Do You Believe Major Sports are Rigged?

Athletes literally throw their careers away to smoke a joint or two, but you think they’re able to keep what would have to be collusion on an epic scale to themselves…

No.

No.

But I do believe Obama is an alien lizard man from the planet Zortan. It’s so obvious, man.

[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
I dunno… If you could get to a hockey or soccer goalie, that’s where you could really make a difference in the game. Maybe even more so than a QB and def more than a pitcher.[/quote]

A soccer goalie would actually be a good buy. Because so many games are decided by a single goal, it would only take one or two intentionally deficient efforts to decide a single game (as opposed to, say, a QB, who would have to throw an entire game in which he touches the ball 70 times). And it wouldn’t be that hard to sell, either – if the opposing team is taking a free kick near the box, for example, start a half a second too late and, upon reaching the ball, slacken your wrist a little so that it’s knocked into the corner. This one 3-second effort could very well suffice.

Still, though, the notion that this is widespread, especially at the highest level (we do know that there is a LOT of cheating in Cypriot leagues, for example) – it just isn’t believable.

I personally do not think there is anyway that they are rigged.

Why would they rig them? They already make BILLIONS and it has absolutely nothing to do with any rigging. All they have to do is try to keep their image somewhat acceptable and they make money hand over fist.

If they just let elite athletes play a game and compete, make some changes when necessary to cover their ass, and be involved in charity, they have a business plan that will continue to generate a multi-billion dollar revenue.

There might be some refs from time to time that let human nature get in the way and make mistakes (Dez Bryant caught that ball) but that is about it.

Life is rigged

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Athletes literally throw their careers away to smoke a joint or two, but you think they’re able to keep what would have to be collusion on an epic scale to themselves…

No. [/quote]
This. Not specifically about joints, but do you really think that something like this could be kept a secret?

[quote]Silyak wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Athletes literally throw their careers away to smoke a joint or two, but you think they’re able to keep what would have to be collusion on an epic scale to themselves…

No. [/quote]
This. Not specifically about joints, but do you really think that something like this could be kept a secret?[/quote]

Bingo. I do sometimes wonder if the NBA doesn’t have certain “understood” rules of officiating for superstars though. And sometimes I think they may try to slant the outcomes the way they want but not to the point of totally rigging a game. Maybe just a little encouragement.

Why is everyone referring to paying off a player or ref when referencing ‘rigged’ sports? I understand that sometimes that does happen but I would agree that it’s rare. What i’m talking about is NBA game 7 eastern conference finals 2013 Heat vs Pacers. Before I get into the specifics a lot of you in this thread mention how much money leagues make, so why would they risk it? Well let me ask you, why are they making so much money?

Ok back to Pacers vs Heat. If i’m the commissioner and I want to maximize profits, what would I want? Would I want the Pacers in the finals against a boring Spurs team? Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet? If I’m concerned simply just about profits and not integrity, I would clearly want the heat to win. So much to the point I’d tell my refs to favor the heat?

Remember that it’s not illegal for leagues to do this because you’re getting what you paid for. Ratings=Profits. The heat ended up winning that series.

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet…The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So, the star studded team with arguably the best player on the planet went on to win the series…?

Please tell me more about how sports are rigged.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet…The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So, the star studded team with arguably the best player on the planet went on to win the series…?

Please tell me more about how sports are rigged.
[/quote]

If they’re so good then why did it have to go to a game 7? Was it because the Pacers were the better team in the regular season?

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet…The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So, the star studded team with arguably the best player on the planet went on to win the series…?

Please tell me more about how sports are rigged.
[/quote]

If they’re so good then why did it have to go to a game 7? Was it because the Pacers were the better team in the regular season? [/quote]

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
Why is everyone referring to paying off a player or ref when referencing ‘rigged’ sports? I understand that sometimes that does happen but I would agree that it’s rare. What i’m talking about is NBA game 7 eastern conference finals 2013 Heat vs Pacers. Before I get into the specifics a lot of you in this thread mention how much money leagues make, so why would they risk it? Well let me ask you, why are they making so much money?

Ok back to Pacers vs Heat. If i’m the commissioner and I want to maximize profits, what would I want? Would I want the Pacers in the finals against a boring Spurs team? Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet? If I’m concerned simply just about profits and not integrity, I would clearly want the heat to win. So much to the point I’d tell my refs to favor the heat?

Remember that it’s not illegal for leagues to do this because you’re getting what you paid for. Ratings=Profits. The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So why were the boring Spurs in the finals and not the exciting OKC Thunder with the NBA’s second most touted star, Kevin Durant? Why did the NBA nix a trade that would’ve sent CP3 to the Lakers(that most think would’ve made them a big time contender again, although that’s speculation because the trade was shut down)? Why did Cleveland(or Minn this year) win all these lotteries instead of bigger markets like Philly, NYC, LA, and Boston? Why didn’t Donald Sterling go nuclear with all sorts of inside information when he had his multi-billion dollar company stripped from him against his will?

Some bad calls here and there are far more within reason of just natural human error than the entire league being rigged.

[quote]red04 wrote:

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
Why is everyone referring to paying off a player or ref when referencing ‘rigged’ sports? I understand that sometimes that does happen but I would agree that it’s rare. What i’m talking about is NBA game 7 eastern conference finals 2013 Heat vs Pacers. Before I get into the specifics a lot of you in this thread mention how much money leagues make, so why would they risk it? Well let me ask you, why are they making so much money?

Ok back to Pacers vs Heat. If i’m the commissioner and I want to maximize profits, what would I want? Would I want the Pacers in the finals against a boring Spurs team? Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet? If I’m concerned simply just about profits and not integrity, I would clearly want the heat to win. So much to the point I’d tell my refs to favor the heat?

Remember that it’s not illegal for leagues to do this because you’re getting what you paid for. Ratings=Profits. The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So why were the boring Spurs in the finals and not the exciting OKC Thunder with the NBA’s second most touted star, Kevin Durant? Why did the NBA nix a trade that would’ve sent CP3 to the Lakers(that most think would’ve made them a big time contender again, although that’s speculation because the trade was shut down)? Why did Cleveland(or Minn this year) win all these lotteries instead of bigger markets like Philly, NYC, LA, and Boston? Why didn’t Donald Sterling go nuclear with all sorts of inside information when he had his multi-billion dollar company stripped from him against his will?

Some bad calls here and there are far more within reason of just natural human error than the entire league being rigged.[/quote]

That’s easy. The Thunder are in a small market. It would be in the leagues best interest if they were to go to the much Larger Markets such as LA, NY and Chigago. Also it’s in the leagues best interest for them to globalize it’s brand. No one is an American Born citizen on the Spurs Starting 5 (except Kwahi for the last two finals). The NFL has tried but Is failing because of the lack of foreign stars. Why was the CP3 trade knocked down? Well idk you tell me? Why did David Stern shoot down the trade?

You’re just facilitating my argument when bringing that up. Next why didn’t donald sterling spill all the beans when he was banned. For one the team still had to be sold and second he’s has an early case of allzheimers. You may not be aware but most of the NBA owners are ex mobsters. (Look it up). After the 2006 NBA finals lost to the heat Marc Cuban yelled at David stern courtside, “Your league is fucking rigged stern”. He was later fined 100k and denied saying such a thing. Umm yeah sure.

Oddly enough the Mavs won a Championship in 2012 when Lebron seemed to dissapear completely both on defense and offense in 4th quarter. Then after that season the Heat beat the Thunder which turned out to be a lopsided series. Then came the Spurs against the heat. Which turned out to be a 7 game series for the ages. THEN it happened again but this time it was lopsided. So now it’s like Lebron against Steph? Gtfo.

*sorry for the poor grammar i’m on my cell.

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

[quote]red04 wrote:

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
Why is everyone referring to paying off a player or ref when referencing ‘rigged’ sports? I understand that sometimes that does happen but I would agree that it’s rare. What i’m talking about is NBA game 7 eastern conference finals 2013 Heat vs Pacers. Before I get into the specifics a lot of you in this thread mention how much money leagues make, so why would they risk it? Well let me ask you, why are they making so much money?

Ok back to Pacers vs Heat. If i’m the commissioner and I want to maximize profits, what would I want? Would I want the Pacers in the finals against a boring Spurs team? Or do I want the Star Studded Miami heat with arguably the best player on the planet? If I’m concerned simply just about profits and not integrity, I would clearly want the heat to win. So much to the point I’d tell my refs to favor the heat?

Remember that it’s not illegal for leagues to do this because you’re getting what you paid for. Ratings=Profits. The heat ended up winning that series.[/quote]

So why were the boring Spurs in the finals and not the exciting OKC Thunder with the NBA’s second most touted star, Kevin Durant? Why did the NBA nix a trade that would’ve sent CP3 to the Lakers(that most think would’ve made them a big time contender again, although that’s speculation because the trade was shut down)? Why did Cleveland(or Minn this year) win all these lotteries instead of bigger markets like Philly, NYC, LA, and Boston? Why didn’t Donald Sterling go nuclear with all sorts of inside information when he had his multi-billion dollar company stripped from him against his will?

Some bad calls here and there are far more within reason of just natural human error than the entire league being rigged.[/quote]

That’s easy. The Thunder are in a small market. It would be in the leagues best interest if they were to go to the much Larger Markets such as LA, NY and Chigago. Also it’s in the leagues best interest for them to globalize it’s brand. No one is an American Born citizen on the Spurs Starting 5 (except Kwahi for the last two finals). The NFL has tried but Is failing because of the lack of foreign stars. Why was the CP3 trade knocked down? Well idk you tell me? Why did David Stern shoot down the trade?

You’re just facilitating my argument when bringing that up. Next why didn’t donald sterling spill all the beans when he was banned. For one the team still had to be sold and second he’s has an early case of allzheimers. You may not be aware but most of the NBA owners are ex mobsters. (Look it up). After the 2006 NBA finals lost to the heat Marc Cuban yelled at David stern courtside, “Your league is fucking rigged stern”. He was later fined 100k and denied saying such a thing. Umm yeah sure.

Oddly enough the Mavs won a Championship in 2012 when Lebron seemed to dissapear completely both on defense and offense in 4th quarter. Then after that season the Heat beat the Thunder which turned out to be a lopsided series. Then came the Spurs against the heat. Which turned out to be a 7 game series for the ages. THEN it happened again but this time it was lopsided. So now it’s like Lebron against Steph? Gtfo.

*sorry for the poor grammar i’m on my cell.[/quote]

Of course they’re rigged. It’s all about ratings.

I stopped calling NBA refs refs years ago. I call them plot drivers.

They call whatever to drive the plot of the game and make it interesting.

They give the popular players help. That’s why NBA teams get good when they start picking up well-known players. The refs help them.

It’s clear as day.

The bookies in Vegas also have a say.

It happens in all sports, but especially football and basketball. Almost every player commits moving picks and travels when they catch passes. They all hack the fuck out of each other, constantly. You can barely even see it on tv, but look at a close-up in slow-mo. Happens constantly. Never gets called, except usually in key moments when it will make a difference.

There’s holding in football on every play. They rarely call it. I see a ball get hiked blatantly after the play clock expired once every 2 to 3 weeks in a game that gets ignored. I’ve also seen the clock tick away faster and even skip seconds. Watch it when noone normally is if you don’t believe me. It happens.

I was watching a NCAA basketball game this past season, don’t remember the teams. One team scored a 2, they gave 3 points to the wrong team on the score board. It was never fixed. Shit like this happens all the time when people aren’t paying attention to the clock or the score, during the bulk of the game before it gets close to the end of a period or half.

They don’t want to make the games boring to watch by doing silly things like calling the rules by the book. They also can’t have popular teams losing or unpopular teams winning. So they take liberties. Sometimes teams are good enough to overcome, but not usually. Most of the time if you’re actually watching and paying attention, it’s blatant.

[quote]TDub301 wrote:
They give the popular players help. That’s why NBA teams get good when they start picking up well-known players. The refs help them.
[/quote]

Yeah, that’s the most reasonable explanation for the phenomenon by which NBA teams get good when they pick up stars.

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

[quote]TDub301 wrote:
They give the popular players help. That’s why NBA teams get good when they start picking up well-known players. The refs help them.
[/quote]

Yeah, that’s the most reasonable explanation for the phenomenon by which NBA teams get good when they pick up stars.[/quote]

He said ‘well known’ not stars

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

[quote]TDub301 wrote:
They give the popular players help. That’s why NBA teams get good when they start picking up well-known players. The refs help them.
[/quote]

Yeah, that’s the most reasonable explanation for the phenomenon by which NBA teams get good when they pick up stars.[/quote]

He said ‘well known’ not stars [/quote]

Well-known athletes tend to be star athletes. Why is Tyler Thigpen not well-known, while Aaron Rodgers is?

There are some well-known athletes that aren’t any good (Mark Sanchez, for example). But these are the exception. Lets assume he’s talking about star athletes. Can you think of a better explanation for the phenomenon than ref-league conspiracy? I can.

[quote]smh_23 wrote:
(Mark Sanchez, for example). [/quote]

One of the best plays in sports history.

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

[quote]TDub301 wrote:
They give the popular players help. That’s why NBA teams get good when they start picking up well-known players. The refs help them.
[/quote]

Yeah, that’s the most reasonable explanation for the phenomenon by which NBA teams get good when they pick up stars.[/quote]

He said ‘well known’ not stars [/quote]

Well-known athletes tend to be star athletes. Why is Tyler Thigpen not well-known, while Aaron Rodgers is?

There are some well-known athletes that aren’t any good (Mark Sanchez, for example). But these are the exception. Lets assume he’s talking about star athletes. Can you think of a better explanation for the phenomenon than ref-league conspiracy? I can.[/quote]

On treatment of star Player

Relationships between NBA players and referees were generally all over the board â?? love, hate, and everything in-between. Some players, even very good ones, were targeted by referees and the league because they were too talented for their own good. Raja Bell, formerly of the Phoenix Suns and now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, was one of those players. A defensive specialist throughout his career, Bell had a reputation for being a “star stopper.” His defensive skills were so razor sharp that he could shut down a superstar, or at least make him work for his points. Kobe Bryant was often frustrated by Bell’s tenacity on defense. Let’s face it, no one completely shuts down a player of Kobe’s caliber, but Bell could frustrate Kobe, take him out of his game, and interrupt his rhythm.

You would think that the NBA would love a guy who plays such great defense. Think again! Star stoppers hurt the promotion of marquee players. Fans don’t pay high prices to see players like Raja Bell â?? they pay to see superstars like Kobe Bryant score 40 points. Basketball purists like to see good defense, but the NBA wants the big names to score big points.

If a player of Kobe’s stature collides with the likes of Raja Bell, the call will almost always go for Kobe and against Bell. As part of our ongoing training and game preparation, NBA referees regularly receive game-action video tape from the league office. Over the years, I have reviewed many recorded hours of video involving Raja Bell. The footage I analyzed usually illustrated fouls being called against Bell, rarely for him. The message was subtle but clear â?? call fouls against the star stopper because he’s hurting the game.
If Kobe Bryant had two fouls in the first or second quarter and went to the bench, one referee would tell the other two, “Kobe’s got two fouls. Let’s make sure that if we call a foul on him, it’s an obvious foul, because otherwise he’s gonna go back to the bench. If he is involved in a play where a foul is called, give the foul to another player.”

Similarly, when games got physically rough, we would huddle up and agree to tighten the game up. So we started calling fouls on guys who didn’t really matter â?? “ticky-tack” or “touch” fouls where one player just touched another but didn’t really impede his progress. Under regular circumstances these wouldn’t be fouls, but after a skirmish we wanted to regain control. We would never call these types of fouls on superstars, just on the average players who didn’t have star status. It was important to keep the stars on the floor.
Allen Iverson provides a good example of a player who generated strong reaction, both positive and negative, within the corps of NBA referees. For instance, veteran referee Steve Javie hated Allen Iverson and was loathe [sic] to give him a favorable call. If Javie was on the court when Iverson was playing, I would always bet on the other team to win or at least cover the spread. No matter how many times Iverson hit the floor, he rarely saw the foul line. By contrast, referee Joe Crawford had a grandson who idolized Iverson. I once saw Crawford bring the boy out of the stands and onto the floor during warm-ups to meet the superstar. Iverson and Crawford’s grandson were standing there, shaking hands, smiling, talking about all kinds of things. If Joe Crawford was on the court, I was pretty sure Iverson’s team would win or at least cover the spread.
Madison Square Garden was the place to be for a marquee matchup between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. I worked the game with Derrick Stafford and Gary Zielinski, knowing that the Knicks were a sure bet to get favorable treatment that night. Derrick Stafford had a close relationship with Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, and he despised Heat coach Pat Riley. I picked the Knicks without batting an eye and settled in for a roller-coaster ride on the court.

During pregame warm-ups, Shaquille O’Neal approached Stafford and asked him to let some air out of the ball.

“Is this the game ball?” O’Neal asked. “It’s too hard. C’mon, D, let a little air out of it.”

Stafford then summoned one of the ball boys, asked for an air needle, and let some air out of the ball, getting a big wink and a smile from O’Neal.

-Tim Donaghy former league Referee