Conan O’Brien Blasts Replacement Refs in Skit (VIDEO)
By Josh Hill
The No. 1 issue in the NFL at the moment has nothing at all to do with stats or players. They may be directly effected by the No. 1 issue, but they’re not the talk of the town so to speak. Nope, right now the sports world is all a buzz about NFL replacement officials, and it appears that they have officially taken over all aspects of the game.
Football has entered late night television monologues and skits, signaling that the issue of replacements has become a bigger story than the game. Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal last week to lose a game for the Patriots at home. Quick, name me the undefeated teams left in the NFL — better yet how many undefeated teams are left this year?
Usually we know this right off hand, but if I were to ask you to name a blown call by a replacement official, about ten million different answers get shouted at me at one time. From the officials losing control of games, to forgetting how much time is left a quarter to botched calls, replacement officials are dominating NFL news.
Being a comedy writer is tough, but Conan O’Brien wasn’t about to pass up the gifts that the NFL refs are tossing the way of him and his writers. Recently O’Brien, who is usually as spot on with his satire as The Daily Show is, came up with and broadcast a skit blasting replacement refs on a recent show.
O’Brien and his writers didn’t miss a beat as they were yet again spot on with the sacking of the replacement refs. The NFL and Roger Goodell can’t be happy with the fact that their business which they take so seriously is so easily mocked. But that’s really his issue, and he’s not helping anyone by keeping the “regular” refs locked out.
Maybe all it will take is ginger comedians making fun of his sport to motivate Goodell to make a deal with the refs. The two sides are scheduled to meet twice this upcoming week on Tuesday and Wednesday according to FOX Sports Jay Glazer.