Ding Ding Ding. The call was incorrect.

THe Media hating on the replacement refs is way over the top and I feel bad for them. The regular refs likely would have had issues with that call also, including the Obiovus PI they said "Should have been called" yet we know they refs have been told not to call PI on Hail Marys (although it wasnt a Hail mary, it was a 24 yd pass -- Remember when Farve was with the Vikings, and he had that game winning pass to the back of the Endzone that was considereded Incredible. That pass was about the exact same distance, was not a hail mary , and you can bet PI woulda been called. There is no such thing as a 24 yard Hail Mary, thats just a long pass).

And of course the league upheld the decision, with the convenient "PI shoulda been called" excuse to defuse the situation. how often does the NFL review a call like that the next day and say "Oops, we fudge up" if they don't have a caveat to it like the "PI shoulda been called so that was the Real issue".

That said, I am glad we have the regular refs back, but the rules (and intermittent enforcement of them) that are just as much if not more of the problem.

Something I heard that may have played a part in getting the deal done now as opposed to a couple weeks from now: the bye weeks. Considering as they are starting this week, each of the 32 teams has played 3 games. If this was not resolved until later in the season, then there stood the chance of some teams being able to cry foul (competitive disadvantage) as some of them would've had more games officiated by the replacements than others.

What's your point? What's so wrong with unions? Didn't this fiasco show us that unions ensure a skilled labor force?

No? The replacement refs are part of a union too, not just the NFLRA. All refs besides low level stuff are unionized.

You serious Clark????

For the life of me I don't understand why hiring a bunch of bush league refs gives a pass the the god awful reffing of last year. Not just durring lions games but league wide it was awful. These guys are worse don't get me wrong, but that's like saying getting eaten by a lion is worse than getting eaten by a bear....either way they both suck. I still have yet to see about them hiring back up crews so that if needed poor crews can be suspended....I really hope that took place. Thats the only thing I can think of that would make things better overall.

***Cough*** welcher ***Cough***

Well, the cat's out of the bag:

sigh

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

Nice one regularjoe - I wouldn't have taken that bet. Wear the sig like a badge of pride - you're a better Lions fan than most!

well I knew it was a long shot, but I figured we were due against SF...

Well, and to answer the sig question. In the NFC the Falcons are 4-0, so I'd say they have it better than the niners. Also, the Vikes are also 3-1 and beat San Fran - so I'd put them on that list to. Now, within their own division the Cardinals lead the 49ers by a full game. The Giants might also be just a game behind them, but did knock them out of the playoffs last year and are the current champs. So at least a quarter of the NFC "has it better" than the niners right now...

What's your point? Didn't everyone know this all along? Everyone knew that the NFL could "afford" to pay the refs, but the refused to, as they should have. They make $150k a year, approximately $10k a week to do a part-time job. I'd say that's more than fair. They wanted full-time benefits on top of that, benefits that NFL front office people don't even receive as full-time employees. I'd say that they were being a bit ridiculous.