Neighbor in the NY Times Talking NFL Referees

Thad Williamson, a Byrd Park resident, UofR professor, member of the Mayor’s task force on poverty, and zealous sports enthusiast has done us all proud with his Op-Ed in

the New York Times. That’s right, the daily data, the most important newspaper in the world, perhaps. And what is the topic of the hour? NFL referees. Actually, the controversial current event surrounding the all-American past-time of football spills into labor issues, leadership, public safety, ethics, and more. Here’s a smidgeon of Williamson’s prose:

Over the decades, the N.F.L. has been an innovator in professional sport worldwide in the use of instant replay, precisely because it recognized the importance of getting things right.

That worthy tradition has been disgraced over the past three weeks. Indeed, it is stunning to witness the lack of understanding N.F.L. leadership has of the nature of its own sport.

The N.F.L. needs to settle the lockout, immediately. But it also needs to do some serious self-examination about how it could have made such catastrophic decisions over a relatively small amount of money. And that examination must begin at the top, with Mr. Goodell. He has failed in the first responsibility of any league commissioner, which is to safeguard the integrity and credibility of the game. After the chaos during the Week Two games, Mr. Goodell should have admitted his mistakes, settled the strike and issued a public apology, in that way retaining a shred of credibility as the sport’s steward.

It’s too late for that now. Mr. Goodell should offer his resignation, and the owners should accept it.

So, how did this happen? Williamson’s behind the scenes story on getting published is posted after the jump:

As for how it came back, it’s timing. If I had had to teach this morning, I wouldn’t have watched the 4th quarter of the Seattle-Green Bay game at 7 am, wouldn’t have gotten outraged, and wouldn’t have written something by 10 (in about 25 minutes at Capital Coffee) and had it in editors’ hands for consideration by noon, and after that it would have been too late most likely.