NamVet4
10-03-2003, 02:56 PM
The 1st Sunday of the fall season and our beloved Redskins held off the New England Patriots. I have always thought of the New England states as “fall “country; autumnal colors cascading down mountain slopes as the trees shed their summer cloak. And, the slightest hint of crystal blue ice forming on the lakes and streams.
New England, to me, only exists in the fall, disappearing into the gray mists for the rest of the year. And like their homeland, the Patriots, pre-season prima donnas, came to Washington and disappeared after a few flashes of brilliance. The Redskins achieved another win, albeit one filled with heart stopping and heart breaking moments. Our team is still plagued by penalties, nothing that a healthy dose of discipline can’t cure; and miscues, which can be corrected by the coaching staff.
Then, of course, the Team did have to endure “The Call”!
So who or what is responsible for the infamous “The Call”?
Was it the referee’s; those ministers of athletic justice who are called upon to interpret split second action in front of roaring crowds of fanatical fans? Men who during the week lead calm ordinary lives are suddenly immersed in the cauldron of the gridiron, a roiling mass of flesh colliding with one another and the ground all in the matter of a few seconds! What a way to make a few bucks in a part time job! These part timers who are supposed to officiate in the background are cautioned: “Let them play the game”. The game goes forward until Fate drags the referees from their obscurity, thrusting them in front of the screaming throng clamoring for justice. Do we have the right to expect the right call each and every time? Do we have the right to expect that the high-priced, full time athletes will determine who wins or looses? Is it time, as some have suggested, for the NFL to employ full time referees to insure the competency of these non athletes who impact the outcome of the game?
Was it Instant Replay; the technology designed to maintain fairness on the playing field and correct the human error? The on field action, once lost to the fuzzy confines of mans memory is now instantly preserved in crystal clear bits and bytes of electronic memory. Forever available for continuous, agonizing, frame-by-frame review, these frozen tenths of a second are projected into the light of scrutiny and interpretation. But now Instant Replay is like the sword of Damocles, hung by a single hair over the referees, poised to impale them when any coach or member of the replay team question their judgment. But this is a double-edged sword. Instant Replay can be a cure for error or a blanket for incompetency.
And after all of this electronic wizardry, it still comes down to rules interpretation.
Was it the NFL Rules committee that was conceived and born to ensure a fair game while maintaining integrity and protecting high priced athletes? A rules committee that is, if you believe what they say about themselves, one of the best in professional sports. Is their concept of fair the same as that which was practiced over 130 years ago on a green sward in a little known New Jersey town; home to an Ivy League college who thought it would be fun on a Saturday afternoon to watch young men exercise physical prowess by moving a pigskin up and down a newly mown field? The NFL, in reality, has ambiguous and tortuous rules and sub rules piled higher and higher in their voluminous tomes. Rules propagated by an instinctive greed. Rules are changed to make the game more appealing to the fans, which generate income, which in turn allows the owners to make a profit! The NFL long ago gave up its birthright as pure sport.
Were the owners, who continuously debate the merits of Instant Replay and tinker with the rules in name of “making it a better game”, the fathers of this fiasco? These are sports barons who desperately want to see the game maintain its acceptance and high visibility among the faithful fanatics who fill their coffers. Will the owners employ the latest technology to disguise their unwillingness to deal with the problem of human error? Will the day come when the “Hal 2000” becomes the mediator of all that transpires on the playing field?
Whatever or whoever is to blame for “The Call” can thank the gods of the gridiron that the game did not hinge on that play nor affect the outcome to the detriment of our beloved Redskins.
So as autumn continues its cycle of life this coming Sunday, I will watch young men express the joy of life through athletic endeavor on a newly mown field of green. I will exult in the gathering of the human mind and body, in a challenge of physical and mental prowess in the City of Brotherly Love. And, having spent my undergraduate years there, I will pay homage to my alma mater by having a Philly cheese steak and a bottle of “pop” at the ready. All the while, as I anticipate the kickoff, a little nagging voice deep in the silent recess of my football soul cries out: “Hey ref, get it right!”
NamVet – from a different point of view...
New England, to me, only exists in the fall, disappearing into the gray mists for the rest of the year. And like their homeland, the Patriots, pre-season prima donnas, came to Washington and disappeared after a few flashes of brilliance. The Redskins achieved another win, albeit one filled with heart stopping and heart breaking moments. Our team is still plagued by penalties, nothing that a healthy dose of discipline can’t cure; and miscues, which can be corrected by the coaching staff.
Then, of course, the Team did have to endure “The Call”!
So who or what is responsible for the infamous “The Call”?
Was it the referee’s; those ministers of athletic justice who are called upon to interpret split second action in front of roaring crowds of fanatical fans? Men who during the week lead calm ordinary lives are suddenly immersed in the cauldron of the gridiron, a roiling mass of flesh colliding with one another and the ground all in the matter of a few seconds! What a way to make a few bucks in a part time job! These part timers who are supposed to officiate in the background are cautioned: “Let them play the game”. The game goes forward until Fate drags the referees from their obscurity, thrusting them in front of the screaming throng clamoring for justice. Do we have the right to expect the right call each and every time? Do we have the right to expect that the high-priced, full time athletes will determine who wins or looses? Is it time, as some have suggested, for the NFL to employ full time referees to insure the competency of these non athletes who impact the outcome of the game?
Was it Instant Replay; the technology designed to maintain fairness on the playing field and correct the human error? The on field action, once lost to the fuzzy confines of mans memory is now instantly preserved in crystal clear bits and bytes of electronic memory. Forever available for continuous, agonizing, frame-by-frame review, these frozen tenths of a second are projected into the light of scrutiny and interpretation. But now Instant Replay is like the sword of Damocles, hung by a single hair over the referees, poised to impale them when any coach or member of the replay team question their judgment. But this is a double-edged sword. Instant Replay can be a cure for error or a blanket for incompetency.
And after all of this electronic wizardry, it still comes down to rules interpretation.
Was it the NFL Rules committee that was conceived and born to ensure a fair game while maintaining integrity and protecting high priced athletes? A rules committee that is, if you believe what they say about themselves, one of the best in professional sports. Is their concept of fair the same as that which was practiced over 130 years ago on a green sward in a little known New Jersey town; home to an Ivy League college who thought it would be fun on a Saturday afternoon to watch young men exercise physical prowess by moving a pigskin up and down a newly mown field? The NFL, in reality, has ambiguous and tortuous rules and sub rules piled higher and higher in their voluminous tomes. Rules propagated by an instinctive greed. Rules are changed to make the game more appealing to the fans, which generate income, which in turn allows the owners to make a profit! The NFL long ago gave up its birthright as pure sport.
Were the owners, who continuously debate the merits of Instant Replay and tinker with the rules in name of “making it a better game”, the fathers of this fiasco? These are sports barons who desperately want to see the game maintain its acceptance and high visibility among the faithful fanatics who fill their coffers. Will the owners employ the latest technology to disguise their unwillingness to deal with the problem of human error? Will the day come when the “Hal 2000” becomes the mediator of all that transpires on the playing field?
Whatever or whoever is to blame for “The Call” can thank the gods of the gridiron that the game did not hinge on that play nor affect the outcome to the detriment of our beloved Redskins.
So as autumn continues its cycle of life this coming Sunday, I will watch young men express the joy of life through athletic endeavor on a newly mown field of green. I will exult in the gathering of the human mind and body, in a challenge of physical and mental prowess in the City of Brotherly Love. And, having spent my undergraduate years there, I will pay homage to my alma mater by having a Philly cheese steak and a bottle of “pop” at the ready. All the while, as I anticipate the kickoff, a little nagging voice deep in the silent recess of my football soul cries out: “Hey ref, get it right!”
NamVet – from a different point of view...