Skirts for Quarterbacks,
Fines for Referees
Kent State presidential ticket?
Lambert - Harrison
Thursday, October 9, 2008
In what appeared
to be a clean hit by Steelers linebacker James Harrison on
Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard, Harrison got flagged
for roughing the passer. His bigger penalty came this week when he
was fined $20K for criticizing the official for an obvious bad call,
while implying the penalty was called since the official might have
had money on the outcome of the game. Whoops! The NFL is no
democracy mind you, and players aren't allowed to speak their minds
even when they are wronged.
The cause of all this goes back to the NFL's desire to protect
quarterbacks from injury. Wasn't it Jack Lambert who first expressed
his frustration with rule changes to protect quarterbacks with his
memorable suggestion that quarterbacks start wearing skirts? Ha!
James Harrison is every bit the hard hitter that 'Jack Splat' once
was, and his premiere performances on Monday Night Football may have
him in the referee's spotlight. But a cheap shot artist he is not,
and this was clearly a bad call. Harrison's suggestion that referees
be fined for bad calls is a good one.
Unfortunately, the constitution and
bylaws of the NFL forbid any player's criticism of the Grand Poopahs
of the NFL, from league officials right on down to the zebras. That
task has to be left to fans, bloggers and sports writers. Therefore, this
blogger is hereby levying an "offsetting" $20K fine on the NFL Ref
who made the bad call on James Harrison, and another $20K for
"instigating" this entire mess!
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