Cares Less About Fans

The real story of the replacement refs blown call: What the NFL doesn't want youto know

The sports talk airwaves are still blowing up over the latest botched call by the NFL's replacement officials. For those of you who've been stuck under a rock, the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay and Seattle Seahawks came down to a last second Hail-Mary pass.

The replay clearly showed the Green Bay defender intercepting the ball, but the officials ruled “Dual Possession” and awarded the Seahawks a game-stealing touchdown.

Now even the regular officials have been known to blow calls (see Ed “Guns” Hochuli”), but this latest mangled call was reminiscent of a Marx Brothers movie. As you can imagine, the sports talk show hosts are outraged. They remind us in no uncertain terms that the fans are not going to accept this type of football.

The fans? Really? They think the NFL is that worried about the fans?

Let us visit the replay booth for a moment . . .

This is a league with a goal to increase player safety, yet it sees no problem throwing scrub officials who are in way over their heads, increasing the risk of injuries from uncalled/missed penalties like chop blocks and blows to the head.
This is the league that makes its fans purchase preseason game tickets at regular season prices even though most of those games are played by people you’ve never heard of before (or after).
This is the league that makes fans purchase PSL (Personal Seat Licenses) which require paying them for the right to purchase tickets.
This is the league that rewards Buffalo fans (Disclaimer: I am a long suffering Bills fan) by taking away one home game each year and having them play in Toronto so that it can make even more money.

Now sports talk hosts are preaching to us that we should boycott the games. Don’t watch them they tell us. Don’t attend the game (even though you had to take a second mortgage to buy the tickets in the first place).

This issue will be resolved, not because the fans are upset, but because Las Vegas cannot be happy. The Packers were three to three and a half point favorites to win that game. The final score was 14-12 which means a lot of people lost money on that final play.

If I were the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, I would be a lot more worried about Tommy DeVito than Jim Rome.

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Texans' new home

Houston Texans partner with Harris County for massive new headquarters

Houston, 5th annual JJ Watt Charity Classic, May 2017, J.J. Watt on the field

Photo courtesy of the Houston Texans

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The Houston Texans could soon be moving to northwest Harris County, not for games, but for everything else, including training camp, and taxpayers will be footing some of the bill.

On Thursday, Harris County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the Houston Texans and the developer for a new facility that will be built.

The district will be named the "Toro District."

There are no details tied to the agenda item. Neither the Texans nor the commissioners has disclosed the total project's cost.

Judge Lina Hidalgo did tell ABC13 that the project will cost taxpayers $150 million, despite the county's budget deficit of more than $100 million. Hidalgo said that money won't fund the facility itself, but rather the new infrastructure needed for the area, as well as any public buildings that will need to be constructed.

Commissioners stated that some of the funds will come from the special tax district, which collects property taxes in the area for future projects.

The Texans said the project will cover 83 acres and include a 22-acre headquarters and training facility for the team. The Texans claim the district will generate $34 billion in long-term economic impact and create 17,000 jobs across the region.

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Read the full story, with video, on CultureMap's news partner, ABC13.com.

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