Offline
You know how players and coaches are mandated to give media interviews or at least be available for them? Do the same thing for the referee crews after games end. Force them to explain their rationale for the pathetic calls made during the game before the league office has a chance in to write the narrative for them.
You think the exodus of officials after last season was some random event? No. They realized how much blame and hatred was getting focused on them because the league keeps making and changing rules that are nearly impossible for the officials to apply consistently throughout an entire game, much less an entire season. Cool, you can't handle the job. Take a hike. But if you're going to take the job, you should be put in front of the mics and cameras since you're now just as important to the outcome of many games as players and coaches are.
The two 3rd down missed DPI calls in the fourth quarter killed scoring drives (or at least reduced the points scored on those drives) which woulda coulda put the game out of reach had both been called correctly. Any intern for a newspaper who watched that game yesterday could have asked the referees questions for a half hour about the final blown call for a half hour with how much was riding on that blown call.
They are the only people involved with the game that aren't publicly held accountable for their performance while at the same time they, more often than not, have just as much of an influence on the outcome as anyone else involved with the game. Accountability is the name of the game and the refs have gotten away with being awful for far too long. Put them in front of the press and force them to take responsibility for the calls they made - both good and bad.
You think the exodus of officials after last season was some random event? No. They realized how much blame and hatred was getting focused on them because the league keeps making and changing rules that are nearly impossible for the officials to apply consistently throughout an entire game, much less an entire season. Cool, you can't handle the job. Take a hike. But if you're going to take the job, you should be put in front of the mics and cameras since you're now just as important to the outcome of many games as players and coaches are.
The two 3rd down missed DPI calls in the fourth quarter killed scoring drives (or at least reduced the points scored on those drives) which woulda coulda put the game out of reach had both been called correctly. Any intern for a newspaper who watched that game yesterday could have asked the referees questions for a half hour about the final blown call for a half hour with how much was riding on that blown call.
They are the only people involved with the game that aren't publicly held accountable for their performance while at the same time they, more often than not, have just as much of an influence on the outcome as anyone else involved with the game. Accountability is the name of the game and the refs have gotten away with being awful for far too long. Put them in front of the press and force them to take responsibility for the calls they made - both good and bad.