Blandino taking personal control of post-season officiating

[Mark.]

Oh, and one more thing: it won't be long, as in the week prior to Wild Card weekend, before we get the rigged air pressure results from the league's season-long study disproving the Ideal Gas Law and the Brady/NE stance. Book it.

Let's hope the Patriots have hired their own independent study. One can hope that they have been proactive and actually did something.

 

[Galeb]

Oh, and one more thing: it won't be long, as in the week prior to Wild Card weekend, before we get the rigged air pressure results from the league's season-long study disproving the Ideal Gas Law and the Brady/NE stance. Book it.

Given the large, universal outcry of numerous scientists, the deflategate class at MIT and the recent live deflagate seminar, I don't think that even the league is dumb enough to start reporting more false numbers. It's too easy to disprove, and if Kraft was smart, he'd have had members of prestigious organizations perform similar tests in every city the day cold weather games were played. If the NFL's numbers were off by a lot, it would probably be enough to topple Goodell... if the Krafts took the proper precautions.

 

[1960Pats]

See, this isn't scary to me because of some conspiracy theory against the Patriots. It's scary because we apparently have such wide spread incompetence among the refs that they need a consultant to help them figure out what down it is and how many yards to mark off on a penalty.

I don't blame the officials. Every year they get changes to rules that even they can't be sure of. There is definitely confusion about what does or doesn't constitute a catch, and the penalties on pass plays are nearly impossible to interpret.

I think it all started when Don Shula was using the influence of the competition committee to change rules that helped his team, though it has escalated in the last decade or two. Slowly but surely we have seen the rules get more and more muddled without any input from the officials.

I heard Mike Periera discuss this at length on 98.5 a few years ago. I'll have to check and see if I can dig that up.

Edit:I didn't find the exact radio interview but I did find this...
Pereira says emphasis on illegal contact "didn't seem logical"

 

[Jackson 2]

Let's hope the Patriots have hired their own independent study. One can hope that they have been proactive and actually did something.

It's a good thought, but who do you think would ever believe them?

 

[Jackson 2]

Given the large, universal outcry of numerous scientists, the deflategate class at MIT and the recent live deflagate seminar, I don't think that even the league is dumb enough to start reporting more false numbers. It's too easy to disprove, and if Kraft was smart, he'd have had members of prestigious organizations perform similar tests in every city the day cold weather games were played. If the NFL's numbers were off by a lot, it would probably be enough to topple Goodell... if the Krafts took the proper precautions.

Once again, common sense would tell one everything you said is correct. But, this league's collection of arrogant jackasses would do it. And do you know why? Because, other than the Brady appeal, they've always gotten away with it. And the public at large outside of NE will lap it up like mother's milk.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

We, my friends, are doomed....

 

[JJDChE]

This will have no effect on whether the Patriots win or lose the Super Bowl and a lot of you are being big babies over this.

I agree, Ref conspiracy theories are total BS. Even so, I think in general it an extremely bad move by the NFL. It just highlights, again, how poorly the league is being managed.

 

[Tuck]

I agree, Ref conspiracy theories are total BS. Even so, I think in general it an extremely bad move by the NFL. It just highlights, again, how poorly the league is being managed.

I'm not saying I think there is a conspiracy against the Patriots, I'm saying the system is about to be changed by the league in a way that could allow one to occur and therefore it is flawed.

It was only a week or two ago that the Commishoner himself said he thought the officiating in a he NFL was "exceptional", so one needs to ask why the league feels the need to change the current system and take more calls out of the hands of the on the field refs and put those calls in the hands of NY and why now?

 

[Fencer]

I'm not saying I think there is a conspiracy against the Patriots, I'm saying the system is about to be changed by the league in a way that could allow one to occur and therefore it is flawed.

It was only a week or two ago that the Commishoner himself said he thought the officiating in a he NFL was "exceptional", so one needs to ask why the league feels the need to change the current system and take the more calls out of the hands of the on the field refs and put those calls in the hands of NY and why now?

Suspicions remain high about NFL's communication with referees

Blandino's predecessor Pereira is concerned that the league might discriminate against teams it dislikes.

I don't care how much you hate that ESPN is sometimes in the NFL's hip pocket; that article is not going to make the NFL folks very happy.

 

[Jlaff]

Suspicions remain high about NFL's communication with referees

Blandino's predecessor Pereira is concerned that the league might discriminate against teams it dislikes.

I don't care how much you hate that ESPN is sometimes in the NFL's hip pocket; that article is not going to make the NFL folks very happy.

Good article, wonder when it's going to be taken down. And puts all the calls against the Pats this year into question.

Wow, if even the past officials don't trust the NFL... Takes away any reluctance on my end to buy into the conspiracy theories. I understand some of the arguments being put forward in this thread about how this decision might actually be a good one. But to come to that conclusion you pretty well have to accept the truth of what the NFL is saying.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Suspicions remain high about NFL's communication with referees

Blandino's predecessor Pereira is concerned that the league might discriminate against teams it dislikes.

I don't care how much you hate that ESPN is sometimes in the NFL's hip pocket; that article is not going to make the NFL folks very happy.

This.

Said former NFL official and supervisor Jim Daopoulos: "If they're going to be in the ears of the officials, how do you determine who is accountable? Say an official makes a call on the field and the flag is picked up, as happens from time to time. Is it picked up because the crew got together and decided it needed to be, or was it because someone in New York doesn't like the call?"

 

[BradyFTW!]

Can't wait to see one of the usual suspects assigned to the AFCCG and watch us lose while collecting 100+ more penalty yards than the other team, including at least two that overturn huge plays.

I'm going to be inherently skeptical of any change like this that centralizes power in the hands of the league office. But when someone like Goodell is in charge, I'm going to just outright assume that the end goal is fraudulent.

"Basically, what it looks like is that the league office is making decisions on who possibly wins or loses the game," Pereira said. "You could go back to the old theory of the conspiracy of the Raiders, that the league didn't like [former owner] Al Davis and all the stuff that went along with it.

"All of a sudden, decisions that were being made on the field or in the stadium, all of a sudden are being made in the league office. That seems to be the wave of where this is going. Things have changed so much, but this ... strive for perfection really isn't attainable. I wish I could be effusive in praise of all of the changes and the technology, that it can make things better.

"Maybe I will someday."

 

[Jlaff]

Given the large, universal outcry of numerous scientists, the deflategate class at MIT and the recent live deflagate seminar, I don't think that even the league is dumb enough to start reporting more false numbers. It's too easy to disprove, and if Kraft was smart, he'd have had members of prestigious organizations perform similar tests in every city the day cold weather games were played. If the NFL's numbers were off by a lot, it would probably be enough to topple Goodell... if the Krafts took the proper precautions.

I guesss I haven't been paying enough attention lately, but a deflategate class at MIT? Almost don't like that, implies some sort of high level understanding requirement for the topic, having it taught at an institution of that caliber.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I guesss I haven't been paying enough attention lately, but a deflategate class at MIT? Almost don't like that, implies some sort of high level understanding requirement for the topic, having it taught at an institution of that caliber.

The class is actually at UNH, if that makes a difference: INCO 460 (01) - Deflategate

I promise that's not a shot at UNH.

 

[Tuck]

Here's how this will work in the playoffs:

If the call helps the Pats but the ref got it wrong, Blandino will review it to make sure the right call is made on the field.

If the call goes against the Pats but the ref got it wrong, no review necessary.

If no call was made and that call would have helped the Pats, also no review necessary.

 

[fumbrunner]

Centralizing power in the hand of one? What can go wrong?

Is this the NFL ref czar on Cowboys' party bus? Irate NFL execs say yes - CBSSports.com

Several expressed concern at the appearance of potential competitive balance issues, given the sensitive nature of Blandino's role and his authority on matters of officiating and interpretation.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The class is actually at UNH, if that makes a difference: INCO 460 (01) - Deflategate

I promise that's not a shot at UNH.

Its the finest school in all of Strafford County...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The shark has been jumped with former lead official pointing out the elephant in the room with the wide open potential for NYJFL officers to influence the refs directly and covertly with the uninhibited opportunity to reverse calls, pick up flags, whatever. Not that this league has shown that it might not like one particular team winning too many games.

How many citations does it take for some here to accept that the league is corrupt at the core and that corruption does not cure itself, instead it metastasizes?

 

[Zeus]

Gerald Austin notes there have been "some inconsistencies in the decisions that New York has made on replays this year." But in all fairness to Blindino, it's can be tough to keep your head in the game and remember all of the intricacies of the rule book while you're are doing tequila shooters and snorting coke from the strippers' navels.

 

[Fencer]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but the language in the rule change seems to indicate that the White catch is precisely the kind of play that Blandino can NOT affect. He can remind the refs that the clock should stop (or keep running) and such, but can't reverse a call on the field that isn't subjected to ordinary film review.

And who provides assurance that the rules about what is and isn't done in the Blandino/refs conversation are strictly followed?