It’s not a surprise at all but once again we see the league choosing to fine a player an insignificant amount of money (to him, not me of course) instead of working on fixing the problem. We had plenty of other opportunities to win the game, but the way overtime played out was still horseshit and Freeney shouldn’t get fined for stating the truth.

You can’t tell him not to say it, especially if he has a point and it’s true because this is the USA. Besides, I promise you he’d do it again. If one of the officials smelled god awful and Freeney said “That dude smelled seriously [expetive] awful.” he’d just be stating facts.

I for one am not saying it wasn’t the sole reason for the loss, but come on. Walks like a duck…

When all the officials get for screwing up so bad they still officiate in the playoffs? I’ve already said how Hochuli is my favorite ref, and I have no problems with him getting a chance to officiate in the playoffs, but they receive absolutely no ramifications for their actions on the field. Winters was banned from officiating the Giants for 3 years for bad calls. Funny thing was, the calls were holding. And what happens if an official doesn’t move out of the way or completely screws up a play? It’s not that rare, but sometimes it’s blatant and on an important play. What happens? Nothing. Can’t review it or mention it. For some reason officials are held to an “above the law” type mentality. If an “official” in any other aspect of life failed as miserably as some of these guys have, they’d be fired and/or have legal situations. I’m not saying it to take it to that degree, but the serious backlash from the league on these matters only justifies and makes the the situation worse. Think about it, it’s a catch 22. If they don’t recognize Freeney insulted officiating then they legitimize it, but then they cite him for using foul language while doing it for the reason for the fine. They didn’t say what he said was wrong, but the fine was for foul language when referring to officiating. And now that fine will be on record and if Winters screws up again or another official, somebody will say “Well, Freeney was fined in the 2008 playoffs blah blah blah.” They’re really not hurting this man’s ability to eat, and they’re not trying to put out the fire.

And you’re right about officiating getting worse. All these new rules to make calls black and white and take the subjectivity out of calling plays and penalties have only introduced much more subjectivity into the game. I don’t even know what a catch is anymore. I don’t know what illegal use of the hands to the face or holding is anymore. Apparently balls don’t have to cross the goal line to be TDs anymore and it’s only about your feet. And I had the site for the non called intentional grounding against Rivers, and he did one last night against the Steelers but I guess after he flipped out on the safety from one, he’s exempt from the rule.

The poor officiating hasn’t only been in Colts’ games. Its been across the board.

Between these officials and the inundation of commercial breaks, I have had difficulty even watching football this year. It’s really sad.