Lords Of The Realm

The first three weeks of the NFL season have been officiated by "replacement" referees.  The regular referees have been locked out by the owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell since June when their collective bargaining agreement expired. 

The replacement refs are trying their best, but it's not working.  So far, they've been flag-happy, wildly inconsistent, indecisive, slow and obviously lacking in knowledge.  There is now an "alternate" ref on the sideline, wearing a headset and in constant communication with league officials in the replay booth.  His role -- and it's most necessary -- is to correct the calls made by the on-field crew.  The games are dragging, and players, coaches and fans are pissed.

Why are the "normal" refs locked out?  Because the NFL team owners, in a time of record-high revenues, decided they could squeeze the refs union for few concessionary nickels.  Didn't need to do it, just could.  And since the football public follows players and teams, not referees, the owners figured they could get away with it because no one would really notice.

As a class, NFL owners are extremely wealthy, deeply conservative, and in the upper reaches of the one percent.  These sort of people don't hang out with Mitt Romney -- they underwrite his campaign.  In the nasty spirit of the times, these Lords of the Realm feel it is both their duty and their right to bust unions wherever they may be found, even among part-time referees. 

That's right, the regular refs work part-time for the NFL and most hold other jobs.  Their NFL pay is pretty damn good, with most refs making about $8000 per game and working 20 games or so.  Even so, they asked for a raise as part of their new CBA, which is not unreasonable given the NFL's profitability.  And not unreasonable having now seen 3 weeks of their replacements -- skillfully refereeing an NFL game is clearly no easy task.

The owners countered with a nominal pay raise, but they want the refs to quit their other jobs (pay cut) and be full-time league employees.  The owners want to hire more refs and thereby assign fewer games per ref (pay cut).  They want to replace the refs pension plan with a 401k.

The refs union, the NFLRA, asserts that the net impact of the owners plan would be an average 16% pay cut, and they're really not thrilled with the 401k idea.  The owners are in full-Scrooge, take-it-or-leave-it mode, unwilling to negotiate.  Their Commissioner has a new get-tough policy of fines and suspensions for players and coaches who dare to criticize the replacement refs.  The Lords believe they are in the position of strength.

But are they?  The absence of the experienced referees has been obvious.  Without them, the games have become a mess.  The players union is calling on the league to immediately reinstate the regular refs.  Many fans and media outlets (including the world-renowned Buster's Blog) are joining in the call.

Here are a couple numbers to chew on:  The Cleveland Browns are a dismal franchise that recently sold for $1 billion.  Their ineffective rookie quarterback makes $2 million a year.  Analysts have calculated that if Goodell and the owners completely get their way with the referees, it will save each team $62,500 a year.  Really?

The lockout is contrived bullshit and the owners should stop it right now!