Playing the Field: The replacement refs – America’s old guy at the urinal moment

One guy signals game over, the other signals touchdown.

You know that thing when the old, lazy guy in the public bathroom pulls his pants down to his ankles while relieving himself at the urinal?

No? Well, that’s okay. It’s like (pardon the expression) seeing a blue moon. It’s Sasquatch-rare.

Still, it’s alarming every time and leaves you speechless for hours on end. It also begs for several questions to be answered: Was there a time in this country when this practice was acceptable? What purpose does it serve? One would think you would wind up getting more urine on your trunks doing it that way than if you just went to the bathroom like a normal person.

Here’s the point: America witnessed old, lazy guy in the public bathroom last night, complete with full-fledged mooning. What happened in Seattle was shocking, strange, maddening and had you questioning over and over, “Why?, Why? WHY?!!!!”

Yup, this is the reason why the XFL was trending at midnight on the East Coast.

I’m convinced that this was a case of simple peer pressure. It looks to me like the first ref, No. 84, raises his hands to signal a touchback and the end of the game first while the other ref, No. 26, quickly looks for approval. When No. 26 sees No. 84 raise his hands, that’s when he knows it’s okay to raise his. Only No. 26 raises his hands to signal a touchdown, likely because he thought that’s what No. 84 was going to do … Good. God.

Steve Young finally earns his paychecks

Who has been the best commentator on the matter of replacement refs? Shockingly enough, Steve Young (who, frankly, I’ve never been a fan of before). Following up on his epic rant last week, he delivered this fine rundown about a half hour after the ScrewJob in Seattle …