Is the NFL Rigged?
Back when I was younger, I never would have given a second thought to the question in the title. We were all so innocent back then. Heck, I even thought professional wrestling was real. Didn't you? I mean there was blood and everything right?
Even into my adult years, I would often scoff at the people who were claiming that professional sports were rigged. Surely no one would do that. Long go were the scandals of Pete Rose and The Eight Men Out.
Even when sports betting became legal and you started to see all the people crying in the chat rooms that the game was rigged. I just blew if off. Sore losers of course. They just need to do better research next time.
Heck, as a Lions fan I shrugged it off time and again when the officials would blatantly and intentionally screw Detroit over just as they were on the cusp of doing some thing great.
No, I was naive and I chose not to look at the facts that were right in front of me.
Cheating happens. It's just a natural human instinct it would seem. I should have known better than to expect that anything with this much money involved could stay pure.
However, after the last couple of post seasons, it is becoming pretty apparent to me that the NFL may not be as sacrosanct as I once thought. There were some really questionable calls last year and in my opinion a few too many miraculous late game comebacks by popular teams to chalk it up as luck.
Then this year we had the obvious bias towards Seattle to get them into the playoffs (once again at the expense of the Lions). At the very least, there is a lot of conjecture they were actually trying to get Green Bay into the playoffs. It was only the flagrant shoving of a trainer right in front of an official that they couldn't ignore which left them out.
If you believe the message boards that is.
Then we have the Chargers game this past weekend. I didn't watch it, but I have heard there is quite an uproar about how it was called. I've gotta say, with AI becoming so big lately, is it hard to believe we won't see a day when they call the games? We already have a computerize strike zone now.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be an official. I don't have a thick enough skin. They have a hard job and I am sure that 90 % of them do great at it across all sports.
Yet there is still that nagging thought in the back of my mind as I watch some of these games...
Clearly I am new to the "it's rigged" party, but am I alone? Are you starting to realize this too or have you been in the Vegas camp all along? With legal sports betting flooding across the country, there is huge money riding on the outcome of these games. A little flag here, a missed hold there. Who's to say it isn't all rigged.
Let's talk about it in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Speaking of sports betting... check back tomorrow for my weekly post on how I did this past week. Turns out, it was a pretty good week for me!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
I've suspected most professional sports were rigged to some degree since Jordan's NBA which always had many questionable calls. Still does, I suppose, though I haven't watched the NBA in years (I think we talked about that in the mancave).
I think you are right when you point out the money influence. And as we know from politics: where there is money, there is corruption.
It does seem like certain players get preferential treatment doesn't it? I stopped watching the NBA a long time ago. Right around the time a big scandal came out about the officials rigging games. Now the game is just all offense and people shooting 3's. It isn't as exciting as it was when there was actual defense.
I guess I just don't see the motive, at least at an institutional level. I don't doubt there is cheating from time to time. Perhaps even an official paid off here and there. But to rig the results on a regular basis would be shooting yourself in the foot. Sooner or later it would be discovered and the harm done from that would vastly outweigh any potential gain from cheating. The NFL and MLB and NBA already make God levels of money. How does cheating improve upon that?
I want to agree with you, then you see some of these calls or no-calls and you have to wonder. They do make a ton of money, but we all know that once you start making a lot of money, you never seem to be able to get enough. Part of me wants to believe the college sports are still above board and untouched, but I don't really know if that is true.
I guess one thing to keep in mind is that, except for plays that qualify for instant replay, the refs don't have 100 angles and multiple chances to see a play. It's easy to see them missing what seems obvious to those of us watching TV...or see something different based on the angle they happen to be seeing it from. If refs are on the take, I would expect someone to rat them out sooner or later.
That's true, they don't have all of the info, but the info is there. I think it's mostly pride that won't allow them to overturn stuff when clearly it should be. I think everyone can appreciate we are all human. At least most people anyway...
When there is money involved. People, teams, managers, etc will always find a way to get the most out of it.
We had some scandal in football (soccer). Sometimes a ref was bribed but that often isn't enough to guarantee the result of a game. Yes he can give a penalty here or there or a red card and while this will have an influence on the game, it isn't often enough.
So, it is much more save for the gambling mafia to bribe players, a set of players from one team or just a complete team. This has happened and will happen again. Even in sports where you don't imagine it.
I did read story about tennis, where lots of player with a ranking above 100 do loose games on purpose against much lower ranked player. For them this is sometimes much more rewarding than the prize money they receive for winning the game.
In snooker, a dozen of Chinese players are suspended for gambling on their own games.
That's crazy. I can totally see why betting on your own games is a problem. Betting on games you aren't involved in doesn't seem like it should be an issue though. Pete Rose is the perfect example. He deserves to be in the hall of fame. Not ousted because of some technicality. Like you said, corruption is there wherever money is involved. It's crazy to see just how deep some of this stuff runs!
On the other hand, betting on the games of the sport you are playing, could give you an unfair example due to inside information.
Yeah, that is a good point too. I think it would have to be proven though. I don't know. What drives me crazy is the fact that Alex Rodriguez took PED's, lied about it, and got a much more lenient punishment than Rose.
I actually prefer the human referee and the fact that they can make mistakes. We can see how checking the "3rd" ref has slowed the game down in many sports where it has been introduced.
Regarding rigged sports, I would say that many of the outcomes are for sure pre-planned to ramp up the excitement.. I mean just look at the world cup. Argentina lost to Saudia Arabia.. PLLLLLLLEASE! lmao
Yeah, pace of play is definitely an issue. It will be interesting to see how some of this new tech pans out. It does seem a lot of favorites tend to get the beneficial calls. I don't know. I'm still on the fence, but definitely leaning towards it being rigged.
Its the same as people thinking the media are independent. lmao!