Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders was no fun to watch. It was great that the Steelers won 35 -3. But the referees were ruining the game with terrible officiating. The game had no flow. It was mundane and hard to watch. The crowd chanted " Refs Suck!" throughout the game. The penalty called on James Harrison for a clean hit on Jason Campbell was for landing, and I quote, "with full body weight on top of him". I personally have never heard of that penalty. It's like they are making up rules as they go. Earlier calls on Ryan Clark and LeMarr Woodley, both for 15 yards each, were equally egregious. I have stated in this blog before that I do not like to comment on officiating. I have always felt that it is just an argument that cannot be won, that you cannot come to a definitive conclusion. But after Sunday's game, I had to comment.
Actually, you can not fully blame the refs. This problem comes from the front office. Fuhrer Roger Goodell's Field Marshall, Herr Ray Anderson, is putting tons of pressure on the refs. They are throwing flags because they are afraid of missing a call and getting disciplined themselves. Ron Cook wrote a great article in the Post Gazette about the whole subject. There are claims that the NFL is targeting the Steelers. I don't think that is true. The Steelers have been the darlings of the NFL for years. However, they are targeting James Harrison. I believe the refs have been told to watch his every move, and they are. One can also argue that he brought it upon himself with his comments after the aforementioned Browns game.
"I don't want to see anyone injured. But I am not opposed to hurting anyone. There's a difference. When you're injured, you can't play. But when you're hurt, you can shake it off and come back. I try to hurt people."
As recently as last year, those comments would have been heroic. He would have been admired for such an attitude. This year, he is admonished and branded a thug. It's just not right. Big hits made this game the most popular sport in America. Harrison is a physical player, not a dirty one. The Steelers are a physical team, not a dirty one.
What do you think this guy would say about all this?
I'd love to hear his opinion.
I did reads Jack Hamm's opinion. "It should come down to common sense." He said, "The officials should know what's a dirty hit and what is not."
Amen Jack.
It appears Goodell is blind to what his policies are doing to this great sport. But he is not. He is looking at the bigger picture. He is looking ahead to the upcoming collective bargaining agreement in March with the NFLPA. He and the owners want an 18 game season. The players are against it. The players are concerned with more injuries. They also want better medical benefits for NFL veterans. Goodell is playing the safety card now to weaken the union's position in March. Deep down, safety isn't Goodell's highest priority. He has no morality, he's a lawyer. He knows it's hard for the players to take a safety stance on the schedule, and argue for more benefits, and be against the new crack down on physical play. He is positioning himself to look like the good guy. And positioning the union to look like hypocrites. Although, I will predict that one major point of contention will be Goodell's power. Another point will be the process for establishing fines. We may not have football in 2011 my friends. A lockout or strike is quite possible.
So let me answer the question again. When did physical become dirty? I'll change my answer. Physical became dirty when money got further involved. Let's face facts. At the end of the day, money is what this is really all about. And we all know who is really behind this: Evil Spock!!
I wrote this over a year ago. Man, how relevant it is now!
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