[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/251180347767812096"]

Sept. 23, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid talks with NFL side official Kevin Peloquin (78) in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE

By mid-morning, reports were spilling in from around the league about a possible deal in place between the National Football League Referees Association and the NFL. Many expected Roger Goodell and the team owner to rush back to the negotiating table following the Monday Night Fiasco. Although the call in the Green Bay/Seattle game is a tough one for any official, the apparent disconnect in regular on-field mechanics (i.e. consulting with the two officials in the end zone, instead of rushing off to the review the play) may been one of the many, many straws that broke the camel’s back.

The Washington Post’s Mark Maske had reported last night that the owners were “firmly against” any compromise in the negotiations, but it does appear that their mindset may be changing. Jim Irsay, the outspoken owner of the Indianapolis Colts, tweeted the owner were “desperately” trying get a deal done,

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/JimIrsay/status/250997791734771713"]

Adam Schefter has been updating the Twitterverse with the progression of the talks. Around noon, both Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson has expressed some confidence that “an agreement in prinicle” had been set in place, meaning that they are essentially working out the fringe details of the plan. Mark Maske went even further claiming,

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/MarkMaske/status/250999311331123200"]

What those small details are, we are yet to know. NFL Network’s Albert Breer published an article early this morning that there had been an agreement on the issue of backup officials. Here is what he had to say on the details of that agreement.

The developmental officials will be mentored by the existing crews and will be assigned to work with them during the week. The developmental officials will not be NFLRA members, will not work games, and will not be eligible to be subbed in initially.

But eventually, as they improve and reach the standards to be NFL officials, they will be considered for NFLRA membership. As that happens, the financial pool for officials will be adjusted accordingly.

Still, we know the major snag in the negotiations dealt with the reluctancy of the regular officials to switch from their pension plan to a 401(k) retirement plan. The NFLRA apparently swayed from their rigidity a little bit, offering a grand-fathering deal, which would allow officials who were part of the previous argument to stick with they pension, much like grand-fathering a cellular plan to a new phone; but, the NFL promptly rejected it

As more reports surface, we will see what, if any, compromises can be made between the two side.  Stick with Ramblin’ Fan or follow me on Twitter at @nkearns12 for more updates throughout the day…

Sept 24, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Referee Wayne Elliott (28) speaks with field judge Richard Simmons (102) before making a ruling on a call between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIRE

I can honestly say the I have never had so much fun watching SportsCenter after a Monday Night Football game. The seemingly apocalyptic ending to the game spurred fans and analysts alike, unleashing an emotional flood of tweets and call-ins from around the country expressing their distaste for the game winning, or game losing (if you live outside of Seattle), call. The most frustrating messages seemed to be piling in from the Green Bay locker room, although there were some hilarious ones from around the league. The hashtag #ThingsBetterThanReplacementRefs was trending for a majority of the night, with some gems. Here are Ramblin’ Fans Top 10 Tweets from last nights game…

# 10. Adam Schefter typically does not tweet personal feelings or satirical comments, usually just the latest news from around the league. However, he made an exception after the Monday Night Fiasco,

Golden Tate blatantly pushed off and M.D. Jennings intercepted the pass, according to two well-placed sources: my left and right eye.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 25, 2012

# 9. If you don’t already follow Sports Pickle, you are truly missing out in the Twitter world. They had a hundred gems in the wake of the call (or non-call), but this was easily the best, and most accurate,

I WILL NOT WATCH ANOTHER NFL GAME UNTIL THIS REF ISSUE IS RESOLVED! (Unless it’s a good game or features my favorite team. I’m not crazy.) — SportsPickle (@sportspickle) September 25, 2012

# 8. The game reached far outside of the NFL world, eliciting responses from celebrities from nearly all domains. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban chimed in with his own take on handling the post game interview,

I would love to see what my reaction would be if a Mavs game ended like #MNF. #Expensive #NBAtime — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 25, 2012

# 7. First realistic take on the situation, although I think it is a bit premature to be crowning either of these teams playoff bound just yet,

Say the Seahawks and Packers both get to ten wins and a wildcard tiebreaker comes down to head-to-head record? Shit, meet fan.

— RamsHerd (@RamsHerd) September 25, 2012

# 6. Everyone loves a good wrestling reference, especially one aimed towards a former college football player. Maybe some of these replacement guys have refereed some of The Rock’s matches?

MD Jennings-”I intercepted the ball” Replacement Refs- “IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU CAUGHT THE BALL” @therock @md_jennings twitter.com/CleTym/status/…

— Tym Tagliaferro (@CleTym) September 25, 2012

# 5. Like previously mentioned, the twitter world went crazy last night. Among the many trending tags, this one of the best I read,

#ThingsBetterThanReplacementRefs The odds of Rick Ross beating Usain Bolt in 100M

— A.Jackson (@CaesarNoDressin) September 25, 2012

# 4. One of the first Packers players to speak out after the game, Josh Sitton definitely let the NFL, and Golden Tate, know how he really felt about the situation,

The nfl needs to come to gb and apologize to us for fucking us! These refs r bums!

— josh sitton (@jsitton71) September 25, 2012

Golden tate is full of shit too. Saying he clearly caught that is embarrassing!Fucking jokers!

— josh sitton (@jsitton71) September 25, 2012

# 3. Followers of Skip Bayless stalked his Twitter page waiting for the tweeting gold to start pouring out and, sure enough, it did,

REPORT: NFL will hire a Replacement Commissioner to match Replacement Refs style. Leading candidates are Ronald McDonald & Krusty The Clown.

— Skip Bayless (@FunSkipBayless) September 25, 2012

# 2. Bleacher Report finally reported on something useful with this handy guide. The players and coaches have been complaining about the consistency off calls on the field, but clearly they just don’t have a firm understanding of what the refs are trying to say,

A guide to the hand signals of the NFL replacement refs (via @happyplace) twitter.com/BleacherReport…

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 25, 2012

# 1. The top spot has to be for TJ Lang, who gained nearly 50k followers in under an hour. His first message was sent out of pure frustration, but the second may be a legitimate idea. Between the player and coaching fines that the NFL will rake in following the game, they should easily be able to cover those pensions that the real refs are asking for,

Got fucked by the refs.. Embarrassing. Thanks nfl

— TJ Lang (@TJLang70) September 25, 2012

Fuck it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.

— TJ Lang (@TJLang70) September 25, 2012

August 25, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints assistant head coach and linebackers coach Joe Vitt yells at an NFL replacement official during the first quarter of a preseason game against the Houston Texans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

According to CBS Sports’ NFL Insider Mike Freeman, the NFL has sent a memo to all 32 NFL teams claiming that the replacement officials will start the regular season. Although there has been a ton of media coverage, the argument to whether the replacement referees are any worse than the regular refs is a debatable one. Sure, Tony Romo had to spot his own ball inside of the hash marks, but that isn’t any worse than some of the mistakes we have seen by the “official” officials *cough Ben Roethlisberger’ touchdown in Super Bowl XL cough*. Regardless, the referring situation has been one of the highlights of the preseason, and now appears like it will be one of the highlights during the regular season, at least for Week 1.

Here is the tweet from Mike Freeman,

Memo sent from league office today to all NFL teams: replacement refs will start regular season. More to come.

— mike freeman (@realfreemancbs) August 29, 2012

About 30 minutes later Freeman spilled more information, including a copy of the memo to the teams,

More on NFL memo to all teams saying replacement refs will start season. Blog here including copy of memo: cbsprt.co/N090Rq

— mike freeman (@realfreemancbs) August 29, 2012

In case you do not feel like reading through the document, here are some highlights,

On the plan for the replacement officials during the regular season:

“We will have an officiating supervisor from our staff in the replay booth at each game whose job will be to help ensure correct penalty enforcement, administration of rules not involving fouls, operation of the game and play clocks, and game administration. The supervisor will be able to communicate directly with the alternate official on the sidelines… the final decision will be made by the referee on the field and no decision will be revisited or changed once the ball has been snapped for the next play.”

On the status of the negotiations:

“Our negotiations with the game officials’ union remain
deadlocked. Although we continue to be in touch with federal mediators, and are prepared to resume negotiations at any time, no discussions are currently scheduled.”

On their “pension plan” proposal:

“We have proposed to freeze the defined benefit plan (preserving all vested benefits for all officials) and replace it with a defined contribution/401(k) arrangement – the same arrangement that is in place for all other league employees and which 13 clubs have adopted. We have offered a defined
contribution that would average $20,000 per year, while the officials’ union has proposed a substantially higher amount.”

On the discrepacy in “operational issues”:

“We have proposed several steps to accomplish (increased quality of officiating), including having a number of full-time officials and expanding the overall number of officials. We think these steps, along with improvements in training and evaluation, an increased emphasis on consistency, and an enhanced ability to bring in new officials when necessary, will lead to long-term improvements in officiating”

Personally, I like the replacement officials; at least their mistakes are somewhat entertaining. Moreover, the St. Louis Rams have been one of the least penalized teams throughout the preseason! Stay tuned to RamlinRam.com for any additional updates…