The Los Angeles Rams and their fanbase have officially bought into the aspect of superstitious thinking as they prepare for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints – starting with the officiating crew.
When Rams fans got word that longtime referee Bill Vinovich would be a deciding factor on whether or not its team plays for the Super Bowl, they voiced their displeasure (h/t Alexis Mansanarez of Sporting News).
“There is no reason to repeat the exact same officiating crew for the rematch in the playoffs, other than to stack the odds for Drew Brees to go out with a ring. There are TONS of other combinations the NFL could have chosen. Whether or not the bias is intentional, there is too much data to demonstrate a pattern, and for a corporation as big as the NFL to not see this pattern is highly unlikely. The magnitude of this game is too large and the referees should be neutral, plain and simple.”
According to the petition on Change.org, fans are pleading for a fair game. They are are 0-8 with Vinovich as their head referee despite being 55-48-1 without him since 2012. He has never assessed the Rams' opponent more penalty yardage, which includes the games that (Sean) McVay coached.
On average, the Rams nearly double the penalty yardage assessed when compared to their opponents in the games Vinovich has refereed since 2012. Not to mention, he is the only ref to have ejected Aaron Donald and Chris Long.
As of 2:08 P.M. ET on Saturday, the petition has 7.177 signatures with a goal of 7.500.
If they fail to get their request for removal, it won't take much guessing on who LA will put the blame on for any questionable calls against New Orleans.
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