If the Berlin Wall could fall, so can the N.F.L.
Alex Koppelman on the replacement referees and the N.F.L. dictatorship: http://nyr.kr/RfNVTa (via newyorker)
I keep telling you people, it doesn’t work that way. As the piece itself says, football fans have nowhere else to go. Ratings haven’t been touched, sponsors are happy. Probably even more people will tune in to see what officiating disaster or nearly-fatal helmet-to-helmet hit happens next week. It’s bread and circuses all the way. My guess is that the NFL will replace these officials with ones who are even worse, just to create more buzz. It turns out that incompetence, violence, and the resulting outrage are all bankable. Cool!