Replacement Refs Editorial

       As many people know, the referee's in the NFL are currently on strike and refusing to ref the football games. The refs are not necessarily asking for more money now, but for their retirement funs. They want to be paid the same amount of money and get the same retirement benefits that other NFL employees are getting.  Not only are the NFL refs refusing to referee the games but also the Division One refs who are supposed to be next in line are refusing to ref as well. So the NFL did the next logical thing and hired the Division Two college refs. Now this has caused quite a stir in the NFL not only for coaches, players and teams but also as fans. The "replacement refs" as many people call them, have had a hard time adjusting to the new set of rules that are in palce for the NFL. The rules in the NFL are different from that of the rules of the college league.

       Personally, I don't think that the replacement refs should get the benefits that they are asking for. This is for a number of reasons but the most prominent in my opinion, is that they only work about 4 months in the entire year. They are asking for full time benefits when they are only part time workers. Now, i'm not exactly sure what they would do for work in the other 8 months that they are not refing but I'm sure they would be able to find something. Also, I think the replacement refs are absolutely horrible. They make bad calls, talk about the calls for way too long, are indecisive, and worst of all, they let players take cheap shots at each other and don't do anything about it. For example, yesterday in the Patriots vs Ravens game, players were hitting each other after the plays and they were talking smack to each other. The refs didn't step in at all and just let it happen. At the same time, I feel like the players and coaches should be more respectful and understand what the refs are going through. I think the players especially are taking advantage of the refs because they are easily intimidated. Long story short, the REAL NFL refs need to come back immediately.