Did the Seahawks Win?

Posted on | September 24, 2012 | No Comments

Seahawks 14 – Packers 12

Here is an image that represents the debacle in Seattle Monday night. Two referees in close proximity making contradictory calls.

replacement refs

This was hardly the only bad (or questionable) call in the game. As D pointed out, that final play shouldn’t even have been a factor. The earlier pass interference call that went against Green Bay, rather than Seattle. A blatant cheap shot by Browner that should have been an ejection ended up with only offsetting penalties. The list goes on and on.

However, I would like to make a couple of points:

1) The regular refs were no great shakes. There was no game that went by in the last few years that didn’t evoke an avalanche of complaints about bad, missed or blown calls.

2) The NFL is populated by thugs with the slimmest possible grasp of ethics. Cheating by players has long been encouraged by coaches and celebrated by fans. A league that welcomes Pete Carroll, disgraced for violations in the NCAA. A league that rewards Michael Vick with a lucrative contract. Again, the list goes on and on.

Having players making such cheap shots, no surprise.
Having players fake catches, happens all the time.
Pushing off, tripping…you name it.

The refs can only do so much. I know football is a contact sport – a collision sport even – but that doesn’t mean players can’t practice good sportsmanship. If we aren’t teaching our kids the difference between right and wrong, fair and fraudulent, they grow up to be adults who ignore those lines. That is true no matter what profession they choose.

And telling people – especially young people – that the blame belongs exclusively to the referees, ignores the brazen flouting of rules & decency by the “winning” team (and all the teams, frankly). Casting blame is not a lesson you want them to learn.

UPDATE: A point I wanted to make, but didn’t fully convey – Pete Carroll, his assistant coaches, Golden Tate…all knew it was not a catch. They lobbied to get the call anyway and cheat their way to a win.