As a Dolphins fan, logic says that I should be in a pretty good mood right now. Miami's 4-3 and coming off a big road win at Cincinnati. The deadly first half schedule is almost over. The defense is dominating. But I'm not in a good mood. And that's because the Dolphins are truly 5-2.
As my dad has pointed out several times, when something is on my mind, it stays on my mind for a LONG time. Right now, all I can think about is the Dolphins losing two weeks ago, not to the Steelers, but to the referees. Up by two with less than two minutes remaining, the Fins' defense made yet another enormously clutch play, forcing Ben Roethlisberger to fumble a yard short of the goal line, then recovering it. But the men in black and white didn't see it that way. The play was reviewed, and the ref came out and said that there was inconclusive evidence that the Dolphins came up with the pigskin. To me, Karlos Dansby holding the ball and being smothered by four other teal jerseys was evidence enough. But my opinion doesn't matter in the NFL standings.
My dad says, "Get over it. It's one game." But as I stated in my post, "The Most Exhilirating Game", there's no such thing as "just one game" in the NFL. In a 16 game season, one game is everything. Every playoff race is decided by one game. In this year's ridiculously loaded AFC, it's gonna take a lot of wins to keep playing in January. And the Dolphins got one taken away from them by people who don't even play the game.
I watch a lot of football, and in my opinion, the refereeing in the NFL is putrid. Absolutely embarrassing. They are being paid loads of money to be on the field during NFL games. And all they have to do is watch. They miss holding calls, facemasks, and fumble recoveries -- told you it's always on my mind -- from 10 feet away that I can see on my 28 inch TV screen! I have all the respect in the world for NFL players, who put their lives on the line every week for our entertainment, and to see everything they work for be plucked away by the referees is difficult to watch.
Instant replay helps, but it's not enough. Most of the time the replays are not conclusive enough to overturn the incorrectly called plays. Other times the instant replay booth doesn't even function (sorry Chargers/Ed Hochuli fans). ). Something needs to be done so that the only people deciding these teams' fates are the players themselves. Maybe we need robots to call the games. Or maybe the refs should just take a little bit more pride in their profession and get the calls right.
I would like that win back.
-Robby
p.s. You think refs know what they're talking about? Take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pMrLBVtwTc
