« Reply #108 on: March 10, 2024, 01:48:18 PM »
I lean on the side of doubt when it comes to thinking there's something nefarious going on with bad reffing but I also don't think it's incompetence. My theory is there are essentially 2 sets of rules. There are the rules in the rule book and there are the rules refs are instructed to follow by the league. Again, not because of something nefarious, but because the league wants to make the game as exciting as possible to drive viewership.
So the league instructs refs to give a lot of leeway to players when it comes to traveling and carrying, they instruct refs to allow offensive players leeway with how physical they can be, they tell refs to let things slide in the final moments of games because people get upset when whistles are blown at the end of close games, and they instruct refs to let things go for a team that's down big in hopes of letting them back into the game a bit.
Do I know this for sure? No, of course not. This is my theory as to why the officiating is so bad. Refs are asked to keep 2 separate rule books in their heads and get caught in between a lot of the time.
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