The Double Standard

Today, many NFL games are decided by the slimmest of margins and often quite simply who can do the best job of limiting mistakes. In a sport where eleven guys are trying to work together and do their job better than eleven other guys can do theirs, mistakes happen on almost every play. Coaches make mistakes at all levels. Players make mistakes. In fact, we’ve reached the point where players are fined and penalized for avoiding questions from the media about their mistakes. The public has a long memory; I’m sure that every real sports fan can tell you about a handful of mistakes in their team’s history (if not many more) that have been eating away at the fan base ever since. Mistakes are a part of the game and a part of humanity, and we should not expect them to disappear anytime soon.

There is one exception, however. For some reason, big league commissioners decided long ago that they were going to try to convince the athletes and the general public that for some reason, putting on a black and white striped referee shirt eliminates human error. In baseball, players and coaches are subject to ejection for questioning a call. In basketball, players are given technical fouls and again subject to ejection and possibly a suspension. In football, it is much less common to see a big dispute over a call. Usually the home fans either yell expletives at the referee or rejoice. Before the coach’s challenge, that was pretty much it. The coach’s challenge and instant replay reduces the error by a little, but not enough. Subjective penalties are called and not called which changes the game and goes unnoticed.

Two Sundays ago, the Giants dominated the Raiders in every facet of the game. With the offense clicking, the defense shut down the Raiders offense. Were it not for a horrendous call that gave the Raiders a first down inside the Giants’ 5 yard line, the Giants would have forced four turnovers while allowing only six first downs enough to earn them a second shutout in the season. Nobody has talked about that since the game.

So why do we try to fool ourselves into thinking referees are perfect? Where do referees go after the game when players are forced to sit through press conferences with people desperate to turn any offhanded remark into a front page headline? The NFL, just like so many other leagues, is afraid to admit a failure. It’s sad, but it is true.

Here is my proposal. Considering we keep track of every statistic in sports, why don’t we examine how accurately referees call their games. Moreover, why don’t we give refs a chance to explain their calls to the media instead of the awkward long-winded explanations that get drowned in boos and cheers. Doesn’t the current system, if nothing else, only provide conspiracy theorists with a legitimate reason to wonder if games are fixed? There have been bad calls. There have been great calls. The important thing to remember is that the men officiating the games are human and should be treated as such. If they make a mistake, they should be held accountable for it. Refs gets paid to cite mistakes of players; surely players should be allowed to voice their opinions about possible mistakes of the referees.

The Raiders were given a second chance after Fargas’s fumble. Last Monday Night, Will Allen was called for pass interference against Braylon Edwards out of nowhere. It turned out to help the Dolphins and ultimately give them the precise amount of time they needed to win the game. In yesterday’s excuse for a game between the Giants and the Saints, Corey Webster was flagged for pass interference merely because New Orleans receiver Marques Colston tripped over his own feet. Questionable officiating gave the Dallas Cowboys the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX instead of the Indianapolis Colts. From a more personal memory that still brings pain to any real Giants fan, who can forget the flagrant pass interference no call in the Giants 49ers 2003 playoff game that changed the culture of New York Giants football until Week 16 of the 2007 season when Ahmad Bradshaw’s 88 yard touchdown run in Buffalo shifted the momentum back to our favor.

Who were these mysterious men in the black and white shirts that robbed our teams? The NFL even issued an apology to the Giants for the blown call in the 49ers game. But what's an apology in the record books? Nobody really took the blame for a bad call until Ed Hochuli last season. Hochuli is my favorite referee right now. Nobody else can silence the crowd for as long as Hochuli.

I feel that publicizing everything is a much better approach. Commentators can and do assess the calls. How can we exclude the players and coaches from doing the same? I feel that giving the public a chance to interact with the referees, the furious fans whose team got the short end of the stick will feel, if nothing else, at least a little better that someone with a name and a face owned up to a mistake.