Now that Osama Bin Laden is dead, who is the most hated man in America? Another terrorist leader? A presidential candidate? The guy that made that terrible film that is creating such tension? Not even close. The most hated man in America is actually two men – two National League Football refs.
That’s right. I went to sleep last night and left my husband downstairs watching the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks playing football. I am not really into football, but I couldn’t help but notice something odd had happened in last night’s game when I logged into Facebook this morning. There were photo captions of NFL refs that read, “After further review, the runner did not touch second base, Touchdown Celtics” (insinuating that last night’s refs didn’t know if they were refereeing football, baseball, or basketball), photos of Green Bay fans standing outside with signs that read “We were robbed in Seattle,” and people just generally whining and grumbling about a most unfortunate call.
There is unrest in the Middle East and we are on the heels of a hotly debated presidential election, but all that fell to the wayside last night when two NFL refs said that Seattle’s Hail Mary pass was caught by Seattle in the end zone, giving them the win in the final seconds of the game. The only problem was that the ball was caught by not one guy, but two – one on each team. And, to make matters worse, a few more guys piled in there, so there was confusion as to who really caught the ball. The refs called it a touchdown on the field and stood by their call.
Queue mass hysteria in America.
Perhaps the worst part is that this isn’t even these guys regular job. They are replacement refs, no doubt pulled from the elementary school football field if you ask a Packer fan. The regular official refs are on strike over labor disputes.
It seems as if everyone, and I do mean everyone, has had enough. Packer guard T.J. Lang tweeted, “Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.” Even my husband, who is a Seahawks fan, was grumbling about the win.
You can judge for yourself how bad the call was by viewing the video.
The NFL has release a statement that read in part, “While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.” However, the statement also said, “The result of the game is final.”