How Referees Ruin Football

Football season is here. And whether you are a fan of the American college game, the American pro game or the Canadian game (which of course we think is better), this is perhaps the best time of year when all the seasons are going on at the same time, so your weekend is filled with football starting Friday night and running through Monday night.

And if you have a home-theater system, watching a game has an extra adrenaline push to it because of camera and microphone technology that gives clear sounds of pads and helmets colliding with each other, the heavy breathing, the quarterback calling signals, and the cheers of the crowd.

It's like being there, in the middle of the action. That is why we watch football - gives us the adrenaline without the bruises, concussions or pulled hamstrings.

What doesn't do it for us? Referees, or zebras as they are pejoratively called. And we're not talking about their presence at a game or the job they do; we just get no adrenaline rush from the camera focused on them because they are signalling a penalty. We have the stereo system for the tackles and the crowd, not for the amplification of the referee's voice.

Referees have a hard job, but they are a buzzkill. Let's just put it on the table right now. Football would be so much more exciting if we could have an automatic mute button for the referees - and even a button so we don't even see him or her on the screen in the first place.

When someone like Ed Hochuli is as much of a name in football as Tom Brady, there is a problem.