Officials

I don't seem to find myself as worried about the NFL officials situation as I probably should be. The labor issue with the officials is certainly getting much less print than the ridiculous player lockout of last year. Still, this year's labor unrest has gotten quite serious. The officials need warmup games just as the players do. There's only two weeks of those games left. The officials could use them. My hunch is that the league and the officials reach an agreement this week. Mostly because the officials need those two weeks and the league really needs to get through these labor issues. They have enough to worry about without having to deal with unappreciated officials. My hunch is likely wrong but I'm positive that it is settled before the regular season. The officials would have to get up to speed while they cover the games that matter. It's a stupid way to start the season but nothing about this dispute is very smart. Not a lot of what the NFL has done lately can be considered very smart.

My lack of worries stems from my firm belief that that this will be settled soon. I'm also not too worried about the absence of NFL experience of the replacement officials. I really don't think that there is too much of a drop off in the quality of the officiating. Sure, there have been some real stupid moments this preseason like calling a penalty on a team not involved in the game. The fact is the officiating has been pathetic the past few seasons. I realize that it's a difficult job but the real officials have failed way too frequently. It's pretty sad that my lack of concern is mostly due to the fact that the officiating can't get any worse. For my entire life as an NFL fan I've felt that the officials should be employed full time. It made no sense to me as a child that they weren't. I'm even more convinced after watching the games for nearly forty years. There's really no reason not to have full time officials. The games are too important to have officials thinking about their day jobs as they are moonlighting on Sundays. It's a half-assed way to do business. Fortunately, I believe that making the officials full time employees has entered into the negotiations. If so, maybe something good will come from this stupidity.