For weeks, the NFL was involved in a controversy as contentious as the Protestant Reformation: a salary dispute with and concomitant lockout of referees...and their replacement by lower-level officials who have already made countless blunders, failed to understand football's elaborate rules, and even counted an interception as a touchdown by the player who never caught the ball.

Their ineptitude has enraged the fans. In Baltimore, they united into a "fuck you" chant that the broadcasters probably turned into one long bleep. This is so important that it is regularly reported in the news (otherwise I wouldn't know about it), as well as ridiculed by The Daily Show and South Park.

Following the parallel between football and religion, we had a serious problem. What if we had substitute priests who didn't know the right way to administer Communion? I think Catholics would be really upset. "The game," like Catholicism, is an entity that must be respected and preserved.

Today the regular referees were reinstated, and the faithful were at peace.