Monday night's controversial last-second touchdown that gave the Seattle Seahawks a 14-12 win over the Green Bay Packers has the sports world talking about the job the NFL replacement referees are doing.
Plenty of callers piped in with their opinions on "Sports Plus With Ben Deach" on Fox Sports Radio Tuesday afternoon.
"Because this was a bad call, it's not going to change the NFL's stance," one listener said. "I think it gives them a black eye."
"I don't remember doing a story, in terms of doing something on the field, that got this much reaction," Deach said.
"The NFL thing, it's just really painful to watch," another listener said.
In just the third week of the NFL season, it seems like fans are tired of the replacement refs.
You can already find spoof videos all over the Internet, making fun of the job the refs are doing.
Many of the replacement refs have only college and high school experience.
"I do think when the regular refs get back there, you're going to see an ovation, kind of like the 49ers taking the field at Candlestick," Deach said. "When the refs take the field, it's going to be unlike anything I've ever seen."
When the dust settled from Monday night's call, it's estimated more than $300 million switched hands worldwide.
"Even though the final play resulted in a shift from one team winning to the other team winning, it mattered to the bettors but it didn't really matter to the sports book that much," Peppermill Race and Sports Book Director Terry Cox said.
One Las Vegas-based gambling expert says he thinks two-thirds of those bets were on the Packers, with sports books taking in at least $150 million because of that one call.
Other experts in that field agree.
"Most of the public money was on Green Bay so the casinos, I'm sure, are very happy today and the customers or clients are mostly distraught," said Chris Andrews, who has more than 30 years experience as a casino owner and legal bookmaker.
Still, the replacement refs haven't slowed down the amount of business at local sports books.
"I have not had one person say, 'I'm not going to bet until the regular refs come back' or anything like that," Cox said. "In fact, our business is better than ever."
"I don't know if they're going to break the union or not but they're not going away and they'll be making their billions and you and I are going to keep watching," Andrews said.
Even politicians are talking about last night's game.
GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan talked about the play in a campaign speech, and President Obama said the ref's call was "terrible."
Written by Paul Nelson
