I always, paranoid-ically speaking, think that the refs are picking on my team.
But after that one replacement was found out to be an open fan of the Saints...I began to wonder if I was really all that paranoid.
But seriously, these guys aren't even the Division I guys.
This is the equivalent of replacing NFL players with junior high school kids. (at least three levels below the standard)
Now, some people are saying that the NFL is being "generous" with what they have offered the Real Refs.
But people should stop counting other people's money. To me $189,000 for 20 games, plus first class travel arrangements would be really neat. BUT I don't have the skill set, nor do I think that I could get the skill set that NFL Real Refs have.
What is holding the contract up is the equivalent of $60,000/year/team over 5 years.
The NFL owners can just extort that much more from the cities that they play in.