Are games rigged?

[Had Enough 2,057]

 I even see it in games where I hate a particular team but can tell they are getting cheated. Like the OU at Oregon game about 10 years ago. I'm rooting for the ducks but I can see that OU is getting screwed many times over. Especially on the on sidekick at the end of the game where the ducks didn't recover the ball but they were rewarded to ball anyhow.

One of the most unfortunate calls in the history is sports. The amount of horseshit bullshit calls and non calls in OUs favor far outweigh any of the reverse. There also was a bs noncall in favor of OU that game that kept it from a 2 TD deficit in Oregons favor.

[Sgt Hulk 13,647]

Someone leaked the superbowl script.  Back up the brinks truck. 

[Tailgate 3,018]

Sweet, I’ve got 7 and 4 on my squares.

 

FWIW was touring the new Moody center for basketball seat selection and saw an older Horn in the Moet booth and wanted to check it out. My oldest was with me.

Nice guy, we talked for a good bit. He was a basketball player in 40s and/or 50s. Without even mentioning it or asking…he just says “games were rigged back then.” And proceeds to tell the story of the team that should have won by 70 and they won by 7.

[Zeus 5,949]

3 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Someone leaked the superbowl script.  Back up the brinks truck. 

What a lazy Photoshop

I think the Chiefs gonna take it

[HenryJames 65,889]

Most people who don’t like the NFL do so because they hate all the riggers.

[Beau Vine 53,999]

4 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Most people who don’t like the NFL do so because they hate all the riggers.

[Tomatillo 354]

On 2/1/2023 at 11:50 AM, Richard Kimball said:

There are comments on the Chiefs-Bengals thread about the officiating. There are also comments on the Conference realignment and left behind threads. 

I'll throw my thoughts out. I don't think it's rigged to the point that professional wrestling is rigged, but yes, leagues guide the narrative. I've seen numerous references to the NFL being legally an "entertainment" league, and being in the same category as wrestling. If this is true, fixing games isn't illegal, as wrestling matches are usually fixed. I haven't found a definitive source on this, simply references to the law passed in 1961 after the NFL lost a Supreme Court anti-trust case in 1957. I haven't found, except on message boards, the claim that the NFL is entertainment, not sports.

The Sports-Media complex has no interest in exposing the darker side of sports. They functionally own the leagues. They protect some players, crucify others, dittos for teams. 

NBA, definitely. It's a star driven league, and finals ratings are greatly influenced by which teams are playing for the title. My "AHA!" moment in the NBA was watching a Lakers game in the 80s. Magic Johnson had five fouls, two minutes left. He hacked an opposing player. The ref blew the whistle and started to point at Johnson, realized who it was, and swerved to put the foul on another Lakers player who was about eight feet away. There were no traveling calls on Jordan, ever. He could start at half court and drive all the way to the basket without dribbling. 

NFL, yeah. Tuck rule game, Saints being allowed to murder Vikings QB Brett Favre in the title game when the league wanted the Saints to win the Super Bowl after Katrina, Steelers never having a call go against them in the 1970s, Earl Morrall throwing three interceptions in the first half of Colts-Jets, when the NFL desperately needed an AFL win for the merger to go through. 

College, yeah, but there are so many entities that it's not a unified narrative like the NBA and NFL. Conferences will put their thumb on the scale for a team that has a chance for the playoffs, cause the conference gets a share of the playoff money. Right now, Texas and Oklahoma won't get a break because the B12 doesn't want them winning the conference on the way out the door. 

Anyway, your thoughts? True fixing, or just losing team sour grapes? We know there are SOME sour grapes, but is there a basis for some of those claims? Remember Tim Donaghy.

NFL wanted Hurts v Mahomes. I'll leave it at that. 

[SHOOTER12 8,789]

3 minutes ago, Tomatillo said:

NFL wanted Hurts v Mahomes. I'll leave it at that. 

Hmmmm, hurts my homey... got to be code for something. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by SHOOTER12

[ImissWallyPryor 9,045]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:22 PM, Bullneck said:

 

 Go to the 3:06.00 mark, just before Roll Left. The head ref tips the ball back, then forward to make sure Texas was one inch short of the first down measurement instead of converting by one inch. Oh well, Roll Left happened.

 

[BoomMF 1,398]

Too much money involved to leave it ALL up to chance.

[closetohumping 17,400]

19 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Someone leaked the superbowl script.  Back up the brinks truck. 

I will bet the over just in case this is correct.

[closetohumping 17,400]

On 2/2/2023 at 4:14 PM, Guadaloopy said:

Home field advantage is a real thing.  Economists have studied it to try and determine the reason(s) behind HFA.  Turns out that the single most important factor contributing to HFA is referee bias.  It's not referee bias because they dislike one team more than the other.  Turns out that referees have a very human tendency to make calls that are least likely to enrage a heavily partisan crowd.  I highly recommend the book "Scorecasting" as it dives deeply into this issue.  It's Freakonomics for sports fans and it is a great read.

Here's an article that discusses the findings about HFA:

https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/home-field-advantage-facts-and-fiction

Remember the Tennesse game where Wycheck threw it across the field?  

[Guadaloopy 10,921]

11 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Remember the Tennesse game where Wycheck threw it across the field?  

Meh.   That wasn’t a particularly egregious call for the home team.   Hard to tell if it was a lateral or not.   The way Wycheck and Dyson were moving relatively made it look like a forward pass, but the ball traveled almost straight down the yard line.  Better camera angles might have reversed it.   But yes, it is an example of a borderline call going the home team’s way.  

[hayden_horn 11,360]

of course games are rigged. in some cases perhaps by competing interests even.

what kind of weird pollyanna world do yall live in?

[Beau Vine 53,999]

If I were a mob gambling boss, I definitely wouldn't try to rig football -- no player, not even QB, can make enough of a difference in any game.  I'd buy MLB starting pitchers and NHL goalies, because they're more likely to get something done.  Of course, how are you ever going to find a SP or goalie who's already $50M in debt to bail out in exchange for a fix?

[Richard Kimball 1,492]