Spanking The Zebras

Well, there I was, about to rant about the travesty of logic and justice known as Mike Pereira, when an email arrived from H, who was copying me on a letter he sent to the National Football League regarding Pereira.

As you all know by now, Pereira, the NFL’s head of officiating, traded barbs with Queen of Darkness Amy Trask at a recent panel discussion. Not only did Pereira suggest that a blown call is more excusable if the wronged team made its own mistakes earlier in the game, he also took a cheap shot at the Oakland Raiders.

Several Raider Take regulars made some great points in the comments section of the previous take, and I was ready to weigh in myself, but H essentially took the words right out of my mouth. Here’s what he had to say to the NFL:

"Mike Pereira recently took a cheap shot at Amy Trask of the Oakland Raiders. I won't go into details as to what was said, but I refer to the opening salvo where Mr. Pereira complained that he gets most emails on Mondays about ‘bad calls’ and pointed out that, on a blown pass interference call, he reminded himself about the six turnovers earlier in the game.

Well, Mr. Pereira just doesn't get it. Part of football is just like part of life, and that part is overcoming adversity. The team with the six turnovers had fought back, overcome adversity and put themselves in a position to win the game. To dismiss the blown call as having no effect on the outcome of the game due to earlier turnovers is the height of arrogance.

In football, officiating is the one subjective area of any game. To act as if it has no impact on a given game is supercilious at best. This type of attitude does nothing to enhance the image of an official in the eyes of the average fan.

Blown calls, especially late in a game, do affect the outcome, as there is insufficient time to overcome that call. Yet, we hear nothing about what is done to a particular official who missed the call, or non-call in some cases, while players are called out and publicly and humiliated on national television. All we hear about is an occasional ‘oops’ letter to a team, and even that is only rumor, nothing public.

I believe Mr. Pereira owes an apology to Ms. Trask and the Raiders in particular, and to football fans in general.”

To me, this is the epitome of the perfect complaint letter: respectful yet forceful, and precisely argued with facts and logic. Well played, H!

As for all of us Raiders fans, it just goes to show once again, just because we’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get us.