STRIPES Officiating errors have everyone seeking answers

More instant replay is probably not the answer.
By DAVE GOLDBERG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The NFL has discovered again that despite hours put into improving officiating, there is no way to prevent mistakes. Consider Tom White's failure to restart the clock two weeks ago, an error that can affect the seasons of four teams and impact two division races.
As Seattle coach Mike Holmgren put it after White was fined $2,600 for a mistake that almost surely cost the Seahawks a win in Baltimore: "I'd just as soon give them the money back and get that call."
That demonstrates again that human error trumps procedural change. White's mistake stemmed from a policy put into effect after the zebras messed up the finish of last season's Giants-49ers playoff game.
In fact, one problem with NFL officiating may stem from too many policies and too many rules. Players in most sports often say thinking too much inhibits their ability to react. The same can apply to officials.
That may be what Rams coach Mike Martz meant when he said two weeks ago: "If you ask each official in the league right now, they will give you a different interpretation of every play. I'm disappointed that the officiating is not consistent and it needs to be consistent."
"Unfortunately when we make a mistake, it gets highlighted because it's a striped shirt guy who makes it," supervisor of officials Mike Pereira said. "No one wants to look at the 96 percent we get right."
Replay too time-consuming
Are there answers?
Replay seems to help avoid huge fiascoes.
"I'm sure it will be renewed for next year and it should be renewed," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said this week.
One suggestion for improving officiating is extending instant replay to include some penalties. That's been rejected because it would be too time-consuming.
While a few officials are fired after every season because their grades are low, it's rare that a referee is demoted involuntarily. That happened more than a decade ago with Ben Dreith, and he sued the league.
It's most difficult to eliminate what can only be described as "brain lock." That appears to have happened to White, long considered one of the league's top officials.
"We want the best and demand the best," Pereira says.
The problem is how to accomplish it.