‘NFL Replacement Refs – In Memoriam,’ A Loving Tribute [VIDEO]

By Mike September 27, 2012 1:25 pm Posted in football, Football - NFL, Sports, Video Mike g+ page

At 8:20pm Eastern tonight, your life begins anew: the replacement refs are gone, the real refs are back. Currently, ESPN.com is proclaiming their return as coming with a “Heroes’ Welcome.” Though I think it’s safe to say that this honeymoon won’t last long, probably ending about the time the refs throw their first flag around 8:30.

Which is why we shouldn’t forget our fallen heroes — the replacement refs — who will once again toil in obscurity reffing awful Division II and III games like Shippensburg at Lock Haven, schools I’m not convinced anyone even goes to.

Despite all the criticism, the replacement refs had their positives. We could literally blame everything on them. The failures of our favorite teams. The failures of our fantasy squads. Hell, you could even blame the failure of your most recent relationship on them if you had to, because, frankly, they didn’t care. They knew they sucked. They knew their time was short-lived. They knew they were sacrificial lambs. This term was rarely used, but they were scabs for Christ’s sake!

So why did they do it? For the glory. For the glory of being able, for just a few short weeks, to step onto that NFL turf.

These are men who dared to live a dream in the face of all the criticism and obstacles. And they’ll have a story to tell the grizzled locals at the bars in Lock Haven for a lifetime…

A story about how they sucked. But they sucked on the biggest stage in the world.

via Clip Nation