Sports pundits, reporters and commentators have turned this phrase “C’mon man” into a segment on one of the shows. The phrase stands for somebody doing something stupid, making a terrible mistake, or it could be something some people just laugh at. “C’mon man” means simply, “How could you do that?”
Now the league, the NFL, has done it. “C’mon man” could also mean stupidity for not coming to an agreement with their professionally trained referees. The really dumb thing here is they haven’t even used the best college officials. They’re using Division III, NAIA, and Division II officials. Why is that so bad? It’s a fact the game normally moves at a much faster pace and the professional refs, who are on strike, can anticipate many things and that helps a bunch.
There have been many, many mistakes … loss of time, loss of yardage, or in some cases, a positive move for an offense because of a mistake a ref made. And in a couple of games refs were shoved around, pushed around, and it came very close to a free-for-all on the playing field. (On Monday night, it appeared a blown call cost the Green Bay Packers a victory.)
“C’mon man” is aimed directly at the ownership of the NFL teams. I don’t know entirely all of the ends and outs of the strike, but as I understand it, it mainly comes down to the pension plan, and a slight raise in pay which, compared to the rest of the payroll in the NFL, is just chump change.
Yes, professional referees of years and years of training have made mistakes. And they will make others when their time comes again. This boils down to a power play between the egocentric owners and a group of men they would rather not have in a union.
You hear the word “family” kicked around by executives of football teams, but it is only “family” if you grew up on a Mississippi chain gang. The owners are always talking about the integrity of the game, yet when it has been close to a disaster, the ownership just isn’t there. It’s time to get the real refs back on the field. “C’mon man!”
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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