GameDay: Instant Replay On NFL Officials Debacle
CBS 5 Sports Director Dennis O'Donnell hosts "Gameday" every Sunday night at 11:30pm on CBS 5 and offers his unique sports analysis here.
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) -- One more note on replacement officials, and let this be a memo to management everywhere.
Professionals take their jobs seriously. They learn their crafts, perfect their skills, and through years of battle-tested experience they become experts at their jobs. That is why they called professionals.
The NFL simply flamed the bonfire of their vanities. Suspend a player without due process? No Problem. Hire incompetent officials? No one will even notice.
I hope this is a wake-up call for Roger Goodell and the boys club. But I sincerely doubt it. In truth, and beyond comprehension, the regular officials caved. Who was their advisor, Bernie Madoff?
What happened between the Packers and the Seahawks was a negotiating godsend for officials and professional workers everywhere. It's proof that you can hire a scab but risk making the cut even worse.
While I feel a sense of relief having real officials back on the field, I wish they would have held strong to their demands. Held onto their pension for themselves and the officials of tomorrow, held true to principle that officials do matter, regardless of where their stand within the hierarchy of the mighty National Football League.
It's because, in the end, I would like to think that not just anyone can do my job. Of course, right now there is a 20-year old in Medford just waiting for my station to hire replacement sportscasters.
See you on the 5th quarter, immediately following Sunday's game between the Raiders and the Broncos. If I'm not on, you'll know what happened.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
