Originally posted on 09/25/2012:

Quote Originally Posted by Dark Horse View Post
Bingo.

The replacement refs make mistakes. So do the regular refs. The one noticeable difference? The regular crew tends to favor the same (public) teams year after year. Bottomline for those 'wronged' public teams. If you don't want to lose the game on the last play, decide the game before that.

And bettors complaining en masse about losing a bet on the last play is hilarious. As if that has never happened before. Goes with the territory and evens out over time. Crocodile tears and gambling are a bad mix. Game is over. Move on.
"If you don't want to lose the game on the last play, decide the game before that" - You mean like forcing Wilson out of the pocket and intercept his pass deep in Seattle territory right after you went up 5 pts at the 7:00 mark in the 4rth quarter? Essentially wrapping up the win? Oh wait, they did that. It just didn't count because a non-existent roughing the passer call was called (apparently not a "noticeable" difference by your standards).

The worst call I saw last night (and there were a LOT to choose from) was the pass interference penalty on the Green Bay corner (Shields I believe) on a long pass when Seattle had a 1rst and 25. He had inside position, was looking back at the ball the whole time, and was grabbed by the receiver. A quality ref NEVER calls pass interference on the defense there. So stop with the "all refs make mistakes" nonsense. Of course all refs make mistakes. But when one crew makes 40% more bad calls, and makes more important missed calls, that would never be called by a better crew, THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE.

One game means a lot for a team in a 16 game season. That might affect their seeding, or even if they make the playoffs.

I didn't have a nickel on either side last night, and I'm not a loyal supporter of either team. I was actually drawn in to watching the game after seeing the 1rst quarter because it looked like a rare NFL game that had some defense and was a tight "old style" type of game, which I like to see, especially when most games these days resemble a video game with scores every possession. After watching 3 hours of football, I felt cheated with the fiasco that ensued in the last 7:00 of playing time. I felt the same way that I did when I saw the movie Logans Run, that i had wasted a few hours of my life that I'll never get back.

Now as far as bettors complaining, that statement I'll agree with you on. One game should never be that big for you (unless you're on the end of a futures bet where you might have staked 1k to win 40k).

Bottom line, the NFL is a disgusting organization whose sole purpose these days is to maximize revenue and control. I don't watch the NFL too much since I had confirmation that it was their hired lobbyist, Martin Gold, who was the force behind the passing of the UIGEA on behalf of the NFL, and he is still an adviser to Jon Kyl. The NFL still spends millions every year to keep internet gambling shut down, and they are responsible for costing me 25K-50k a year in poker earnings at PokerStars. They need to be exposed for the louses that they are.