Lindberg’s arrival in Paris in 1927 was trivial compared to the return that the regular NFL referees will get when they take the field for games in Week 4.

Roger Goodell and the NFL owners who pay his salary (believed to be in the $20 million range) can now wipe the eggs off their cheeks as we start the season anew and start talking about football again instead of screw-ups by ex-Lingerie League officials.

There are also sighs of relief at sportbooks, both in Nevada and at offshore sites. Secretaries and ticket writers no longer have to deal with angry customers demanding that their bets be voided because of mistakes made by the sub refs.

“We’re all just glad it’s over,” Aron Black of bet365.com told Covers, “and we can look forward to talking about the game itself. It’s amazing how no mention was made of the actual game on Monday night, no mention of how bad the Packers offensive line was doing in the first half by allowing Rodgers to be sacked eight times. We can all get back to betting and talking about actual (plays on the field.).”

Like many others, Black sees the controversial end of Monday night’s Green Bay-Seattle game as the straw that broke the backs of the owners. Any chance of the replacement refs gradually working their way into even mediocrity ended in the end zone when the two referees made conflicting calls, and probably decided on the wrong one.

Once President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney got involved, on Tuesday, the stubborn NFL knew it had to act.

“NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs’ lockout is settled soon,” Obama tweeted. Romney said: “I’d sure like to see experienced referees with some NFL experience back.”

Black feels that the return of the refs will quiet moaning by fans with losing tickets.

“I can’t say we have had many people complaining to us,” he said. “(Like other sportsbooks) we have to abide by the official results of the game, whether fair or unfair. I’m sure, though, that many have felt robbed.”

While oddsmakers weren't factoring replacement refs into the odds for the first three weeks of the NFL season, some loved the uncertainty and inconsistency it brought to the game, making it tougher for football bettors to get a grasp on teams' true identities.

“It’s tough to take from these games, week to week, because we still don’t really know the nature of these teams – which is great for booking these games,” Peter Korner, founder of Nevada-based odds service The Sports Club, told Covers earlier this week. “It’s messing with people’s minds. But we just go on setting the odds as normal.”

“As far as bookmaking goes, all this stuff is fabulous,” added Korner.

Regular officials will be on the field for Thursday night’s game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore has been involved in numerous post-whistle skirmishes while under the watch of the replacement refs, and some believed it was trying to intimidate the inexperienced replacements. It will be interesting to see the Ravens’ behavior with the hardened veteran officials throwing the flags Thursday.