Blandino taking personal control of post-season officiating

[PatsWickedPissah]

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.

Uh, does Blandino need an assistant?

 

[RobertWeathers]

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

The Tatallias will guarantee it.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Uh, does Blandino need an assistant?

I'll do the shooters and watch?

 

[Tunescribe]

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.

I was thinking along the same lines. It's quite a sacrifice for Blandino, considering the prospective toll it'll take on his social life.

 

[JJDChE]

I bet the refs LOVE the idea of having their calls questioned in real time!

 

[rochrist]

The league office? Where are these reviews conducted from? Don't tell me it's from NFL HQ. I thought refs union was independent of NFL. Who does Blandino work for, NFL or refs union?

He works for the NFL, as do the refs.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

 

[Krepoort]

I didn't read through this thread so I don't know if this has been brought up, but just read this today on ESPN.

Blandino: Beckham should have been ejected

"The crew was doing a really tough job of trying to keep the game under control," Blandino said on the NFL Network. "They had spoken to both head coaches. They had spoken to the players. There was a point during the game when I did get on the headset to the replay official to remind the referee that, 'You can eject players. You'll have our full support. This thing cannot get out of control.'"

Blandino has access to the wireless headsets that officials have worn on game day since the start of the 2014 season. He can speak directly to the referee during replay reviews and also to the replay officials in the press box. The NFL granted Blandino additional access to the system during the postseason, raising ethical issues that concern former vice president of officiating Mike Pereira, among others. It's worth noting that McAulay rejected Blandino's suggestion Sunday.

 

[Hop Hop Schaefer City]

 

[varjao]

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.

What if this huge amount of incompetency and bad calls were made in purpose as part of a plan to result in actions like this? Roger would still look like "hey guys I'm doing my best here, you guys were complaining about the refs, I'm trying to right this ship for the playoffs".

 

[ChessToCheckers]

For me, it's a highly suspicious move and highly suspicious timing. Since when does the NFL* change operational procedures DURING the season? "Big Brother?" "The Fix Is In?" We'll see.

IMO: Blandino is Goodell's crony . He is unqualified for this job. He has shown apparent anti-Patriot bias. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

This further undermines the officials on the field, who, I believe, are doing a very difficult job as well as humanly possible.

This will only end well if the game-day audio-feed and it's transcript are made publicly available!

Fat chance, of course.

Transparency, Transparency, Transparency. Where's the Transparency, Roger?

 

[Jackson 2]

The more I think about this and the longer time goes by, the more convinced I become that this is going to result in a very bad ending for some team in the post-season. I just hope it isn't the Patriots, but I've been observant enough in the last year, or so, to suspect it very well could be. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Fencer]

I don't have the link right now, but Blandino asked the replay official to remind the ref that it was OK to throw somebody out of the game during the Beckham/Norman dust-ups.

I.e., whatever he says the limits are on his role, he's very likely to exceed them in practice.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I don't have the link right now, but Blandino asked the replay official to remind the ref that it was OK to throw somebody out of the game during the Beckham/Norman dust-ups.

I.e., whatever he says the limits are on his role, he's very likely to exceed them in practice.

Yea I read that too. What was interesting is that the ref blew Blandino off.

 

[Jackson 2]

I don't have the link right now, but Blandino asked the replay official to remind the ref that it was OK to throw somebody out of the game during the Beckham/Norman dust-ups.

I.e., whatever he says the limits are on his role, he's very likely to exceed them in practice.

Yes, that happening is what caused me to get even more concerned. Reminding the refs they have the authority to eject a player is a far cry from the original scope of his role as described a week or so ago when the plan was first announced. I think his nose is going to be in anything and everything.