On the field, the first few weeks of the 2012 season were not a welcome distraction for Goodell. The NFL found itself in a bitter labor dispute with its officials, forcing the league to use replacement referees until a contract was reached. The officials, some of whom who previously worked in the Lingerie Football League, were severely unqualified to serve as replacements, causing headaches for players and coaches. The impasse came to a boiling point in late September when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers after replacement officials incorrectly awarded a last-second touchdown to Seattle, despite video evidence that showed the play clearly ended in an interception. Two days after the controversial play, Goodell reached a labor agreement with the officials.
CABLE TV OPERATORS
In an economy where families are looking to save money at any and all costs, the cable TV industry is feeling the belt tighten as more and more households "cut the cord" in 2012.
Multiple reports surfaced throughout the year, ranging from testimonials to earnings reports, that showed people were leaving their cable subscriptions for a number of different Video On Demand or a-la carte television services.
A big reason people are walking away from high cable bills is the added cost applied by sports stations. ESPN pulls in over $5.50 per cable subscriber, forcing customers to purchase the channel lineup despite a good portion of the viewing public never tuning into the network's programming.
With some people using high-speed Internet access and DVD rentals to drop their monthly television bill to as low as $8 a month, 2013 could usher in the year the majority of television watchers tune cable out once and for all.
APPLE MAPS
Normally, Apple products arrive with such a fanfare, anyone found criticizing them are usually met with disdain from the Apple community. However, one Apple product released this year was so bad, Australian police called it "life-threatening."
Apple Maps, bundled with the release of the iOS6 operating system update, was supposed to be Apple's in-house replacement to Google Maps, offering a better GPS along with stunning 3-D visuals. The app was a disaster, with landmarks moved to random locations, other locations dropping off the map entirely, and 3-D pictures that reminded users of a bad acid trip.
The app's GPS proved to be a danger to some drivers in Australia, where it led them to the middle of a desert instead of a town of about 30,000 people. The town's police department put out a press release after the incident saying that the app was dangerous for use.
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