I want to preface this by saying Jim Kozimor is my friend and more important he is one hell of a host for Chron Live. I love working with him. Tonight he got worked up because I called the scab refs clowns. He said that was unacceptable on the show. So I called them clowns a bunch more times, because they are and because I am by nature contrary. I even called Roger Goodell a clown for letting these scab clowns ref games now into the fourth week. Why are they scabs? Because they are making it difficult for the real refs to reach a deal with the league and because they are ruining the game by virtue of who they are.
Koz said it’s not their fault they don’t know what they are doing.
I say it is. No one asked them to be scab refs. They are unqualified for the job and should have declined to serve. It’s like someone asking me to perform brain surgery tomorrow. I’d have to say, no. They are a joke and they are ruining the product. The owners and Goodell are also to blame. The game is suffering. Does the league even care?
Clowns to the left of us, clowns to the right of us.
chris
wow Lowell, have to disagree with everything you just wrote……….Kozimore is not a good host on comcast or KNBR. He’s as bland as it gets. Sorry Koze………and its not like you doing brain surgery because you’ve never been a doctor on any level……..the refs have been refs on a certain level before. And someone did ask the refs to be scabs……….Roger Goodell.
September 25th, 2012 7:56 pm
JayT
Yep. Clowns. Although Roger and the NFL owners are far bigger clowns for sure.
September 25th, 2012 8:49 pm
lameduck
I bet they drink good wine, are good family people and javing the time of their lives as they are living a dream.
OK, they stink. They are gettting better. I bet they never get that call wrong again.
I’m thinking that they should be on a Showtime special. I’m still giving you s pass on the term or TV show X Factor…
September 25th, 2012 9:18 pm
MJ
Doesn’t he work on 95.7? Maybe im confussed.
September 25th, 2012 9:27 pm
Tommy CostaRica
Like I’ve been saying we need to go total digital and in time will go total digital. As spectators watching the tube, we see it and get it right 99% of the time in about 30 seconds, why can’t the league do the same?
September 25th, 2012 9:29 pm
Rich, San Ramon
I like the idea of the players of all 32 teams just taking a knee until the clock winds down to zero. Not running even a single play, just taking a knee.
September 25th, 2012 9:46 pm
Loneraider78
Raiders vs Broncos
Week 1 2011
Penalties: 15/131
Raiders 2012
Weeks 1-3: 14/102
These guys are okay with me.
Except for the obvious missed call on the DHB hit, but that was a safety making a “football play”. Anyone could’ve missed it.
It’s the circus act stuff like what happened in Tennessee that can’t happen.
September 25th, 2012 10:16 pm
Steve
Rich, San Ramon – that is a great idea. Kudos!
September 25th, 2012 10:17 pm
B-Rad
Let us not so quickly denigrate clowns
September 25th, 2012 10:19 pm
jason
Everyone is outraged and yet…..
Fans will still attend the games.
TV ratings will still be sky high (perhaps even higher with casual fans tuning in to see the next blown call.)
Obscene amounts of money will still be wagered.
Football will still be king of sports in America.
So why exactly should Goodell and gang capitulate now?
September 25th, 2012 11:19 pm
Johnc
Well what are ya gonna do?…if you are for affirmative action then you are seeing the fruits of it played out on an NFL stage.
September 26th, 2012 2:01 am
Streetglide
I thought that guy treated you terribly. Just a right-wing big mouth. i felt sorry for you on that show. Don’t put up with that bullying Lowell.
September 26th, 2012 4:54 am
John Sousa
Good work Lowell. Scabs are Scabs. And they’re getting Worse, not better.
September 26th, 2012 6:27 am
Dr. Feelgood
Quoting Stealers Wheel! Be careful, you never know where the next line may lead.
September 26th, 2012 6:44 am
Streetglide
More. No one wants to hear people shouting on the tube. Animated, yes, but belligerent, no. That screaming loudmouth who bullied you as to whether you would take a $180K part-time job was more than obnoxious.
.
Don’t put up with that Lowell. He owes you an on-camera apology. Right-wing buffoon…
.
Another thing: when is someone going to call out the DeBartolos for building arguably the ugliest, cheesiest, crappiest looking stadium not only in the NFL but perhaps in all of pro sports? That Santa Clara fiasco is hideous. It looks cheap and half-assed. What a contrast in both design and location with the Giant’s park.
September 26th, 2012 7:01 am
Neal
Way to go Lowell, the owners are greedy. Also the.word clowns way to nice to call them that.
September 26th, 2012 7:24 am
John
Calling these folks “clowns” gives clowns a bad name. I know several clowns and they are terrific clowns. These folks are simply incompetent.
However, I will agree that they are “scabs.” I’m come from a union family, where scabs of any kind are viewed with a very critical eye. It’s one thing to cross a picket line to work when you don’t have a job and money to care for your family. I’ll cut people a little slack on that one.
But, I believe these folks already have jobs. They’re doing it for the money….not good….not good at all.
September 26th, 2012 8:15 am
Dennis
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t the replay booth officials the normal ones? I mean, my undestanding is that they have not been replaced. It is also my understanding that all touchdowns are reviewed which would include the controversail one in Seattle. So ….. why are we blaming this on the replacement refs, who by the way are not clowns?
September 26th, 2012 8:22 am
Mark M
Clowns have always scared the crap out of me. Ever really stare at one? Yikes, like the manicans at Macy’s. But I think the saying is…..Clowns to the left of me, JOKERS to the right. Jokers aren’t so bad I guess.
September 26th, 2012 9:40 am
Pat
Kozymore is a clown. He has a hyperventilating-question asking style that leaves interviewees baffled. Check out Sabean. Plus he’s a homer, no matter which Bay Area team he’s pimping. He’s the worst hire since gravel-voiced Dave Benz. And don’t get me started on Henry Wofford.
September 26th, 2012 9:43 am
Stan
Somebody has no idea or concept of affirmative action if he thinks hiring replacement refs is that.
Second,Koz… I told you. And the new guy too. before them,Papa who also lives on the right. I find it amazing that Ted Griggs has so much difficulty finding anybody who doesn’t share his love of big business to host Comcast at 5.
ANYBODY left of right..knows the refs are scabs.
And Lund on 95.7..why he needs to glom on to Papa?..he still bashes Obama. Why my sports radio is limited so much nowadays. The last sports guy I thought should be fired was Montemayor..Lund is worse.
September 26th, 2012 9:57 am
Stan
And how did I miss the irony?…add the Affirmative action post and my Koz/Lund post..and Timeo Montemayor-the only Latino sports host in the bay area for a time-was fired or let go,so there are now NONE in the bay area. And Timeo is a right winger!..lol..for KGO now. Shoot,so many levels in this post I cant condense it all without busting a gasket.
September 26th, 2012 10:02 am
Pete Carroll
They seem pretty damned good to me.
September 26th, 2012 10:18 am
Stan
Or Lowell,as you had said- “I don’t know the political leanings of my sports writer friends”
I often wonder Lowell,if politics is never discussed with potential KNBR,Comcast THEGAME hosts …how is it those hiring seems to able to never have a Demo lib host a sports show? They make the best guests- You,Ann,Tim,Monte…but to host?..never. Like a glass wall,glass ceiling, glass floors, glass roofs and glass wine room all in one.
September 26th, 2012 10:21 am
Streetglide
Blow a gasket Stan-san, Blow a gasket… ;- )
September 26th, 2012 10:21 am
Brian in Oakland
I think Clowns are to left of us, and Jokers are to the right… yet here I am… stuck in the middle with you.
September 26th, 2012 11:44 am
Stan
Not only are Rod Brooks and Tim Montemayor going to vote for Romney..their employers somehow knew that lean when they were hired.
So,the conservo-dar with local sports media Management is ever perfect.
And that’s why I say local sports media is the most racist,elitist, media there is. And don’t give me that toy department of news crap..not when they buy Bentley’s with “Toy Dept.manager” salaries.
September 26th, 2012 12:23 pm
Johnc
Dennis, good question. The reviewers in the booth are the regular refs and not substitues. If I recall correctly, they cannot overrule the ruling on the field that a catch was made by a certain player….they are restricted in this case as to determining whether the player who made the catch was in bounds.
September 26th, 2012 1:50 pm
Dennis
Johnc, They can also rule on possession, which this one was all about. But they couldn’t rule on the push off before everything happened.
September 26th, 2012 2:49 pm
lameduck
Well this story uncovers the truth…
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-lingerie-football-league-20120926,0,4173638.story
The final nail…Just when I’m trying to give these clowns a break.
September 26th, 2012 3:53 pm
Johnc
Dennis, I stand corrected. Possession in the end zone is reviewable by the refs in the booth .
Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 5 states:
Simultaneous Catch. If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control. If the ball is muffed after simultaneous touching by two such players, all the players of the passing team become eligible to catch the loose ball.
So, according to this NFL rule the non- replacement refs in the booth ultimately got it wrong..not the “clowns”. The Seattle defensive back clearly had possession first in instant replay.
September 26th, 2012 11:23 pm
Neal
Lowell I never heard of this clown Jim Kozimor, who the heck is he.
September 27th, 2012 7:00 am
Joe H
Just a little chest pumping on my call at the beginning of the season!!!
_______________________
“After the first set of week 1 is concluded and howls of protest begin, then labor negotiations will pick up steam.
After the disaster of week 2, the NFL will defend its decision by using lawyerly weasel words to describe the meltdown.
After the botched work of week 3 and resultant howls from the ticketholders, coaches, players and owners, negotiations with the union resume.
The old refs return to work for week 4.
September 7th, 2012 11:21 am
_________________________________
Old refs return to work for week 4 !!!
September 27th, 2012 8:08 am
CohnZohn
Neal, He is he host of Chron Live. I like the guy.
September 27th, 2012 8:43 am
Kommon Senze
Johnc
First, I think you meant the Green Bay defensive back, not the Seattle defensive back.
Second, the rule on replay is that there has to be incontrovertible visual evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, which was a TD. The replay officials basically need a smoking gun to overturn the evidence, and, contrary to many pundits take, there isn’t incontrovertible evidence.
Third, I’ve seen this particular call looked at both ways by several so-called experts. I don’t think there’s consensus that it was a bad call (in the end). The issue has been how they got to the call, and the total lack of faith in the replacement refs ability to get a call right that was hurting the integrity of the calls.
On that catch, many have said that Jennings had achieved possession of the ball, but he had not. The rule is that a player does not have possession until they have placed both feet on the ground and demonstrated control. By the time Jennings reached the ground, Tate looks like he may have managed to also achieve ‘possession.’ The fact that his hand comes off mid flight is, if you go by the definition of possession, irrelevant because Jennings had not achieved possession yet, either.
The problem was that the back judge and the line judge came in, did not converse about the ruling, and then made two separate calls. The head ref didn’t confer with either of these guys and then called TD. The fact that they didn’t discuss it at all and clearly had differing opinions is why they looked like ‘clowns.’
I disagree with Lowell, respectfully, that they are clowns, though. I understand the argument that they were unqualified and I can see why one might argue that they stood in the way of getting real refs on the field. However, the analogy regarding brain surgery is not one I feel is truly reflective of the situation. We’re talking about a game vs. life or death, for one, and the consequences of opting to conduct brain surgery when one is imminently not qualified is entirely different from being asked to step up a few levels in officiating.
Also, as others noted, the decision making wasn’t being made by the refs. It was made by the owners and Goodell, and it was done despite ample opportunity to properly negotiate with the actual refs. That’s why I feel they bear the onus of this impasse and the games that resulted from it. Truth is, the games were not horribly officiated, but they were badly officiated and it never should have gotten to the point where under-qualified officials were hurting the integrity of the game.
Integrity is subjective, of course, and not every bad call laid at the refs feet was truly bad, but it’s because people distrusted the way the game was being officiated that the integrity was being tarnished.
September 27th, 2012 12:05 pm
Dennis
Kommon Senze makes sense once again. Well put. I agree with everything you said, except it being totally the owners fault. I think the NFL refs are way over paid for part time work, with a pension to boot. I think it was a bargaining situation and sometimes, no matter how much money you have, the price can get to high. I think the owners had every right to lock out the refs just like I believe the refs had every right to strike. I think the refs came away with more than they deserve, but that is certainly the owners choice. We will all find out that the difference between old refs and the new refs was not that much.
September 27th, 2012 4:26 pm
Johnc
@Kommon Sense
Yes, thank you I meant to say that the Packer defensive back had possession. However, if he had to have both feet on the ground before establishing possesion then the call in the instant replay booth by the non-replacement refs was the correct call. We all understood the confusion of the replacement refs on the field but ultimately the call rested in the instant replay booth.
I agree with Dennis as to the dynamics of how the market system of give and take between owner and employee works. If there were no owners there would be no NFL..no Raiders or Forty Niners or SFO Giants.
On the subject of ownership ,the Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States. As such are they the prototype ownership trend of the future or an anachronism of the past?
September 27th, 2012 11:29 pm
Terryc
Sorry Lowell. Kozimor is an ass and too obtuse and confrontational! Besides he hates anything about the 9ers! I think he was very ignorant towards you and anti organized labor which is typical of the media as a whole!
I wish they’d can this guy!
September 28th, 2012 1:39 pm