The NFL has done a fairly good job at creating parity throughout the league and it's really shown the last few years (a very mediocre Bears team hanging with the Colts, the Giants beating an 18-0 Patriots team that was better in every way, a 9-7 team just getting IN the Super Bowl, etc). As a result of the close parity, small things become magnified, and the role of the refs is one of those. Who remembers the officiating crews from the 49ers routs of the 80s? It didn't matter because the teams were horribly mismatched.
For what it's worth, I only saw 2 bad calls and a few missed holding calls (2-1 favoring the Steelers). Both of the bad calls - the facemask penalty when the defender was getting stiff armed and a very weak roughing the passer call - were the result of ambiguity or stupid rules. Holding is nearly impossible to call consistently, so I just shrug those off. The play at the end of the game should have been reviewed, but I doubt it would have been overturned.
Most of the penalties that were called were pretty obvious. One of my pet peeves is the "It's the playoffs, let the players decide the game!" mentality that seems to run rampant in the NFL and NHL.
Both of the bad calls - the facemask penalty when the defender was getting stiff armed and a very weak roughing the passer call - were the result of ambiguity or stupid rules.
That's what really started bugging me as I watched the game yesterday. I realized how much of the game seems to be decided based on incredibly subjective rules that don't really make much sense. Being a logically-minded person, that sort of thing just rubs me the wrong way.
I think I'll stick to baseball. While the strike zone may not be called with perfect consistency, at least baseball's rules are well-defined and make sense.
That's what really started bugging me as I watched the game yesterday. I realized how much of the game seems to be decided based on incredibly subjective rules that don't really make much sense. Being a logically-minded person, that sort of thing just rubs me the wrong way.
I think I'll stick to baseball. While the strike zone may not be called with perfect consistency, at least baseball's rules are well-defined and make sense.
Baseball has some of the same issues though, notably that the closest calls are all subjective to human judgment. Specifically, the strike zone and tag outs. Baseball would benefit from a replay system similar to footballs (managers get 1 or 2 challenges to a call per game), and every stadium should have a pair of cameras looking down the base lines for verifying foul balls. The strike zone is getting better with QuesTec, although that probably has some unintended consequences.
The NFL does have a lot of stupid rules, but the rules committee only seems interested in parity and scoring, not in consistency of enforcement. Doubt that'll ever change.
The NFL does have a lot of stupid rules, but the rules committee only seems interested in parity and scoring, not in consistency of enforcement. Doubt that'll ever change.
A lot of NFL rules that are stupid are because the game has changed too much. The NFL still uses a lot of rules that were created before the forward pass became common. Baseball, meanwhile, hasn't changed in something like 516 years; that's when Columbus first introduced chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds to America's game.
FWIW, you can keep baseball. I only watch when suffering from insomnia and in need of a good nap.
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For what it's worth, I only saw 2 bad calls and a few missed holding calls (2-1 favoring the Steelers). Both of the bad calls - the facemask penalty when the defender was getting stiff armed and a very weak roughing the passer call - were the result of ambiguity or stupid rules. Holding is nearly impossible to call consistently, so I just shrug those off. The play at the end of the game should have been reviewed, but I doubt it would have been overturned.
Most of the penalties that were called were pretty obvious. One of my pet peeves is the "It's the playoffs, let the players decide the game!" mentality that seems to run rampant in the NFL and NHL.
I think I'll stick to baseball. While the strike zone may not be called with perfect consistency, at least baseball's rules are well-defined and make sense.
Baseball has some of the same issues though, notably that the closest calls are all subjective to human judgment. Specifically, the strike zone and tag outs. Baseball would benefit from a replay system similar to footballs (managers get 1 or 2 challenges to a call per game), and every stadium should have a pair of cameras looking down the base lines for verifying foul balls. The strike zone is getting better with QuesTec, although that probably has some unintended consequences.
The NFL does have a lot of stupid rules, but the rules committee only seems interested in parity and scoring, not in consistency of enforcement. Doubt that'll ever change.
A lot of NFL rules that are stupid are because the game has changed too much. The NFL still uses a lot of rules that were created before the forward pass became common. Baseball, meanwhile, hasn't changed in something like 516 years; that's when Columbus first introduced chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds to America's game.
FWIW, you can keep baseball. I only watch when suffering from insomnia and in need of a good nap.