I don't know how anyone could watch sports the last 20+ years and not question it. How many calls, darn near every game, are real head-scratchers? Especially the instant replays that clearly show something different than what they call. Over and over. I had to cut back, because I was getting so sick of it.
What's more, I think coaching staffs are all in on it. That's why they rarely ever go full on nuclear on some of the calls. There's a reason they get paid millions a year. It's not just to coach, but to stay quiet.
I'm with you, fren, 100%. Increasingly, like over the past 10-15 years, I have had "differing opinions" from the refs' interpretations after instant replay analyses...which is NOT to say I am a football call expert (far from it), but I sure as hell know what MY eyes see vs. the zebras down on the field. When they started all of the woke bullshit in the NFL, and condoned the kneeling during the National Anthem, is when I really checked out of the NFL for good. It is definitely "entertainment" (for some)...and not a sport. At least not the sport I grew up watching in the 70s and early 80s.
FFS, I didn't watch the entire Chiefs/Ravens game on Sunday (instead preferring to keep it muted on TV in the next room), and every other time I checked game progress an EFFING REF was on the field making a call. That told me all I needed to know about Sunday's proceedings....the end result of which confirmed my prediction to my sons and wife WEEKS ago (when they laughed me out of the room): That #Swelce and the Chiefs WOULD be in the Superb Owl.
I don't know how anyone could watch sports the last 20+ years and not question it. How many calls, darn near every game, are real head-scratchers? Especially the instant replays that clearly show something different than what they call. Over and over. I had to cut back, because I was getting so sick of it.
What's more, I think coaching staffs are all in on it. That's why they rarely ever go full on nuclear on some of the calls. There's a reason they get paid millions a year. It's not just to coach, but to stay quiet.
I'm with you, fren, 100%. Increasingly, like over the past 10-15 years, I have had "differing opinions" from the refs' interpretations after instant replay analyses...which is NOT to say I am a football call expert (far from it), but I sure as hell know what MY eyes see vs. the zebras down on the field. When they started all of the woke bullshit in the NFL, and condoned the kneeling during the National Anthem, is when I really checked out of the NFL for good. It is definitely "entertainment" (for some)...and not a sport. At least not the sport I grew up watching in the 70s and early 80s.
FFS, I didn't watch the entire Chiefs/Ravens game on Sunday (instead preferring to keep it muted on TV in the next room), and every other time I checked game progress an EFFING REF was on the field making a call. That told me all I needed to know about Sunday's proceedings....the end result of which confirmed my prediction to my sons and wife WEEKS ago (when they laughed me out of the room): That #Swelce and the Chiefs WOULD be in the Superb Owl.