Last Monday was Monday Night Football for the NFL. The two teams playing were the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. The game was a close one; it came down to the final play. Packers were up 12-7 and Seattle had possession of the ball for one last play.

Quarterback, Russell Wilson, threw a Hail Mary into the endzone hoping one of his teammates would receive the ball. The ball was caught, but it was not clear who caught it. Two refs were near the catch. One said it was a touchdown while the other called an interception. As some discussion, the refs decided that the call on the field would be a touchdown. The problem was that when the play was watched on replay, there was clearly an interception by the Packers.

This call, made by what are referred to as “replacement referees,” cost Green Bay the game.

This is not the first time that bad calls have been made recently in the NFL. The current replacement referees are there because the real officials are on strike. More experienced referees would likely have made a better call.  Clearly the league needs them.

The NFL Referees Association has not been able to come to an agreement with Roger Goodell, Commissioner for the NFL. Because they cannot come to terms, important NFL games are being lost.

But questionable calls are not exclusive to the NFL. Last year, in ODA’s football game against  Mooney at Cougar Stadium, Mooney had the chance to win the game with a field goal. With nothing but a few seconds left, the Thunder wanted to “ice” the kicker, which means calling a timeout to disturb the kicker’s concentration. Successfully disturbing this kick, would have meant ODA won the game.

But when Thunder players and coaches called for a timeout,  the referees refused to stop the play. The Cougars won with a field goal. Though Mooney may have gotten the field goal even if ODA had been able to try to “ice” the kicker, the fact that the Thunder never had a chance to use this legal and acceptable play was unfair.

It is only fair that the referees make the right call at the right time during the game. We will all be able to return to the american classic game we love, football.