If you're a football fan frustrated by the lockout of the NFL's unionized referees, the good news is the president is with you. He took to Twitter Tuesday, saying "NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon."
The bad news is, his assessment of Monday night's game as "terrible" is not going to help the two sides come to an agreement anytime soon. If his approach to last year's NFL labor dispute is any indication, he'll wait with the rest of America for things to get back to normal. From the Huffington Post:
Obama joined Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and GOP vice-presidential nomineeRep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who both have called for an end to the replacement referees. (Ryan's spokesman, Brendan Buck, tweeted that Obama was "leading from behind.")
Walker and Ryan, both Wisconsinites, were outraged by the final call in Monday night's Seahawks-Packers game. Seahawks Quarterback Russell Wilson threw a "Hail Mary" into the end zone into a crowd of several receivers, which officials ruled a catch by Golden Tate. However, the Packers' M.D. Jennings seemed to have control of the ball. Officials ruled after about ten minutes that it was a catch, giving the Seahawks a 14-12 upset victory.
Obama called the Packers-Seahawks game "terrible" while walking into the White House Tuesday, according to the pool report. "I've been saying for months, we've gotta get our refs back," he said.
In a labor dispute involving the NFL Players' Union in March 2011, President Obama said that the two sides should be able to come to an agreement without him. "I'm a big football fan, but I also think that for an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way," he said. The two sides came to an agreement in July.
Read more at the Huffington Post.
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