BAYHAM: For Festivus 2019, Rigged Refs And A New Hope

Happy Festivus from the city with the world’s largest Festivus Pole (nee Lee Circle).

The lead grievance to be aired for Festivus 2019 was etched in asphalt eleven months ago when the New Orleans Saints had their Super Bowl appearance stolen from them by an NFL officiating crew that wouldn’t have noticed the Hindenburg Disaster had they been standing under the mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

After successfully pushing through a “no call” rule change in the off-season, the Black and Gold found themselves being regularly victimized by the flag and whistle happy zebras throughout the 2019 regular season as if to send a message to Head Coach Sean Payton and the entire Who Dat Nation.

That no referee has lost his job after such egregious officiating foul ups starting with the tainted NFC Championship Game and running through a bogus penalty on what should’ve been a Drew Brees’ record touchdown pass speaks volumes, even more audible than the “Refs You Suck” chants reverberating withing the Superdome.

As the league made over $8 billion last season, you’d think they could transition from part-time referees to full-time officials, especially with the rise of domestic sports betting.

Someone drawing a paycheck from a single source would have more motivation to call a game right than a guy only moonlighting as a referee.

I wouldn’t hold my breath on Roger Goodell doing the right things despite his avowed concern for protecting the integrity of the game.

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I could go on about the media, particularly in terms of their monstrous treatment of civilians (non-political figures)  but that merits its own special column so I’ll close out with a special Christmas wish.

I’ve been a Star Wars fan longer than I’ve been a Saints or LSU fan and what the franchise produced in Episode 8 was a steaming pile of political correct garbage with references to current times. In other words they Star Treked a Star Wars film.

On Christmas Eve I am going to take in Episode 9, ostensibly the last of the core series.

I’ve spent the last few days dodging spoilers on social media and thus far I’ve only picked up that those folks who also hated the last episode liked the finale.

The chatter has given me, prepare for ludicrous pun, A New Hope.

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