Keith Hayes got his love for writing in the 6th grade where he began writing sci-fi stories for classmates and friends, while continuing to write over the years as a personal hobby.
In 1991 after purchasing WebTV, he caught the Internet bug and began writing on various message boards and newsgroups under the pseudonym Mista Sinista. His posts became popular as he covered movie reviews, the New England Patriots, WCW and WWE (formerly WWF) wrestling. Just do a Google search for Mista Sinista or Sinista1 under groups, and you'll discover enough material to read for months.
As his debating talents developed online, he became vocal in his local newspaper, the Enterprise. He began submitting Letters to the Editor, and most of his pieces were printed on a regular basis. He also had similar success with his letters to the early years of Patriots Football Weekly. After generating some buzz and catching the eyes of readers, Keith was contacted to write for wrestling web site Wrestlenutz.com. He was then later contacted to write for a New England Patriots fan website PatriotsFootball.com, which is now known as PatsFans.com.
When covering the Pats, Keith kept his Mista Sinista attitude and reviewed the games with his "tell it like it is" style. The Patriots experience soon took off, and allowed him to meet various players, travel to a Pro Bowl in Hawaii, a Super Bowl in New Orleans, several away games in the Meadowlands, and some great games in Foxboro, where he has been a season ticket holder since 1990.
Today, he covers the New England Patriots for eSports and as a 12th Man correspondent for PatsFans.com. You can read his political and local debates on his hometown site Brockton Forums. But for a real treat, you can also see the twisted side on his moniker web site Sinista1.com, where he has some great spoofs like "Barbie and Ken's True Hollywood Story," and "Celebrity Survivor."
Most recently, Keith has become a co-host on two hit radio shows at WXBR 1460 AM in Brockton (formerly WBET). On Fridays, Keith can be heard during the "On the Mark PI Show," with his host Private Investigator Mark Chauppetta, who has his own reality television show in negotiations, and a role in the upcoming horror film Frightworld where he plays an FBI Agent hunting a serial killer who has killed his wife.
Keith is now following in his host’s footsteps after scoring a part in Walt Disney's upcoming movie "The Game Plan," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In the movie, Keith plays a football player on QB Joe Kingman’s (Dwayne's character) Boston Rebels rival team the New York Dukes. Also joining Keith on the show is defense attorney Ken Diesenhof, and Brockton Police Officer Frank "Czman".
On Saturdays, Keith can be heard during "Krashing Into the Bigfield/The Lock Up" from noon to 4 p.m. talking sports with Enterprise writer Kevin Tocci, and aspiring actor Tom Mariano, cousin to "Boston Rob" of "Survivor/Amazing Race" fame. The show also features guests Matt Futrell, Peter Czymbor, Dennis Harris, and is produced by former Indie wrestler Mike Pavia. The South Shore Sports Show is growing, as the first two hours cover sports (professional and local), while the second two hours cover the best talk in professional and Indie wrestling.
This past weekend was an embarrassment to the NFL and the integrity of the game, as officiating crews made several questionable calls during the playoff games. From the New England Patriots-Denver Broncos game, to the Pittsburgh Steelers-Indianapolis Colts games, mistakes were made and it is time for a change.
This weekend was an embarrassment to the NFL and the integrity of the game as officiating crews made several questionable calls during the playoff games. From the New England Patriots-Denver Broncos game, to the Pittsburgh Steelers-Indianapolis Colts games, fans around the league were venting on Monday morning at work, in school, newsgroups and message boards.
A great example of poor officiating happened during the Patriots game when CB Asante Samuel clearly picked off QB Jake Plummer's pass and made a great effort keeping his feet inbounds. The sideline judge made the correct call signaling the pass was caught and that there was a turnover, when the back judge, who didn't have a clear view, came in and overruled it, calling
On Monday, some of the Steelers, despite winning the game, were crying foul over S Troy Polamalu's interception being ruled an incomplete pass.
To be honest, in my opinion I feel this was the worst officiated season ever in the NFL and it's time these officiating crews be held responsible in the public's eyes and not behind closed doors.
Back in 2001, Tim Polzer for NFL Insider reported that the NFL Referee Association employed about 151 members, broken down into about 119 for field duty during games and the other 32 as replay assistants who can be offered field duty during their tenure. During the year these members go to classes, camps, meetings and physicals just as the players do.
As for their pay, it's a scale depending on the amount of tenure. In Polzer's report he wrote that refs collected between $1,431 to $4,330 per game, with the lower end of the salary range going to first-year refs and the upper range going to those who have over 20 years of service. He also reported that each member of the crew chosen to ref the Super Bowl collected $11,900 for that single game.
Now keep in mind, these refs usually have career jobs outside the NFL or are collecting pensions from previous jobs. Today, with the recent union contracts and money from advertising, I'm sure the amounts the referees are getting has grown.
With those growing salaries, there also comes growing responsibility, and at times the refs don't seem to have it, which was one of the reasons why coaches voted for instant replay to be used in the game. However, after this weekend, it seems teams can't always count on the replay because the official still has the final say.
This is why I drew up a petition -- a petition that will ask the NFL to release the stats they keep on the refs and make them public on a weekly basis.
In an era where players and coaches are scrutinized by the media and fans, I thinks it's time the NFL Referees Association should fall under that same scrutiny week after week, and then maybe we can have more consistency without controversy.
Here is my petition and a link to sign it below.
To: NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue & NFL Referees
Association
Subject: Petition to Make NFL Referee Association’s
Statistics Public
We the fans of the NFL have great respect for the sport,
players and the league as a whole, but over the last couple
of years there seems to be this growing trend of NFL field
officials making bad calls. For example, this was the second
week of the NFL playoffs and at times there were some
crucial calls made/and not made that could have been
considered as momentum swings.
On behalf of the NFL fans I am submitting this official
online petition to request that the statistics for the crews
who officiate games during the season be made public
on a weekly basis. I feel if the NFL officials’ statistics
are out there for each crew on a weekly basis to the
press and public there is a chance that these crews will
better officiate the games.
As for my definition of referee “statistics” the league
could possibly use a slide bar method to show:
1) Which crews call certain penalties more or less
than others.
2) Which crews have been challenged more or less
by the coaches.
3) Which crews have reviewed, and their finding
percentage.
4) An overall tally of penalties with yardage total
called during a game.
As a true fan of the NFL I hope that this petition will
at least inspire some thought, and hopefully be decided
upon before the 2006 or 2007 season.
Sincerely,
Make NFL Referees Association's Statistics Public Petition