It’s time to say goodbye to the replacement refs, and hello to the REAL referees … because the NFL has finally reached an agreement to end the lockout that has plagued the league and outcome of football games over the past few weeks.
After two days of negotiation — amid mounting frustration among coaches, players and fans — the NFL and the referees’ union announced at the strike of midnight Thursday (Sep 27) that they had reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout that began in June, the Associated Press reports.
The details of the agreement (an 8-year deal calling for salary increases, improved retirement benefits, etc.) are long, and boring, but what everyone really cares about is that the REAL referees are back, and world order can now be restored.
So maybe this week’s Monday Night Football disaster — which, depending on who you talk to, either cost the Greenbay Packers a win, or earned the Seattle Seahawks one — wasn’t so bad after-all, considering it put a rush on both sides to finally end the madness.
The real refs will officiate tonight’s game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.
