American Football (NFL)
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Hanlon's razor is an adage or rule of thumb that states "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
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So, going back to the script, we have Andy Reid against his former team where he’s the winningest coach they’ve had and Kelce v Kelce. So it’s not that they wouldn’t have wanted him in last year, it’s that they love these stories and bias towards actualizing them, deliberately or not.
Incompetence isn’t enough to explain the outrageous skew between these calls.
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I’ve said on a couple of occasions,in this thread, that sometimes it feels like the refs used to be in the WWE. I know that untold millions are bet on football,but I can’t imagine doing it. Moving forward I don’t know what the answer is. A friend of mine has similar semi conspiracy theories,and I said to him that Godell recently announced that the NFL was on its way to reaching their goal of 25 billion in revenue a year,and in light of that they don’t give a fuck about who’s playing who,as they’re making money faster than if they were printing it themselves.
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@mclaincausey Are you aware of the UFC fight fixing investigation that's going on right now?
No way in the world would the NFL fix games. A lot of money is wagered on these games and anything like that would mean serious jail time and consequences across the league.
A rogue referee is more possible, but still very unlikely with how easily monitorable everyone is. These refs get paid embarrassingly well as it is.
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I’ve never reffed but I don’t take for granted how much easier it is for me to spot fouls from above that it is for someone on the field amongst the action in real time. Human error maybe. At the very least, maybe a desire to either let the game play out in playoff situations or enhanced focus on specific injury related rules.
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@Jett129 The worst part about it, is that the NFL is tax exempt while it is a for profit organization. One of the reasons the US government is going broke. Like my twin says " the players are multimillionaires, the owners are billionaires. They can pay ME to watch them" It's not about competition, its entertainment now.
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Let’s not make excuses—the NFL has a whole team of refs for each game. The NFL doesn’t release what their compensation is, but it isn’t a full-time job. No way it’s much more than a typical upper middle class salary.
Fixing a game deliberately or due to unrecognized bias is really easy in the NFL where there are so few plays and each play is of such consequence. We know that it’s happened in basketball BECAUSE of, not in spite of, gambling interests, so there’s no reason to assume it couldn’t elsewhere. In fact, if historical precedent has shown anything, it’s that sports betting is the main reason games are fixed, as opposed to the main reason they aren’t.
@twin is spot on. Tax exempt, corrupt, taxpayer funded stadiums for billionaires and then they charge a dollar per ounce of beer.
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So as a relatively new transplant to the us and a complete incompetent at fully understanding nfl who are the neutrals supporting in the Super Bowl and why?
I’m astounded the nfl is tax exempt by the way!
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@mclaincausey Totally agree. A weekend never goes by without some questionable calls. And the Patriots comeback in SB 51 flies in the face of credability. Goodell's remarks a few days ago were totally tone deaf.
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I think I would be classed as neutral - a UK-based, long-standing Jets fan
The betting is extremely close - the spread is about 1.5 pts, but I think Philadelphia will have the smarts to get the job done. For some reason, not convinced by the Chiefs. Jalen Hurts to be MVP seems a no brainier at close to evens.
All this from someone who has been to Philly, and seen them dump majorly on the Mets. I know, I know, who hasn’t in recent years…? I bear a grudge…
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Finally we get a good game, because the refs are letting the players play. It’s setting up to be an all-time classic. And for the second year in the row, they ruin the game by denying a team the opportunity for a dramatic game winning drive with a garbage call. The NFL just sucks. I’m out.
Didn’t even have a dog in the fight, and Philly made enough mistakes to lose. Their D was exposed and they were outcoached. But they deserved a chance for Hurts to write his name into the history books.
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I agree that was a bullshit call. That was a moment I won't soon forget. Such a ticky tack penalty on what ended up being the game decider. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, and puts a bit of an asterisk on what was an otherwise fun game to watch (save the fact that KC D/ST couldn't stop Jalen Hurts from running 17 plays and taking up the entire 3rd quarter).
As a Vikings fan, I detest the Eagles but i can admit they deserved a chance at the end there. The ref's took too much control.
On the other hand, I do think that Miles Sanders caught that ball and made a football move, which would have been a fumble 6 for KC and made this a mostly moot point.
One thing the NFL got right was keeping the camera off Brittany Mahomes and Jackson Mahomes. They are annoying.
lastly, the halftime show was absolute trash.
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The league wants the story of the game to be Mahomes and overcoming his (at least exaggerated) injury as they seek the post-Brady King of Football.
It could have been that, or a heroic come-from-behind drive by Hurts.
Instead, it's that officiating once again had at least an outsized impact on the outcome of a championship game, now for the FOURTH TIME IN A ROW (last year's SB, same thing happened to Cincy, then this year's conference championships, then the SB).
This is not a watchable sport anymore for me.
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You don’t throw that flag. Most people agree. You CAN, but you don’t. Not one DPI or defensive hold the entire game (and they could be called on just about every play), and that’s when they call it? On a ball that Mahomes wasn’t even trying to make catchable?
Not to mention the inexcusable state of the turf. The NFL biffed this one.
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@SKT it's not that they shouldn't call fouls late in the game, it's that the consensus is that the ref's were leaning toward "finding" a penalty to call to keep that drive alive for them. The contact barely slowed the WR down (though your screen shot shows a jersey grab), the ball completely uncatchable.
I do however think the ref's gave Goedert that sideline catch that was bobbled before he had control and went out of bounds. That was one that went for the Eagles. the fumble I mentioned earlier went to the Eagles too, and I thought that was call was incorrect.
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That's a straw man. The argument was never to stop officiating contested games late. The argument is that, if they have been swallowing the whistle on calls like that the entire game, why stop in a circumstance that gift wraps the game for one of the teams?
I can tell you that every take that I've seen from an unbiased observer lines up with what Jeff and I are saying. Eagles fans have been pretty accepting it seems like, and focus on what their team did to lose the game, which was a lot. The rest of us without a dog in the fight want the game to resolve of its own accord and not to be denied the high drama of a late drive to go for the tie or win, in lieu of a clock kill and field goal, which is a comparatively lame way to end a game, even versus the Eagles going 4 and out against an amped up Chiefs D on a final drive.
It feels like an instant classic was turned at the last minute into a game that will only be remembered for that call.
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You guys are both being being very thoughtful with your responses and I want to do the same. I think what I’m having trouble with is the idea that you (neutral fan) expect the NFL refs to officiate the game in a way that maximizes your (neutral fans) entertainment. Also I didn’t see a bunch of similar holds that didn’t get called…maybe I should rewatch.
I think at the core I’m still just not on board with the idea the NFL actively pursues a preferred outcome by giving the refs instructions to help one team over another I just don’t see how that’s possible (again I may be naive).
