NFL Locks Out Officials

Another year, another NFL lockout. This time, it’s not the players that that are out this time, it’s the officials. That’s right, the NFL has locked out the zebras.

It’s hard to imagine any fan being on the side of the officials in this conflict. It really doesn’t matter what the specifics are. Watch any game and you’ll probably come away frustrated by at least one really bad call. And now the refs are asking for more money? really?

In all fairness, the NFL officials aren’t that bad. In the hierarchy of bad officials, they are clearly not as bad as MLB umpires and or NBA officials. The NFLs rules are full of a lot of grey area and judgement calls. It isn’t an easy job.

The NFL has already announced that they will begin hiring and training replacement officials. I’m all for this. I’ve always been an advocate for more training and film study for NFL refs. If an entirely new staff will need to be trained, I bet the new officials will come out of the ref-academy better trained than the crew we’re used to dealing with.

The last time the NFL used replacement officials, you could tell the difference. It was only for pre-season games, but there really wasn’t a difference. So bring on the replacements. Anything that keeps Bill Leavy away from NFL games can only be a good thing.