Fan in San Diego Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 PI calls (and other penalties) are not reviewable. The PI call is so punitive that it should be a reviewable call. I think Kirwan's plan is that all call's are reviewed upstairs to verify them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) The NFL is a sham. I don't believe it is a conspiracy, it's just a product of the policies, the rules, the salaries, the gambling, the owners, the players, and the fans (and probably some things I missed). Somehow, it's become crap. I had that feeling yesterday as well, and I never had it before (it's nothing to do with the Bills.There have been 14 consecutive seasons that ended just as poorly, but I never had this feeling then). It was the Pats-Browns game, and the sham of the way it ended, and the ridiculous way penalties were doled out in every game I watched. Edited December 10, 2013 by Marauder'sMicro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThurmasThoman Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 The NFL is a sham. I don't believe it is a conspiracy, it's just a product of the policies, the rules, the salaries, the gambling, the owners, the players, and the fans (and probably some things I missed). Somehow, it's become crap. I had that feeling yesterday as well, and I never had it before (it's nothing to do with the Bills.There have been 14 consecutive seasons that ended just a poorly, but I never had this feeling then). It was the Pats-Browns game, and the sham of the way it ended, and the ridiculous way penalties were doled out in every game I watched. This. This is exactly the point i was trying to make with this thread. Too me, for whatever reason, the NFL has always seemed larger than life. A violent chess game played between super human athletes to determine the general feeling of happiness in the 32 most important cities in America. It was (is) a true cultural phenomenon--EVERYONE knows what football is, and EVERYONE knows how popular it is--regardless of if you think baseball is America's past time, or soccer is the world's sport. It's now been turned into a complete "production". Every aspect of it is so legislated, it's missing that SPARK, that violence, that spontaneity, that excitement, that drama, that unbelievable feeling that you just saw something incredible while the whole world was watching. To this DAY I remember Bills/Pats, 1998, pass interference. That was one call 15 years ago. SAME call has happened how many times this season in the final minute? Off the top of my head: bills panthers, bills falcons, patriots browns, patriots panthers. IDK man... all I can tell you is that I have lived and breathed this sport for a long time... and it's starting to feel pretty forced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHILL Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I've been saying this for quite a while now. The only way I can explain the wildly inconsitent calls made in most every game, calls that extend drives or end them, is the league wants it that way. The storylines and manufactured hype is pretty well predictable with the calls. Rarely do the refs give scores. The teams still have to take advantage of the situation the refs put them in, but the refs give teams like the pats every chance and then some to make those plays. This has been going on forever.... The sad part is the last 13 years every time we mention it some jerk says it's sour grapes. No, actually it's true and has happened countless times. Good teams get the calls. Buffalo got the calls in the 90's. Anybody remember playing the Dolphins and getting hosed on calls in the 70's? The refs in the NFL are consistently inconsistent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Perhaps you have missed them, but there have been some great games this year. I don't buy the NFL Sunday ticket to watch the Bills. I buy it to watch a good game when the Bills are playing like crap. Which is what they have done for the last 14 years. Dick Jauron got it wrong, its not tough to win in the NFL. Its tough to be a Buffalo Bills fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 It's really not about the Bills for me. It's mostly the rules, and the arbitrary enforcement. I am honestly beginning to NOT want the Bills to get a sack because I worry any contact with a QB is a possible penalty. Any incidental contact with his helmet (ANY, a brush from the back of the pinky, the bottom of a facemask resting on top of his helmet at the end of a tackle, ANYTHING) can be called and turn a game around. Some will say that potential has always been there, but now it seems to be happening with regularity. I would actually prefer that you only had to TOUCH the QB for a sack. Again, I don't believe it's a coordinated conspiracy, it's just a sum of the circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 The PI call is so punitive that it should be a reviewable call. I think Kirwan's plan is that all call's are reviewed upstairs to verify them. Every flag would be reviewed? Oy, what a horrible idea. Games would last forever--and it would only cover the called penalties, not the "missed calls". Why have refs on the field at all? Why not have a team of refs "upstairs" reviewing EVERY play for ANY penalty and calling down to the field to stop play and administer the penalty. Every hold, every hands to the face, etc. How would that be better? Make PI a 15 yard penalty. Problem solved. Works in college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I don't know how you !@#$ up the NFL, but they have. I am done with it. 1:00 games used to be over at 3:40. Now they go until 4:30-5:00 beacause all the **** commercials they pack in. There is no flow. They go after helmet to helmet- now knee injuries have doubled since two years ago. Can you say unattended consequences? The NFL is control freaks, who have no sense of humor, or tolerance for celebrations or exuberance. They mess with rules- such as moving kickoff up or in the grasp, etc citing player safety. Then the hypocrites schedule Thursday games for more revenue, with no regard for players safety. They make $5 billion a year in revenues, yet pay no taxes. And for the love of God, can they stop with the contrived drama and stop trying to turn the NFL into american idol. The NFL sucks now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloWings Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Perhaps you have missed them, but there have been some great games this year. I don't buy the NFL Sunday ticket to watch the Bills. I buy it to watch a good game when the Bills are playing like crap. Which is what they have done for the last 14 years. Dick Jauron got it wrong, its not tough to win in the NFL. Its tough to be a Buffalo Bills fan. This is why I stick with the RedZone channel on Sundays. If the Bills are on in my area, I watch them. If the game turns sour, I flip to RZ to watch different games and ones that are potentially exciting (BAL-MIN, for example). There are a number of things that have been bugging me about the league these days...overboard with protecting players, suspect officiating, reviewing everything under the sun, you name it. It all seems scripted and done so to help out the larger market teams. Heck, you could make a case for the league helping the Bills lose enough that they get them to move to LA (don't get me started on LA having or wanting a team) and be in a large market. I just think that the league is trying to change things so much to accommodate everyone that they're shooting themselves in the foot. It's over-regulation and not necessary. This game was great back in the 90s when Tagliabue was running things...let's leave it alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Pro_Bills Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) As my wife and I watched the end of the Cleveland- New England game and the PI flag was thrown I glaced over to her silently and she said 'go ahead and say it'. So I said 'OK, i will. If it was the Bills they would never have thrown that flag for pass interference and we would have lost the game'. Honestly, how many of us feel that way? And truth be told, how many fans of some other also-ran franchises feel that way? The problem is not one of conspiracy but rather of complication and inconsistency. The ref's have too many rules to enforce and they do not consistently call the game team by team for 60 minutes much less call them consistently throughout the league on any Sunday afternoon. Hit on a defenseless receiver? Define defenseless. Is a guy that is catching a touchdown pass getting hit by a safety with a shoulder trying to jar the ball loose defenseless? For some crews and teams yes, for others no. When a WR gets nailed a couple seconds later as the ball sails over his head or a cheap shot out of bounds I can see that call. You know it when you see it. Protect the QB? I understand late, head, and low hits but if you want to protect the QB then you should block better. Why should a defender get a flag simply because he hit the QB 'hard' within the context of the game just as the ball is released? What's the guy supposed to do? Lay down a pillow under him first? Too many rules, too much regulation, too much commericalism, too many games decided by suspect calls rather than football plays is ruining the game and beginning to alienate the core fan. Edited December 10, 2013 by All_Pro_Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Every flag would be reviewed? Oy, what a horrible idea. Games would last forever--and it would only cover the called penalties, not the "missed calls". Why have refs on the field at all? Why not have a team of refs "upstairs" reviewing EVERY play for ANY penalty and calling down to the field to stop play and administer the penalty. Every hold, every hands to the face, etc. How would that be better? Make PI a 15 yard penalty. Problem solved. Works in college. No it wouldn't take long. Pat Kirwan was talking about this yesterday. The NFL headquarters already has a war room setup and watches every call made in every game already! They could make an override decision in 15 seconds. They are going to talk about this at the competition committee this off season. It's coming and thank god because I'm sick of crap calls changing the outcome of a game. The NFL knows they have to correct this to prevent a loss of integrity with the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 No it wouldn't take long. Pat Kirwan was talking about this yesterday. The NFL headquarters already has a war room setup and watches every call made in every game already! They could make an override decision in 15 seconds. They are going to talk about this at the competition committee this off season. It's coming and thank god because I'm sick of crap calls changing the outcome of a game. The NFL knows they have to correct this to prevent a loss of integrity with the game. Again, other than to spot the ball, what would be the role for on the field refs if every flag is to be reviewed off site? And what about missed calls? Will the war room signal the on field ref to stop play for a missed call? Even after the ball has been snapped for the next play? No call will take 15 seconds to review--that has no basis in reality. Can you imagine the outcry if every call is being reviewed? This is a bad plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l< j Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 If they do review everything in NY, even more reason to mandate the same # of cameras at each game. kj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Front Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Who's to say that the war room doesn't already tell the refs how to make the call? Replay has somewhat ruined the game for me. Now they've got it in major league baseball as well. The World Series was almost unbearable to watch this past fall. Imagine how long baseball games are going to take once they have replay review everything in that sport. Their going to kill sports with replay. The thing is, replay is never objective. The guy who watches the replay still has to determine what he sees on the screen. It's such a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I think some of you are losing your minds with respect to the games being fixed. Maybe the reason why you see so many "bad calls" now as opposed to a decade ago has more to do with the NFL fans' ability to literally watch EVERY SINGLE GAME if he/she wants to through the sunday ticket. Years before we were limited to watching 2-3 games on sunday and then watching the highlights on espn for the rest of the games. Now every commercial during the bills game i can watch another game. I can literally take a dump on the toilet and watch a game on my phone. In no other time period in he NFL's history has the game been so accessible to fans. Obviously some of you cant handle it. I think the NFL puts out the best product in american professional sports. Baseball has extremely subjective calls. Basketball has subjective ticky-tack calls and hockey, well nobody cares about hockey for the most part. NFL has subjective calls too, and it always has. The main difference is that now everybody is literally watching every play. Add on the improvement in technology and replays and you get more "scrutiny". Then add on the explosion of social media and combine that with 24/7 sports coverage where shows just keep repeating the topic for 6 days following a game and you get, for some people, over saturation of a product. Not for me though. The nfl remains the most exciting product in american professional sports by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drop Kick Flutie Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Don't compliment yourself. I can't resist commenting on crazy posts. What part of the the game showed you or your friend that "the fix" was in for the SF--Sea game? You know, where the refs made sure the 9ers would win, but not cover a 2.5 point spread. How did they do that? Anyway, Since NE didn't cover, the win didn't change the bookies' take vs if NE lost. They still took all that pats money. As others have pointed out, this is all about the Bills. It was fixed in favor of the browns, but they didnt want to change the outcome of the game, so they gave a makeup call to the pats to deflect suspicion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I think some of you are losing your minds with respect to the games being fixed. Maybe the reason why you see so many "bad calls" now as opposed to a decade ago has more to do with the NFL fans' ability to literally watch EVERY SINGLE GAME if he/she wants to through the sunday ticket. Years before we were limited to watching 2-3 games on sunday and then watching the highlights on espn for the rest of the games. Now every commercial during the bills game i can watch another game. I can literally take a dump on the toilet and watch a game on my phone. In no other time period in he NFL's history has the game been so accessible to fans. Obviously some of you cant handle it. I think the NFL puts out the best product in american professional sports. Baseball has extremely subjective calls. Basketball has subjective ticky-tack calls and hockey, well nobody cares about hockey for the most part. NFL has subjective calls too, and it always has. The main difference is that now everybody is literally watching every play. Add on the improvement in technology and replays and you get more "scrutiny". Then add on the explosion of social media and combine that with 24/7 sports coverage where shows just keep repeating the topic for 6 days following a game and you get, for some people, over saturation of a product. Not for me though. The nfl remains the most exciting product in american professional sports by far. You are out of your mind if you honestly believe that. Watch college football on any given Saturday. 10xs better. Not even close. The NFL is just about unwatchable for me. Even the close games are boring. Watch the NCAA Tournament & tell me that is not more exciting then anything the NFL has to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Agreed on NCAA. Ill watch that for 15 hours sometimes if Hawaii is home. NFL I can barely stomach outside the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 You are out of your mind if you honestly believe that. Watch college football on any given Saturday. 10xs better. Not even close. The NFL is just about unwatchable for me. Even the close games are boring. Watch the NCAA Tournament & tell me that is not more exciting then anything the NFL has to offer. you did notice I said "professional" sports, correct? I did so for a reason. So no, I'm not out of my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papazoid Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 "I think the game has gotten to a great place, and I think its best days are ahead of it." - Roger Goodell How do you see evolution impacting college and youth football? What do you think about the possibility of a cold-weather Super Bowl in two months? Has there been backlash from fans on the new rules that are intended to improve safety? http://www.nflevolution.com/article/roger-goodell-to-receive-national-football-foundation-award?ref=0ap2000000296168 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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