DBR96
11-17-2000, 05:30 PM
This past Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers got a third call from NFL officials apologizing for a blown play that cost them the opportunity to possibly win a game. As a Steelers fan myself, it irks me that we could conceivably be 8-2 and a virtual shoe-in for the playoffs right now instead of 5-5 and struggling for our playoff lives, all because of shoddy officiating. In saying this, though, I am not saying we would've won all three games in which this happened, but rather, we could've, had the officials known what they were doing. It is this string of blown calls, plus the officiating fiasco that was the 1998 season (which also cost my Steelers the opportunity to win a game, along with the Bills and Seahawks) that is making me push for full-time officiating in the NFL. Currently, the officials are only employed part-time by the NFL, and most of them don't even practice officiating for the games. On top of that, they are coddled too much. The moment a player or coach says anything critical of an official, disciplinary action is taken against him by the NFL. But the way I see it, if the players and coaches can be criticized (or even slandered), then I think the officials should be open to the same fire as the players and coaches if they don't do their jobs properly. I am not saying that full-time officials will be error-free --- no one is perfect --- but I am saying that full-time officials in the NFL cannot do any more harm than has already been done.