Officials offer mixed signals before Seattle receiver Golden Tate was ruled to have scored a touchdown on the last play of Monday's game against Green Bay. JOSHUA TRUJILLO/Seattlepi.com
Rarely does a sporting event -- especially one contested late at night -- dominate the next day's national conversation like Seattle-Green Bay has today.
After three weeks of frustration over the NFL's replacement officials, the worst case scenario finally happened -- a bad call on the final play changed the outcome of a game.
Beyond the embarrassment, last night's folly feeds the "blame culture" of our society, especially when it comes to sports officials.
As a closet message board surfer, I get my fill. A "refs cost us the game" post -- or 30 -- after a close loss is as predictable as the sun coming up the next day.
It's rare, however, that bad officiating directly costs teams games. When you watch a game between two teams you don't care about, how often do you scrutinize the officiating? Not very often.
Then something like what happened last night occurs, and it feeds everyone's worst perception.
In reality, though, incidents like last night teach us an important lesson about the real NFL referees -- we may complain about them, but they actually do a pretty good job.
If it was easy, the guys out there now could do it.
Through three weeks, it's pretty obvious -- they can't. It's not all their fault, of course. The NFL has put them in a no-win situation fueled by players and coaches taking advantage of guys without the authority to control the game.
NFL games now run longer, there's more chippy (even dangerous) play, more confusion, and after last night, the league's labor dispute with its officials cost Green Bay a win it earned on the field.
There's obviously plenty of blame to go around. The NFL's officials aren't backing off their demands, either.
But at this point, everything is a negotiation. And last night, the locked-out officials gained some significant bargaining power.
A phrase you'll hear a lot between now and the end of this dispute is, "upholding the integrity of the game."
That's code for making sure the game is fair for the gambling public. One fact of football the NFL doesn't like to admit is the game is driven by gambling -- whether it be legal Vegas style, fantasy football, your office pick 'em pool or the bet you place with the bookie down the street.
Last night's missed call caused a $300 million betting swing according to Las Vegas experts. That's a lot of risk if you aren't sure the game is fair.
A safer bet: the NFL and its officials quickly come to an agreement and order is restored.
If not, the NFL is in danger of losing not its integrity, but the financial engine that fuels the game.
