There's no doubt that the quality of officiating has suffered but I think what has happened is that certain pro-union voices are trying to make every call seem like the worst call ever because they want public opinion to be so anti-replacement that the perception will be the NFL is turning off fans when, in reality, the fans are much happier watching football with replacement refs than watching no NFL football because of a lockout/strike on the refs.
The NFL has all the leverage here (as they did with the players) so the only thing the pro-union folks can do is hyperventilate about every questionable call to the point that they think they can force a settlement.
All in all, I think the refs have done ok with what they have to work with but they obviously aren't the real refs. I go back to botched call after botched call by the *real* union refs I saw last year and I ask "what's their excuse"?
If the baggage-handlers at the airport go on strike and the replacements break a mirror in your luggage, you might get miffed or you might just accept that it is better than having your baggage left on the tarmac because there was nobody there to put it on the plane.
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