There was an uproar in the Land of Constant Outrage, i.e. the United States of America. A football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay’s Packers caused the anguish.
I didn’t see the game-ending play or any of the game. I haven’t had cable or satellite since 2004. All of my sports watching is pretty much limited to highlights online, or what I see on someone else’s television receiver. And most sports fans are glad to discuss what they saw. All I have to do is ask and listen.
I actually enjoy sports most when listening to them on the radio. The mind’s eye can take me there. Not easy to find someone who agrees with me on that.
Some in the media have suggested that Golden Tate’s catch/pilfer helped push commish Roger Goodell and the original refs into an agreement 48 hours later. Tate admitted he pushed off after watching the replay. Goodell apologized to us for the ref lockout! He doesn’t have to worry about me. I wasn’t fretting.. and I don’t believe his apology is sincere anyhow. How could it be?–the fan is pretty low on the sports business totem pole.
But will the hardcore fans buy the remorse? “You’re always worried about the short-term impact on your brand and the long-term impact on the brand,” Goodell said. Bottom line.
This is a lesson to all of us: Think about how much of an outcry we’ve just experienced over the state of our national pastime. Imagine if we turned that hot spotlight on our leaders, both political and corporate. Imagine if people paid attention.
As we pick at the carcass of the “terrible replacement referee” issue, I still haven’t seen anyone address one of the NFL’s worst rules: The idea that, once a ref makes a call, it is absolutely The Call unless unquestionably wrong by replay.
But there are just more cameras, of better quality, than there ever have been. The fan can see an erroneous call from 2,000 miles away. The NFL, and MLB too, will have to adjust to that.
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