And it gets worse for NASCAR. TV ratings for the Chase in 2015 have been dismal and the moving of the Diehard 500 at Talladega to NBC Sports Network instead of airing it on NBC (which aired the USGP for F1) was not a good sign for the Cup Series; adding insult to that injury, the Truck 250 was aired on FOX's over the air network.
But what transpired at Talladega is bound to anger even more people. Not only was the racing once again enormously under-competitive due to NASCAR's ridiculous diktat against push-drafting, the finish was the biggest insult to competitive integrity in years, certainly since the absurd Regan Smith yellow line penalty that cost him a last-lap win in the 2008 Diehard 500. NASCAR dictated only one green-white checker finish for this Diehard 500, apparently thinking having the normal three would produce more crashes; what they got instead was two, the first coming on what NASCAR disingenuously claimed was not an attempt - the green light came on as the cars hit the gas, but a crash occurred in the trioval and NASCAR waved the yellow, claiming it was not an attempt, this even though the radio chatter from drivers indicated it was an attempt.
NASCAR tried again and as Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr took off Logano got the lead but another wreck, involving among others the eminently-forgettable Denny Hamlin after a bad day where he had to get a roof hatch repaired, erupted and NASCAR wasted several minutes trying to determine who was leading at what scoring loop even though it was obvious Logano was the leader and thus, under NASCAR's field-freeze rule, the winner.
The wreck happened because Kevin Harvick - who took out Denny Hamlin at Daytona and thus launched Austin Dillon into spearing the fencing - swerved into Trevor Bayne. But of course Harvick refuses to be accountable for it - and NASCAR as usual will not hold the responsible driver accountable for it.
It combined the worst of everything for NASCAR.
Without push-drafting the cars basically are stuck sidedrafting with the leader basically immune from challenge; for most of the race the top five hogged the bottom line without any challenge, where the racing should have been about rocket-surges from midfield into the lead by lock-bumper two-car superdrafts, the lead thus changing at a spectacular rate, and the field able to keep up and sort out without being stuck in place.
Then there is the chronic problem that NASCAR gives the officiating tower the power it has to determine the outcome instead of the racers, That the restart was declared not a restart by NASCAR was doubletalk; that it was important is also absurd both for the aborted start and for the one that was stopped after the leaders hit Turn One; because NASCAR ostensibly doesn't allow racing to the line, instead freezing the field when the caution comes out - this even after numerous examples (such as the 2004 Firecracker 250, the 2007 Daytona 500, the 2008 Talladega Truck 250, and the 2011 Firecracker 400) where NASCAR left the green out amid a crash and let the field race to the line. The result all these times was that racing to the line is not the safety problem NASCAR seems to pretend it to be.
What transpired was Joey Logano was declared the winner, based not on the start-finish line but by the officiating tower reading a scoring loop. No matter how it is sliced it is not a legitimate win; Logano didn't race to the line to earn the win. Such rule-induced fraudulence has been a depressingly frequent occurrence, most infamously illustrated in the 2004 Winston 500 and 2004 Pocono 500.
The tower wasn't supposed to make the call - it was supposed to be determined by racing to the stripe. That it was officiated like this shows anew NASCAR's credibility problem.
At Talladega such problems are easily fixable - let the cars (and Trucks) push-draft again; it's the strongest power to pass ever seen, and what matters is passing, period; give the racing at Talladega and Daytona back the 60-plus lead change average it had just a few years ago. Reduce the officiating tower's role and give some control of the racing back to the racers - let them race to the stripe and thus legitimately determine the outcome. And stop pretending a restart is not a restart.
NASCAR's credibility issues of course extend far beyond Talladega. The Chase concept has no legitimacy and the disintegration of TV ratings shows it; drop the Chase, go back to the Latford Point System, and increase the points bonuses for the win and for most laps led - incentivize going for the win above everything else. The issue of costs and team spending need to be addressed by NASCAR and the new Race Team Alliance - the low number of winners in 2015 (just eleven with the Talladega outcome) is indicative of a disturbing lack of competitive depth for the sport.
*****
It was a lousy race even for the winner, and it certainly stunk for the rest of the field. Joe Gibbs Racing was dismal even though it led some laps; Stewart-Haas Racing was basically MIA; so were any Fords outside of Penske Racing; Ganassi-Earnhardt had a forgettable day. That racing always produces more widespread disappointment than cheer is true enough; that even the winners couldn't honestly feel good about how it all transpired merely shows how dismal a day it was for a track where it should always be so much better.
Showing posts with label Referees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Referees. Show all posts
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Monday, December 09, 2013
Week 14 After Further Review
Week 14 of the NFL season has wrapped up and the season itself is closing fast on the playoffs, yet this particular week warrants examination.
##########
The Patriots-Browns game warrants extensive attention not only for the chaotic outcome, but also for the twin issues of player injuries and officiating. Rob Gronkowski's injury on a low hit has stirred debate about the sagacity of the NFL's rules concerning head hits. More than a few commentators have noted Brandon Meriweather's complaint earlier this season that the NFL's emphasis on stopping head hits has left defenders no alternative but to attack low, and the result being increased knee/leg injuries.
The issue of player safety has not been adequately examined because the NFL's approach has been backwards. What the league has done is make the fundamental mistake of defining the issue down instead of defining it up - it has gone the route of restriction and of treating players as weak instead of working to toughen players, toughen safety equipment, and trusting in the toughness of both. All the bluster about concussions has obscured that it never was the epidemic the League Of Denial demagogues have always pretended it to be, and there never was any need for new rules for player safety.
The league's approach toward player safety needs to change - it needs to define the issue up, not down. Players in the last 20-plus years have been stronger, more durable, and safer than ever before and they're only getting safer still. The league needs to encourage making the players stronger and more durable still; it needs to further improve safety equipment (which is already being done anyway) and also trust in the toughness and safety of both.
Because the stronger the players, the stronger the safety equipment, the safer the game. Taking away certain hits accomplishes nothing for the game.
Related to this issue is how the league has cracked down on training camp and in-season practices - here it chose the wrong route of defining the issue down instead of up. Instead of limiting the physicality of training camp and in-season practices, the league should be cracking down on off-season player training regimens - players should train less in the off-season and instead use camps, pre-season games, and in-season practices to get into football shape - train less, hit more - just as baseball pitchers who presently cannot last 200 innings because they train too much in the off-season need to eschew off-season training and instead use preseason practices to pitch more, as was the custom in 1979 when multiple pitchers reached 250 innings - noteworthy is that NFL players showed more in-season stamina in what was a more physical game back then because of resting in the off-season and using camp and the preseason to get in shape.
##########
The issue of officiating centers on the Patriots-Browns game because of glaringly poor performance by Jerome Boger's crew. A Browns fumble in the first quarter was wiped out without any credible justification by Boger, and several other questionable calls marred the most improbable comeback win the league has seen in years. Several other games were marred by poor officiating, to the point that Leslie Frazier of the Vikings was contacted by the league to discuss the matter.
The view was expressed that the officiating job is inherently hard and another unfavorable comparison was made to 2012's replacement refs - which misses the point entirely. The replacement refs really were better than the officials used now, because they let the players play and didn't try to be the show. Ed Hochuli and company have long tried to be the show and it isn't working.
##########
In this regard, two rule changes the league needs are presented -
1 - Take away the 5-yard chuck rule.
2 - Allow receivers a running start behind the line of scrimmage at the snap, a rule used in the Arena League and the Canadian League and which works. It opens up offense, while getting rid of the chuck rule allows defenders to make plays.
Overall, let the players play, because letting the players play is the best safety approach there is.
##########
The league set a record for touchdowns scored in one day (95) on Sunday, and it may have been the best Sunday ever. Four of them were scored by the Titans, but the game at Denver fell away to a 51-28 Broncos win. The season thus appears a lost one for a Titans team that had showed real improvement at the start of the season and which has still shown commendable fight even with the season slipping away.
Even so rumblings have begun of major changes after the season, with Mike Munchak under fire, running back Chris Johnson ostensibly to be released, and quarterback Jake Locker a possible casualty as well, with Jay Cutler a possible free agent acquisition.
I'm not sold on firing Munchak, who clearly has his players playing hard, or releasing Locker, who even with two years of season-ruining injuries has shown real growth as a quarterback this season, or signing Jay Cutler, who has put up some impressive volume stats but hasn't shown clutch ability as a quarterback. He'd be a huge upgrade over the bitterly disappointing Ryan Fitzpatrick - whose own inability to seal the deal in games is the real reason for the collapse of the Titans' season - but compared to Locker right now, I'd take Locker.
##########
Some analysts still pretend that there is need to establish the run. Monday Night's game is yet another example that the run is not conducive to winning - the Cowboys rushed for 199 yards and scored 28 points - while the Bears' Luke McCown threw for 348 yards and scored 45 points; the Bears did ruhs for 156 yards but it really didn't matter.
Tony Romo managed three touchdowns, but they were empty numbers yet again, further proving his irrelevance to the game and that he is just one of those guys who shouldn't even be in the league.
##########
Finally, one should remember Tom Dempsey, who saw his NFL record longest field goal broken by the Broncos on a 64-yarder. Dempsey set the record in 1970 of 63 yards, and did so despite a malformed foot requiring a special shoe. Dempsey is one of the good guys in league history, and to see his record last as long as it did was something.
##########
The Patriots-Browns game warrants extensive attention not only for the chaotic outcome, but also for the twin issues of player injuries and officiating. Rob Gronkowski's injury on a low hit has stirred debate about the sagacity of the NFL's rules concerning head hits. More than a few commentators have noted Brandon Meriweather's complaint earlier this season that the NFL's emphasis on stopping head hits has left defenders no alternative but to attack low, and the result being increased knee/leg injuries.
The issue of player safety has not been adequately examined because the NFL's approach has been backwards. What the league has done is make the fundamental mistake of defining the issue down instead of defining it up - it has gone the route of restriction and of treating players as weak instead of working to toughen players, toughen safety equipment, and trusting in the toughness of both. All the bluster about concussions has obscured that it never was the epidemic the League Of Denial demagogues have always pretended it to be, and there never was any need for new rules for player safety.
The league's approach toward player safety needs to change - it needs to define the issue up, not down. Players in the last 20-plus years have been stronger, more durable, and safer than ever before and they're only getting safer still. The league needs to encourage making the players stronger and more durable still; it needs to further improve safety equipment (which is already being done anyway) and also trust in the toughness and safety of both.
Because the stronger the players, the stronger the safety equipment, the safer the game. Taking away certain hits accomplishes nothing for the game.
Related to this issue is how the league has cracked down on training camp and in-season practices - here it chose the wrong route of defining the issue down instead of up. Instead of limiting the physicality of training camp and in-season practices, the league should be cracking down on off-season player training regimens - players should train less in the off-season and instead use camps, pre-season games, and in-season practices to get into football shape - train less, hit more - just as baseball pitchers who presently cannot last 200 innings because they train too much in the off-season need to eschew off-season training and instead use preseason practices to pitch more, as was the custom in 1979 when multiple pitchers reached 250 innings - noteworthy is that NFL players showed more in-season stamina in what was a more physical game back then because of resting in the off-season and using camp and the preseason to get in shape.
##########
The issue of officiating centers on the Patriots-Browns game because of glaringly poor performance by Jerome Boger's crew. A Browns fumble in the first quarter was wiped out without any credible justification by Boger, and several other questionable calls marred the most improbable comeback win the league has seen in years. Several other games were marred by poor officiating, to the point that Leslie Frazier of the Vikings was contacted by the league to discuss the matter.
The view was expressed that the officiating job is inherently hard and another unfavorable comparison was made to 2012's replacement refs - which misses the point entirely. The replacement refs really were better than the officials used now, because they let the players play and didn't try to be the show. Ed Hochuli and company have long tried to be the show and it isn't working.
##########
In this regard, two rule changes the league needs are presented -
1 - Take away the 5-yard chuck rule.
2 - Allow receivers a running start behind the line of scrimmage at the snap, a rule used in the Arena League and the Canadian League and which works. It opens up offense, while getting rid of the chuck rule allows defenders to make plays.
Overall, let the players play, because letting the players play is the best safety approach there is.
##########
The league set a record for touchdowns scored in one day (95) on Sunday, and it may have been the best Sunday ever. Four of them were scored by the Titans, but the game at Denver fell away to a 51-28 Broncos win. The season thus appears a lost one for a Titans team that had showed real improvement at the start of the season and which has still shown commendable fight even with the season slipping away.
Even so rumblings have begun of major changes after the season, with Mike Munchak under fire, running back Chris Johnson ostensibly to be released, and quarterback Jake Locker a possible casualty as well, with Jay Cutler a possible free agent acquisition.
I'm not sold on firing Munchak, who clearly has his players playing hard, or releasing Locker, who even with two years of season-ruining injuries has shown real growth as a quarterback this season, or signing Jay Cutler, who has put up some impressive volume stats but hasn't shown clutch ability as a quarterback. He'd be a huge upgrade over the bitterly disappointing Ryan Fitzpatrick - whose own inability to seal the deal in games is the real reason for the collapse of the Titans' season - but compared to Locker right now, I'd take Locker.
##########
Some analysts still pretend that there is need to establish the run. Monday Night's game is yet another example that the run is not conducive to winning - the Cowboys rushed for 199 yards and scored 28 points - while the Bears' Luke McCown threw for 348 yards and scored 45 points; the Bears did ruhs for 156 yards but it really didn't matter.
Tony Romo managed three touchdowns, but they were empty numbers yet again, further proving his irrelevance to the game and that he is just one of those guys who shouldn't even be in the league.
##########
Finally, one should remember Tom Dempsey, who saw his NFL record longest field goal broken by the Broncos on a 64-yarder. Dempsey set the record in 1970 of 63 yards, and did so despite a malformed foot requiring a special shoe. Dempsey is one of the good guys in league history, and to see his record last as long as it did was something.
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