Darrone
On the Game Day Roster
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2011
- Messages
- 319
- Reaction score
- 281
I'll start by saying I want officials to get calls right, as often as possible.
BUT - the game is grinding to a halt. The NFL averaged 214 penalties per 16 game week in 2018, which felt like entirely too many already. It's been averaging 255 per week the first 2 weeks of the year, a 20% increase. Tack onto that all the time spent reviewing plays in order to assign a penalty like PI, something that is so subjective 100% of fans will either agree or disagree based on their jersey. Sure, we don't want another Rams/Saints obvious blown call, but are we really going to slow down every game, talking about whether two guys hand battling amounted to "interference"?
I really feel like the sport as a whole is at a tipping point. Great moments now have a ritual where you scan the field for yellow before you continue celebrating. Or worse wait for a huddled group of officials to decide what bar they are going to after the game before turning their mics on to make it looks like they really considered the holding call.
Maybe I'm old and want these new rules to get off my lawn. But this is a form of entertainment, first and foremost, and I want it to remain entertaining. There are enough forces in this world chipping away at Football's popularity, we don't need to destroy it from within.
BUT - the game is grinding to a halt. The NFL averaged 214 penalties per 16 game week in 2018, which felt like entirely too many already. It's been averaging 255 per week the first 2 weeks of the year, a 20% increase. Tack onto that all the time spent reviewing plays in order to assign a penalty like PI, something that is so subjective 100% of fans will either agree or disagree based on their jersey. Sure, we don't want another Rams/Saints obvious blown call, but are we really going to slow down every game, talking about whether two guys hand battling amounted to "interference"?
I really feel like the sport as a whole is at a tipping point. Great moments now have a ritual where you scan the field for yellow before you continue celebrating. Or worse wait for a huddled group of officials to decide what bar they are going to after the game before turning their mics on to make it looks like they really considered the holding call.
Maybe I'm old and want these new rules to get off my lawn. But this is a form of entertainment, first and foremost, and I want it to remain entertaining. There are enough forces in this world chipping away at Football's popularity, we don't need to destroy it from within.