Diego Chargers that game… remember? I mean I know that professionally trained refs are going to make less mistakes than replacement former porn shop janitors or whatever (note: hypothetical. I don’t think any replacement refs actually came from that profession). But those catastrophic mistakes have been made by every ref or umpire in every major sport for as long as leagues have existed. Why do you think most stadiums play “Three Blind Mice” when the refs come out? It’s because we hate refs for not being perfect machines. They’re human, and they make mistakes.

Let the Gun Show continue, cuz Hercules is back! (Foxsports)

I will say though, that mistakes on little plays will probably take a huge down swing. I don’t think Hercules is going to count off a penalty from the wrong 44 yard line. I don’t think Harold Reynolds Referee (I don’t know his real name) is going to make as many little errors as were made by these crews. That’s where, I feel, the difference will be felt most. Huge catastrophic errors will still be made, but if we can smooth out the little ones, I think the league is better off.

The Giants weren’t burned by any bad calls from replacements, so maybe that’s a lot of the reason why I don’t really care that they were being employed, but I really didn’t notice. I kind of liked that the scrubs were making some terrible calls, because it helped to embarrass the league. Roger Goodell, although I like the way he’s handled some situations, has become a little too big for his britches. I think the Monday Night Debacle was terrible, but it proved to be the necessary travesty that got the two parties back to the negotiating table, where they ultimately fixed the issue.

Welcome back refs. I can’t wait to hate you exactly as much as I used to. But damn it will I respect you. Well, more than the guy who used to mop up at the peep shows… (still kidding… at least as far as I know).

Just for fun, here’s the play from Monday

Martin Stezano

About Martin Stezano

Uruguayan born and American raised with a unique perspective on the domestic and international sports scenes. It will both tickle your funny bone and enlighten your mind. Love it or hate it...just read it.