Replacement Referees: Give or Take, They're Part of the Game

As I pondered what to write about this week, the only thing that would inevitably have to be written about was the amount of criticism the replacement referees have faced since the season began.

Now, do I like the replacement refs? No, they're losing control of games. They're slow with the calls they make. They're making calls based on if a player complains for it...we could do this all day. BUT...what nobody wants to talk about is the NFL completely dropping the ball and letting these replacements refs even touch the field.

Now, referees will always be a topic for discussion whether we as fans like it or not, but looking at their performance, I wouldn't say they're doing a horrible job. The reason why these refs are taking so much heat is for two reasons: 1) They don't know the rules and 2) They're not used to the speed of the NFL. Granted, we just had a lockout where the players were cut out of everything, but seriously, I miss Ed Hochuli and his overgrown muscles making calls man.

Watching the Eagles/Ravens game last weekend, I'm surprised nobody was seriously injured. Players scuffled pretty much every other play in the first half, the second half it died down a little bit. But I think it gave the Eagles some much needed "Man-Up Energy" that they've lacked pretty much the past 4 seasons, give or take a few games here and there. Instead of continually collapsing when things got tough, I watched Michael Vick take hit after hit, dust himself off, and lead the Eagles to a victory. Now, was the offensive pass interference call on Jacoby Jones a bad call? No, we all saw him push off, but considering the amount of "defensive holding" calls the replacement refs made against the Eagles defense, I think it evened out. Especially when you consider about 3 or 4 of the "defensive holding" calls they made should have been "defensive pass interference" calls but, at least they called something right? But this game was beyond the realm of chippy...it almost got ugly a few times after plays with players jawing, grasping each others' face masks, and all that. Why? Because the replacement refs lack control of the game.

As a fan, I don't blame the regular NFL refs for not negotiating a deal, and I see why now. The NFL has made it their agenda to say "Hey, with these replacement refs, the players are on their own so everyone act accordingly during the game!" And "Act Accordingly" should be how we judge these referees. Its too easy of a cop-out to blame an official for not your team not scoring because of a penalty they may or may not have missed, that's going to happen with regular refs. But, ask Josh Morgan if "Act Accordingly" is his motto now, the referees aren't missing the penalties that matter, that's for sure.

But what the NFL is trying to hide is the fact that, these replacements refs lack the proper training to even be out there on the field. Its embarrassing from a professional standpoint, when you have refs who don't know the procedure for viewing calls and have sideline refs pushing them onto the field stopping the game and probably all the momentum a team has to get ONE call right. All the money the NFL has and they can't run a replacement ref training camp of some sort to make sure they at least are coherent while officiating games. You got refs officiating games with teams they're a fan of and you got refs officiating games and telling players they're on their fantasy team, are they replacements refs or fans that have the luxury of becoming referees on a temporary basis? A brief background check can solve these problems very easily.

Now, with all that being said, I think the replacement refs aren't bad because they're part of the game. That's where we're lost as fans. We see these refs, hear the coaches complaining, players complaining, and media complaining and what do we do? Eat it right up and complain with them. But, why complain as a fan, when you could either 1) stop attending games until an agreement is reached or 2) chalk it up as that thing called "Life isn't fair" and keep it moving. Where we are lost is where we say: "Oh these replacement refs suck!" We know! But, to say something sucks, does it make it okay to watch them as people get cussed out and berated on the sideline by coaches? Is it okay that Mike Wallace knocked a replacement ref out his way for accidentally bumping into him? No. Just because they're bad doesn't mean players and coaches have the moral right to blatantly treat these replacements refs in such a disrespectful manner when we knew going on, they wouldn't be very good. For Christ's sake, one official is from the Lingerie Football League, have you ever watched that league for its officiating? Didn't think so.

The NBA Conundrum: Should Players Distance Themselves From Their Competition?

First and foremost, let it be known, I’m the biggest LeBron James fan, but I’m also his biggest critic, at least in my own eyes. I was watching First Take the other day and Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith were debating something that was very intriguing; the fact that LeBron James and Kevin Durant are working out together again this summer. And it had me thinking, should athletes of the NBA distance themselves from their competition? The days where players naturally hated their opponent are gone. Granted you never saw Michael Jordan working out with Larry Bird or Magic working out with Isaiah Thomas, but, this relationship formed by LeBron and Durant is something the NBA has done on its own. With all the new rules, dress codes, and push for sportsmanship after the infamous “Palace Brawl” that once scarred the league, the NBA has done its best to lose its “bad boy” image of the past. Yes, you’ve still got your trash talk and technical fouls and altercations here and there, but tell me the NBA Finals last season wasn’t one of the most competitive if not, fun to watch series in a very long time, I’ll wait.

Now, is it good that two of the biggest names in the NBA are working out together? Yes, it is good because you see the carry over, you see what each player has learned and improved upon. LeBron’s jump shot and shot selection last season was much improved; can we credit Durant for that? Durant actually posted up a lot more last season than he did any other previous seasons; can we credit LeBron for that? Don’t get me wrong, yes, they’re two of the biggest names in the NBA but what you can’t take away from their relationship is the fact that you don’t see one of them taking it easier on the other. If anything, you see that it’s harder for the other to score when they’re guarding each other because they know every in and out of each other’s game; THAT’S competition at it’s finest.

 I remember the days when my sister’s would bully me on the court because I was smaller than them even though they were girls. But naturally, they were better because they knew my weaknesses, what I didn’t do well, what they could do well, and so on. Basketball isn’t football. Basketball is all about timing and knowing where players are going be on certain cuts and screens. Basketball is about scoring two or three points based on taking what the defense gives you and doing what works in order to win. Basketball is a much more fluid sport than football. You’re not resetting every time and lining back up, you have 24 seconds to score each possession, that’s it. That’s where I think the fan’s perspective is lost. All you hear is “LeBron and Durant are working out together,” but to what extent? We, as fans, don’t really know, but we’re forced to look at the NBA’s history and make snap judgments. Yes, Bird and Jordan would never work out together but when Jordan came in the league, not many people liked him because of how good he was. Players even went as far as to not pass Jordan the ball in the 1985 All Star Game. It wasn’t until that 1992 Olympics in Barcelona that those players really put down their pride and egos and worked together for a common cause: Winning.

LeBron and Durant working out together is about winning. Their relationship is built on and has always been about winning. Many fans screamed at LeBron to stop talking and win a ring, he did that. Why can’t Durant learn from a guy like that? LeBron took the most criticism out of any player for two seasons, not because of his ability to play basketball, but for his want to be liked by all of those around him. You could see the fire and will to win in his eyes last season, he was a complete player, maybe Durant helped him deal with that mental piece? How many NBA players read “The Hunger Games” or any other book to clear their minds before games? Physically, LeBron had all the tools already to win a ring, but mentally, he couldn’t handle the boos and constant reminder of how bad “The Decision” was in many people’s eyes. Maybe Durant helped him quell those inner demons, is that a bad thing?

Let’s face it, Durant is one of the quietest assassins in the NBA. His demeanor on the court was something to marvel at when he hit shot after shot with ease and lead Oklahoma City to the NBA Finals. But it wasn’t Durant who failed his team in the NBA Finals last season, it was his team who ultimately failed him. James Harden never showed up, Perkins and Ibaka couldn’t stop the Heat in the paint as the series wore on. Couldn’t those players benefit from working out with outside influences in the offseason rather than trying to go it alone?

Now, do I agree with LeBron and Durant working out together? No…but they can do what they want, they’re professionals. The NBA has changed its rules to deal with less non-sense and headaches and to cater to more professionally dressed and mature adults, minus the Playoffs post-game conferences of glasses and wild colored shirts. Working out together didn’t hurt the NBA Finals. LeBron and Durant still played stellar but the LeBron and Co.’s experience of losing to Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals drove LeBron to reach out to others for help. He tried to do it on his own and failed to the delight of many fans but now that he has a ring, all of a sudden, it raises fans eyebrows that he’s working out with one of the rising stars in the NBA? I call cop out. If we really looked, you’d see a lot of players work out together in the offseason, it’s just magnified when LeBron and Durant do it because they’re the best. Some people feel the best shouldn’t work together since they’re on opposing teams but who cares? I could understand if they were on the court joking back and forth or taking it easy on each other, but can you honestly say that about LeBron and Durant? As a basketball player, when you step on the court, you’re a totally different person. You’re a teammate first and somebody’s friend second. The friendships are dropped when the ball is thrown up in the air to start the game and the team comes before the friendship. You may say, “Oh well, Durant wasn’t physical enough with LeBron because of their friendship,” but since WHEN has Durant ever been labeled a physical player? Not only that, but when’s the last time somebody was more physical than LeBron? Ask Danny Granger how “being physical” with LeBron worked out for him. LeBron’s one of the strongest guys in the league for his size. Maybe Durant is trying to learn how to be more physical from LeBron? Is that a bad thing?

Now, what does this tell us about the NBA? Not much. Players are free to do whatever they want in the offseason until training camp starts in October/September. You see guys playing in summer leagues from California to North Carolina, wowing fans who may not always get to see them play in person. So why be upset that LeBron and Durant are working out together behind closed doors? Because that’s what the media wants you to do. Drive home the message they want you to believe: “There’s no room for friendship in the sports world.” We, as fans, forget that these athletes are people too. They have wives, aunts, uncles, and kids just like the average fan does. I hate to sound cliché but they put their pants on one leg at time too. They’re not always going to do what the fans like, but are they hurting anybody by doing it? So why not just take this working out as what it is, a chance for NBA players to come together and get better. After all, the 2012 NBA Finals was one of the most watched playoff series’ since 2004. Think about that before you’re so quick to judge such a small thing like two superstars working out together.  

Philadelphia Conundrum: What's Wrong With the Eagles?

56. This is the number that boggled my mind all night as I tried to figure out how in the hell the Philadelphia Eagles managed to pull out a win. 56 is the number of pass attempts Michael Vick threw in the Eagles sloppy and unacceptable 17-16 victory over the Cleveland Browns. When you look at the head-to-head team statistics after the game you see 25 first downs and 456 total yards from scrimmage and you’re happy until you look at the final score and the total number of plays.

The Eagles ran 88 plays with a time of possession of 35:58 but they turned the ball over 5 times…against the Cleveland Browns. If it wasn’t for our defense, Philadelphia fans would have been booing Andy Reid upon his return to Lincoln Financial Field, if they aren’t booing already. Now let’s put these numbers in perspective. The Cleveland Browns ran 59 plays with a time of possession of 24:02. The Eagles offense managed to outplay the Browns offense yet keep them in the game with costly turnovers. LeSean McCoy fumbled early, which happens sometimes, but what was even more costly, were the amount of times I sat and thought to myself “Vick, what are you doing?!” He was just out of sync, very out of touch with the offense. He had receivers twisting and turning trying to catch bad passes, threw horrible passes when he should have ran and ran when he should have thrown the ball away. Reading other articles I got the main gist of what Vick’s problem was and I even tweeted an idea about it to anybody who wanted to listen: “I will never take preseason for granted again.” And with good reason, Vick ran 8 pass plays in preseason, a stat that doesn’t quite translate to 56 passing attempts (a career high) in Week 1 of the regular season.

Granted yes, Michael Vick is a bit injury prone, but how many QBs in the league play scared to get hurt? Not many. Michael Vick is one of the most elusive, if not the fastest QB in the league when he’s on. But when he’s off like he was in Week 1, you’re left asking more questions and getting less answers. The Eagles threw the ball 56 times, something I haven’t seen them do ever. If anything, I’m left screaming pass when they run it. McCoy was unstoppable when he got the ball, especially on the last drive where the Eagles won the game. But it was as if the Eagles coaches wanted Vick to do everything humanly possible to throw a passing touchdown to silence a critic that wasn’t there. Don’t get me wrong, Vick’s passing is his strong point, but his accuracy isn’t. The throws he was trying to make were either forced or the timing was off with his receivers and they tipped it in the air and it got intercepted (this happened twice).

In other words, any fan could tell he wasn’t the Vick we all knew and have come to love, or hate depending on your love for dogs. Now I could understand if McCoy wasn’t averaging 5 or 6 yards a rush per carry or if the Eagles had a hard deficit to come back from but neither was the case. The conservative Eagles team is usually one who takes the lead and mixes up runs and passes. In retrospect, last season, the Eagles averaged about 35 passing plays and 28 rushing plays. Not to mention, McCoy was a 1000+ yard rusher last season, so it’s not like we didn’t have the players on the field to take some of the load off of Vick. Vick was sacked only twice, hit only 11 times, so it’s not like the offensive line wasn’t doing enough to help him out but WOW, did they really need to go vertical so much against the Cleveland Browns? Joe Haden played out of his mind as did D’Qwell Jackson in the Browns secondary but wouldn’t any secondary play well when you just drop back and throw the ball on just about every down?

The Eagles were one-dimensional against the Browns, a team who was 4-12 last season, with no reasoning behind it. Not once, until the last drive, did the Eagles take some pressure off of Vick and give McCoy the ball. And even then, Vick almost threw an interception in the end zone that any other team not named the Cleveland Browns would have caught, thus ending the game. McCoy had 20 carries for 110 yards, not bad considering the 56 passing attempts. Not to mention when McCoy did get the ball, he was explosive. The Browns defense wouldn’t have been able to handle him had the Eagles mixed up the run and pass so Vick could have some sort of window to throw to and not just watch the Browns defense sit back in a zone defense. And why am I so critical of things like this? Because Mike Vick has put this pressure on himself with saying things like “The Eagles have to win now” and “This one is for Andy…” if it is for Andy, you’re doing a bad job of representing him.

Now, with all that being said, should Eagles fans panic? No, not yet, but they play the Baltimore Ravens next week. Throw 4 interceptions next week and the game will be over by halftime if not the first quarter. Let’s not forget what happened last time the Eagles faced the Ravens, I haven’t. Remember Donovan McNabb and that benching? Yeah, that Baltimore Ravens team that drubbed us 36-7 back in 2008. My fingers are crossed the Eagles offense can get it together because it’s not on the O-Line this go round, it’s on Mike Vick and the Eagles coaching staff.