Alexander Natividad - Week 10 - National Referee League
The NFL and NBA have an official problem.
Not an “official” problem like a prominent issue, but an issue with the officiating of games. Maybe this is just me complaining from my couch at home, but fans all across the country have witnessed multiple occasions where the referees are purposely sabotaging games or making bad decisions which weigh in favor of one team.
The job of the referees is to manage the game and impose rules when necessary. This is to create a fair game between the two teams and to settle any disputes over rules at the time the problems arise.
I understand that these referees are human, just like us, and can easily make mistakes. However, with new technologies being implemented into the game, they have the power to stop the game and check with instant replay cameras to see if the right call on the field was made or if it should be changed.
Along with this, the officials also have the power to initially make the right penalizing calls at the right time if they can clearly see the foul occurring. Most of the time, they see a clear foul or penalty but choose not to call it for whatever reason.
In last weekend's AFC championship game, many fans speculated that the officials ruled the game in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs, with multiple debatable calls that could have easily been overturned to call a fair game. This sparked outrage across social media, but the NFL will not address this situation although it has constantly happened in numerous games this season.
As for the NBA, many foul calls seem to be soft and not “worthy” of the common, physical contact. The ratings for this league has gone down a significant amount because of this, as well as any small expressions of competitiveness being called for unsportsmanlike acts rather than the actual hard fouls that get waived off.
The power of sports officials is so simple to see but hard to change through communication, but corruption continues as the season progresses.
Breaking news: Kansas City Chiefs. 17 Nov. 2024. Niagara Action. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
Hi Alex! Your blog was extremely interesting to read; especially because of everything happening in the NBA currently. The part about complaining and yelling while sitting on your couch is extremely relatable, since I often find myself doing the same thing while watching soccer games when the refs make questionable calls. It’s frustrating how even with so much advanced technology available for officials, bad calls still regularly happen, and major leagues rarely address these decisions. Hopefully in the future, there’s more accountability for refs who make these horrible calls.
ReplyDeleteHi Alexander! While I’m not too experienced in the NFL or watching sports in general, I do have a clear understanding of the main issue presented in your blog topic; corruption has its roots wrapped and tangled around many industries, and it can feel impossible to trust those holding positions of power.
ReplyDeleteThe entire notion of a referee is to regulate a game; if something goes wrong, it’s their responsibility to call that out and make the game as fair as possible. However—as you highlighted in your blog post—referees may ironically be misusing their power to direct the games in their favor, going against the entire reason their professions exist.
My Week 9 blog post did center around a video game, however, my point was that those with authority need to have integrity to properly carry out their jobs, or else the consequences could be very grave. While the NFL may not be as stark or serious as the video game Mouthwashing, the central point to both of our blog topics is, as eloquently put by Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”