The First Thing We Do

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" -- Dick the Butcher, Henry VI part 2

Watching the college bowl games and now the NFL playoffs, I've been struck by the absolutely abysmal performance of the officiating crews. Yes, I know players drop passes, fumble and make mistakes too. But the refs are at least supposed to know the rules of the game (and preferrably enforce them).

The Steelers-Colts game was about the worst I've ever seen. The use of instant replay to overturn a correct call on the field was the most glaring error, but there were a number of missed calls...the "no call" on the false-start/offsides late in the game, the glaring pass interference in the first half that wasn't called...it was just ugly.

It's time for the refs to go back to school. And if they still can't cut it, well, maybe Shakespeare had it right.