What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
As we hinted at in the most recent episode of "Law Talk", the controversy over the replacement referees' blown call on Monday Night Football is entirely justified. For the record, I think the Green Bay Packers 'was robbed'. But as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I am glad that a potential rival in the NFC lost.
The dispute, however, raises an interesting issue about legal rules -- sorry, I couldn't resist. There is a tension between deciding something with the greatest accuracy and deciding something quickly. You could have a standard with a fair amount of discretion that leads to more accurate results, but takes a lot of time and resources to decide. Or you could have a rule that leads to clear and quick results, but can produce more errors. To reduce errors, you have to take more time and effort to decide.
In sports, the premium is on quick, final decisions. Otherwise, taking a long time to decide will interrupt the action of the game. It is more important that referees be final than right (this reminds me of Justice Jackson's quip that the Supreme Court is not final because it is infallible; it is infallible because it is final).
The only exception, though, might be when the last play of a game decides the outcome. In that case, there is a lot of time to review the play without interrupting the game. And if it decides the outcome, it's better to be right than quick. Thus, in the Packers case, I would create an exception to the NFL rules and allow appeals of plays at the end of the game that determine who wins.
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Comments:
Mar '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
I don't believe the current rules would have permitted the push by the receiver on the defensive back to be called by a review. Since it was not called, the rule that finds a pass caught by both the receiver and the defensive back (called dual possession) is won by the offense took precedence.
I have noted that this issue generated a lot of heat and invective. Given the circumstances occurring in the US and the world right now, one wonders if sport is over valued at times.
Edited on September 26, 2012 at 6:23pmMay '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix.
May '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
You lost me at NFL.
Dec '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
In engineering we we have a saying: Fast - Good -Inexpensive
Choose two
Jan '11
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
As a fellow (and fellow suffering) Eagles fan, I commend you. That's yet one more admirable quality about you that I find refreshing.
I agree with your post, but I'd add one more caveat, to be more explicit. During the course of the game, there are a lot of plays that are considered "judgment calls" and replay is not allowed to review them. Pass interference, for instance, can't be overturned. That makes sense to me, because reviewing judgment calls would delay the game beyond reason.
But because delaying the game is moot on the last play, and an uncalled flagrant foul could change the outcome, I'd argue that any aspect of a game-deciding final play should be reviewable.
Jan '11
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
The current refs have made some mistakes. The previous refs made mistakes. The current players and coaches make more mistakes than the refs. The Green Bay defender should NOT have tried to intercept the ball. Perhaps he thought an interception would reduce the chance of defensive pass interference but on 4th down or end of game passes the incompletion is preferred to the interception. Plenty of blame to go around and it diverts attention from bounties, PED, concussions and the safety of playing Thursday night (i.e. short week) games.
Discussing the ref so much is like the MSM trying to decide if Mitt Romney or Barack Obama did a better job marketing their response to deaths at US embassies.
Jul '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
The problem with the replacement refs is twofold: they can't keep up with the speed of the game, and they don't know the rules. That's why this is beyond the normal griping teams do about officiating. This has been building every week, and it came to national attention Monday night. Sunday alone had a game where the 49ers were given two challenges after they were out of timeouts in violation of the rules, in the Lions-Titans game a penalty was marked off from the wrong 44 yard line giving the Titans 12 extra yards on what ended up being the game winning FG drive in overtime, and the Sunday night game where a winning FG may or may not have been good, but the refs called it good then sprinted for the exits. Now it comes out these officials were fired from previous officiating jobs in the college ranks and the Lingerie Football League, some have no experience beyond high school officiating, and the one who screwed up the Green Bay game was deemed not qualified to officiate a Division I college game by his tutor. The whole thing is a fiasco.
Mar '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
EJHill: Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix. · 59 minutes ago
Well said. It appears that liberalism has moved into the world of sports. If you don't win, whine.
Jul '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Yeah...ok.: The current refs have made some mistakes. The previous refs made mistakes. The current players and coaches make more mistakes than the refs. The Green Bay defender should NOT have tried to intercept the ball. Perhaps he thought an interception would reduce the chance of defensive pass interference but on 4th down or end of game passes the incompletion is preferred to the interception. Plenty of blame to go around and it diverts attention from bounties, PED, concussions and the safety of playing Thursday night (i.e. short week) games.
Discussing the ref so much is like the MSM trying to decide if Mitt Romney or Barack Obama did a better job marketing their response to deaths at US embassies. · 39 minutes ago
Ask the Titans whether you should knock it down or try to intercept. They tried knocking it down, and a Lion caught it off the spike and tied it up. Teams practice that now. There's no guaranteed way to make that play incomplete. The guy who was in position to knock the ball down was Shields who was shoved to the ground by Tate.
Jun '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
EJHill: Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix. · 1 hour ago
In Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept trilogy (the original trilogy), a lot of the action takes place on a futuristic planet where Serfs are allowed to play The Game for a chance to become a Citizen. The Game can be literally any game, including American-rules football... and such a game occurs in the books.
The story reveals that the robot referees are programmed to deliberately screw up at least one call a game, in order to provide realism.
Apr '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
To begin with, I couldn't care whether the Packers or any other team scored a Home Run, a Hat Trick, or a Hole-In-One.
But in fairness to all, and since there were questionable last-play calls determining the outcome of at least two NFL games this week, it would seem to be apparent that the "automatic booth review" rule should be revisited, and perhaps enhanced to include review of all calls, including missed calls and otherwise non-reviewable calls, on any scoring play in the final two minutes of the game.
Nobody is perfect, but when there is already a way to remedy blown calls, it should be utilized fully to determine fairly the outcome of the game.
Then stop whining. :-)
Sep '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Donald Todd
EJHill: Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix. · 59 minutes ago
Well said. It appears that liberalism has moved into the world of sports. If you don't win, whine. · 18 minutes ago
Maybe these comments would make sense if we're talking about little league or high school athletics. In those cases, if the ref screws up, you teach the kids to get over it and move on because there is no remedy available.
But that isn't what we're talking about here. We're talking about a billion dollar pro sports entertainment industry with instant access to high definition replays.
If you have the technology to get the call right after the fact, and time isn't a factor (the point of the post), then it would be idiotic to NOT correct the mistake.
Jul '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
oldbaritone: To begin with, I couldn't care whether the Packers or any other team scored a Home Run, a Hat Trick, or a Hole-In-One.
But in fairness to all, and since there were questionable last-play calls determining the outcome of at least two NFL games this week, it would seem to be apparent that the "automatic booth review" rule should be revisited, and perhaps enhanced to include review of all calls, including missed calls and otherwise non-reviewable calls, on any scoring play in the final two minutes of the game.
Nobody is perfect, but when there is already a way to remedy blown calls, it should be utilized fully to determine fairly the outcome of the game.
Then stop whining. :-) · 3 minutes ago
One thing that compounds this is how reviews work in the NFL. The replay official in the booth only signals the referee and provides the clips for review. It is still the head referee on the field who reviews the play and makes the call. So even though the normal replay officials are still in place, the unqualified replacements are still making the final call while already confused about the rules.
Mar '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Mark Belling Fan:
Maybe these comments would make sense if we're talking about little league or high school athletics. In those cases, if the ref screws up, you teach the kids to get over it and move on because there is no remedy available.
But that isn't what we're talking about here. We're talking about a billion dollar pro sports entertainment industry with instant access to high definition replays.
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So it is alright if peewee league, little league, city league, high school or college athletes are told to "get over it," but if it is the professionals, hold the presses. Professional athletics is not subject to suck it up and get over it.
All of life has problems, but the NFL should be exempt. Really? Exempt? Really?
If technology is the solution, why not have robots play the game? They can play it faster, hit harder, not be subject to concussions, bruises and contusions, and if they need an oil change, they can wear Pennzoil stickers on their sprayed on jerseys and Goodell can charge more money making more money for the owners, who will save money on players.
Aug '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
ConservativeWanderer
EJHill: Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix. · 1 hour ago
In Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept trilogy (the original trilogy), a lot of the action takes place on a futuristic planet where Serfs are allowed to play The Game for a chance to become a Citizen. The Game can be literally any game, including American-rules football... and such a game occurs in the books.
The story reveals that the robot referees are programmed to deliberately screw up at least one call a game, in order to provide realism. · 2 hours ago
I was thinking the same thing - Stile didn't even understand it at the time as I recall.
Sep '10
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Donald Todd: So it is alright if peewee league, little league, city league, high school or college athletes are told to "get over it," but if it is the professionals, hold the presses. Professional athletics is not subject to suck it up and get over it.
All of life has problems, but the NFL should be exempt. Really? Exempt? Really?
If it were economically and logistically feasible to have instant replay available to little league referees, it would be idiotic not to make use of the technology.
The point, clearly, is that it isn't economically or logistically feasible for anything below major D1 college athletics.
Clearly there is a difference between players and officials. I'm all for replacing the home plate umpire with electronic sensors that call balls and strikes. I want to know which of the athletes won the duel playing within the set rules, not which athlete benefitted from random human error.
Jun '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
Instugator
ConservativeWanderer
EJHill: Be a man. Suck it up. Stuff happens. You get bad breaks and you get good breaks. Nobody is perfect (including officials.) Those used to the lessons of sports.
Now it's whine. Challenge. Demand do-overs and mulligans.
Let officials make the call and accept it - unless you prove they incorrectly interpreted a rule or, worst of all, the officials were in on a fix. · 1 hour ago
In Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept trilogy (the original trilogy), a lot of the action takes place on a futuristic planet where Serfs are allowed to play The Game for a chance to become a Citizen. The Game can be literally any game, including American-rules football... and such a game occurs in the books.
The story reveals that the robot referees are programmed to deliberately screw up at least one call a game, in order to provide realism. · 2 hours ago
I was thinking the same thing - Stile didn't even understand it at the time as I recall. · 1 hour ago
Indeed he didn't. His opponent had to explain it to him... and if memory serves, the call was in Stile's favor.
Aug '12
Re: What The NFL Controversy Can Teach Us About the Law
As with government, every well-intentioned attempt to remedy bad calls creates a new set of problems which will require more rules/reviews. It seems to me that both teams were playing with the same referees, both were subject to benefiting/suffering from the calls. I have heard that the Packers benefited from bad calls earlier in the game. Why is that game changing play less important? Once you allow "appeals" on the last play of the game, you open the door to infinite appeals on every play. Admittedly, this would be consistent with recent trends in American society.
I say simplify the rules so the calls are less likely to be bad. Let's start by legalizing holding; this will reduce the need for picky rules about how to tackle a quarterback. Let the DB and WR wrestle; it will just change what characteristics are desireable in these positions. Lose the helmets, too, and stop the spearing.
Either that or nationalize the NFL (just add three little letters!) and put them all on the Civil Service scale. Putting a franchise in every congressional district would solve the employment problem, too. 400+ new luxury stadiums!