Trouble in Paradise

By any measure the NFL is the most outstandingly successful sports league business in the World. But Paul Tagliabue and the owners will need to move adroitly next season to quell a grass-roots revulsion against the quality of officiating in the Playoffs. Initially the pet mass media in its reporting on the Super Bowl tried to suffocate any intimations that the Zebras had ruined the Main Event. A survey of blogs indicated that overwhelmingly the fans were not fooled and a trickle of columns has begun to appear giving voice to widespread frustration over the quality and influence of officials' calls.

It was apparent that at the Playoffs were meant to be a coronation for Indy but this all went horribly wrong at the very end of the Steelers game in a truly bizarre play featuring an exceedingly rare Bettis fumble and a bonehead move by Harper, who recovered the fumble that allowed Roethlisberger to trip him up. A decent QB (much less a Montana or Elway) still had time to win the game or at least set up an easy FG. Can't blame the Zebras for that but Indy should have been out of it long before then. The script then shifted to winning one for the chin and the bus (not that those are bad sentiments).

Officials are like anyone else, they get caught up in the hype and - hey who knows - maybe they're receptive over drinks from NFL mucakamucks that "gee it would be nice if..". It doesn't matter. Tagliabue and co. have to read the riot act and prevent any repetition.