http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=6706113

So Bettman's proposing four divisions -- two with eight teams and two with seven teams...something like:

(A)

The Gary Conference

Central - Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Toronto, Buffalo.

Northwest - Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, San Jose, L.A., Phoenix, Anaheim.

The Bettman Conference

Northeast - Rangers, Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, Boston.

South - Tampa, Florida, Washington, Carolina, Nashville, St. Louis, Dallas, Colorado.

But, why not:

(B)

Clarence Campbell Conference - Columbus, Nashville, Toronto, Tampa, Florida, Washington, Carolina, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, Rangers, Islanders, Buffalo, Boston.

Prince of Wales Conference - Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, San Jose, L.A., Phoenix, Anaheim, Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas.

OR:

(C)

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division - Rangers, Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington. 

Adams Division - Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, Boston, Buffalo.

Esposito Division - Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Nashville, Dallas.

Prince of Wales Conference

Smythe Division - Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Minnesota, Winnipeg.

Gretzky Division  - San Jose, L.A., Phoenix, Anaheim, Colorado.

Norris Division - Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Toronto, St. Louis.  

No Scott Green this week, so the chance of another EPIC FAIL by the Zeebs is significantly reduced...since the men in stripes were extraordinarily awful last week I did some research on this weeks bunch...what I could find anyways. The numbers in parentheses are where that referee ranks out of 17.

Cards--Saints

Your referee is Ron Winter. His crew called 13.0 (12th) penalties per game for 106 yards per game (3rd). Both teams combined for 38.2 (16th) points per game and the Home team won 57% (T4th) of it's games that he called.


Colts--Ravens

Your referee is Carl Cheffers. His crew called 11.4 (12th) penalties per game for 97 yards per game (11th). Both teams combined for 43.3 (7th) points per game and the Home team only won 43% (T12th) of it's games that he called.

Cowboys--Vikings

Your referee is Walt Anderson. His crew called 13.9 (1st) penalties per game for 124 yards per game (1st). Both teams combined for 39.7 (15th) points per game and the Home team ONLY WON 29% (17th) of it's games that he called...NOTE: In the Minnesota-Detroit game at Minneapolis, Anderson assessed 13 penalties for 91 yards against the Vikings. His crew penalized Detroit only four times for 40 yards. In the Cowboys-Broncos game at Denver, Anderson penalized the Broncos 10 times for 81 yards. He penalized the Cowboys seven times for 70 yards. Looks like this bunch could have a big impact on this game...this was the crew that did the Packers-Ravens Monday night game.

Chargers--Jets

Your referee is Jerome Boger. You remember him, he's the fella who high-fived Vince Young after the end of the Titans-Texans game, guess he was excited!...His crew called 13.3 (2nd) penalties per game for 101yards per game (8th). Both teams combined for 34.7 (17th out of 17 crews) points per game and the Home team only won 43% (T12th) of it's games that he called.

I keep reading stories and comments defending the NFL after their latest loss in their ongoing battle with integrity...don't try to tell me that the NFL is doing the best that they can to ensure the "integrity of the game" when they have had numerous examples of Scott Green and Co. inability to do their jobs properly during the season and then they reward them by having them work a playoff game!!

He blew the call on the game winning play in Arizona. Period. Then the NFL tried, (as usual) to cover it up. They issued a statement that AVOIDED the issue and focused on something else...As they say in their statement, it's true that the rulebook states that a play on which a player "incidentally grasps" an opponent's facemask in a manner that "is not a twist, turn or pull" is not a penalty. But that's NOT the issue, 1.  the rules are different for quarterbacks, who aren’t allowed to be hit above the shoulder pads and 2. The penalty occurred before Arizona recovered the ball...

Former NFL referee Bill Carollo, who retired after 20 years as an NFL official in 2008 and now works as the Big Ten Conference’s director of officiating (and with nothing to gain or cover up here offers a more impartial opinion than my own) told ESPNMadison’s Steve “The Homer” True Monday that referee Scott Green and his crew missed what should have been a 15-yard facemask or unnecessary roughness penalty on Adams, who caught Rodgers’ facemask with his right hand and pulled on it after forcing Rodgers’ fumble.

 “Certainly (Adams) made contact, dislodged the ball, and continued and hit the quarterback. He did get him in the facemask;  you can’t hit him above the shoulders with anything,” said Carollo, who watched the game on television. “In this case, probably a personal foul could’ve been called on that play. (Green) didn’t necessarily rule that it was a pass, so it couldn’t be roughing the passer, but he could have an unnecessary roughness on that play for grabbing the facemask.”

“If a penalty was called on that play, you’d have to throw the flag, and then determine, when did the foul occur? That makes a big difference in this case because it’s really close,” Carollo explained. “In this case, though, when the facemask was grabbed, the ball was still loose, which means it was still in the Packers’ possession. So they have not lost possession. The foul happened before the ball was recovered in the air. If the foul happened after the fact, and the Arizona player had the ball, then Arizona would keep the ball with the penalty assessed from that spot. “In this case, I believe the penalty occurred before Arizona recovered the ball in the air, so it would be a previous-spot foul: 15 yards from the previous spot.” That means the Packers should have had the ball first-and-10 at their own 39-yard line.

Carollo also said Green’s crew missed what should have been an offensive pass interference penalty on Larry Fitzgerald on Fitzgerald’s 33-yard touchdown catch-and-run, when he knocked Woodson down before catching Kurt Warner’s pass.
“You can have a collision if they’re both looking for the ball. You can have people run into each other and have nothing if they’re both looking for the ball,” Carollo said. “But I think Fitzgerald had his back to the quarterback before he made his cut, and (even if) he didn’t see Woodson, the responsibility is on the offense to know where he’s going. He knows his route."
“At the same time, the defense can’t cut him off, but it looked like Fitzgerald ran through him and knocked him down, and of course caught the pass. That’s, again, a judgment call not covered by replay. They didn’t call anything, but normally something like that, something is called (on the offensive player) unless it’s incidental tripping.”

Here's the link to ESPN's article: <a href="http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/includes/news_items/40/news_items_more.php?id=2413§ion_id=40" ></a>

Don't try to tell me that the NFL is doing the best that they can to ensure the "integrity of the game"!!! That crap really gets me upset!!! I am an avid fan of the NFL and I want to see the players winning and losing the games. If I wanted to watch an officiating clusterhump I'd watch the NBA. With so MANY rules that are open to interpretation and with senile refs like Green (who was probably more concerned with getting his Depends changed by the start of overtime), incompetent buffoons like Walt Coleman and guys obcessed with their facetime like Mike Carey, we, the fans are much more likely to see our teams getting the Belmont Transfer again from the zeebs....They need younger, smarter, more athletic officials who can keep up with the game and remember the frickin rules...what they have is old farts who can't keep up with the action, can't remember the rules, can't make the instant decisions necessary to do their jobs without consulting 3 other refs (who may not have even seen anything) and can't see past their beer bellies...and for God's sake, tighten up the definitions of the rules so the refs can't screw it up!!!!  !!!!

Thanks for letting me vent. It's my first FanPost so if my spelling, grammatical errors, punctuation blunders or unnecessary stupidity gave you gas I apologize...Go Packers!