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In soccer terminology it has all kicked off! The owners of the NFL have locked out the referees over pay and conditions. The owners want to make it worst and the referees want to keep it the same basically the standard workers v bosses situation. However, into the mix the bosses have thrown in scab labour to effectively sack the old referees and replace them with new referees. Again, standard labour dispute stuff.
The problem with this labour dispute is that it is in the middle of a defining Presidential election and it is being watched by a normally uninterested crowd who have now become very interested. As was seen in the Green Bay Packers v Seattle Seahawks when rookie referees make bad decisions on TV there is no hiding place. In the game which took place on Monday 24th, September 2012, Green Bay Packers clearly won because they had control of the ball at the right time. Somehow the referees made a hash of it and gave it to Seattle Hawks!
This decision has led to political rivals Obama and Romney to both say that the dispute need to end and bring back the original professional referees. Probably the first time both men have agreed on something other than ‘RomneyCare’. The fans are so angry that it is now ruining the NFL brand and the owners are beginning to look like those old caricature of old factory owners deliberately screwing their workers for no apparent reason other than greed. The refs are coming out of this rather well.
Obviously there will be a solution for this and the refs will win! The owners are going to have to get used to this that refereeing is a skill and good judgement is all important. NFL can be a ponderous game for the casual viewer so to have blatant bad decisions only spoils the game.