The curious case of NFL refs

[Nesjan3]

So its gotten so bad that it has made it difficult to watch at times. I won't stop watching the Colts, but a lot of things that have happened in the last 10 or so years have really made me take the conspiracy theories into consideration.

 

Im not going to go so far to say the conspiracies are true, but there has been a lot of moments where you just watch and can't help but think either the refs are really bad at their jobs, or its a set up.

 

Now Sean Payton has come out at the league meetings and questioned the reffing from top to bottom. Saying that his kids high school refs could do a better job than the playoff "All star crews." He goes on to say the whole thing is flawed and needs some serious revision.

 

Do you think the NFL will address the refs anytime soon? Is it a conspiracy and the NFL is just going to keep force feeding us what they want with the refs assistance? Is the NFL in trouble? What are your thoughts

[lollygagger8]

53 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

 

Now Sean Payton has come out at the league meetings and questioned the reffing from top to bottom. Saying that his kids high school refs could do a better job than the playoff "All star crews." He goes on to say the whole thing is flawed and needs some serious revision.

 

I don't particularly care for Sean Payton, but

 

[Valpo2004]

Refs are human and they miss calls.  When they do it on national television it gets blown out of proportion.  

 

Honestly given all the factors I think the officiating in most NFL games is pretty good.  

 

I honestly think the problem is with the fans. 

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, Valpo2004 said:

Refs are human and they miss calls.  When they do it on national television it gets blown out of proportion.  

 

Honestly given all the factors I think the officiating in most NFL games is pretty good.  

 

I honestly think the problem is with the fans. 

I do agree with this.

A lot of fans whine when a bad or no call against their team is called but totally overlook calls when it benefits their team.

Complaining about the refs is pure fandom.

[JimJaime]

12 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

I do agree with this.

A lot of fans whine when a bad or no call against their team is called but totally overlook calls when it benefits their team.

Complaining about the refs is pure fandom.

Perfect post! We all notice the plays that went against our team, but have blunders on for the ones our team got away with as well..  although that uncalled PI was beyond bad so I understand Peyton anger over it still.

[Valpo2004]

17 hours ago, JimJaime said:

Perfect post! We all notice the plays that went against our team, but have blunders on for the ones our team got away with as well..  although that uncalled PI was beyond bad so I understand Peyton anger over it still.

 

There are some obvious bad calls that I think most football fans can look at and realize that was a bad call.  Some of them in the past have been due to the rules being poorly written.  Honestly the competition committee's poor writing to the rules has caused far more problems in the past than the refs.  

 

However the PI wasn't one of them.  That was a simple bad no call by the officials.  

 

That said I think those are the exception to the rule.  If calls that bad were every day things, we wouldn't be talking about it.  

[Chrisaaron1023]

Nfl will become unwatchable very soon..

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

The nfl just admitted the pats should of been called for a penalty giving the rams the ball at the one yard line.

They also expanded challenges to PI on both defense and offense. 

[NewColtsFan]

 

Props to Sean Payton...    He got a 1-year experimental rule passed.    Pass Interference is now reviewable.    Both the onces called,  AND the ones not called.    Either way,  offensive or defensive.

 

They'll evaluate in a year after they see how it works.

 

The props are in order....   according to Pat Kirwan,  this was going to get voted down easily.   Then Payton campaigned and got all 32 head coaches to vote for it.    They took that to the competition committee and it suddenly passed.

 

The right move for a year.    Hopefully it works and it will become the new normal in the years to come.

 

[John Waylon]

People: oh my god these refs are horrible they are rigging the games, missing obvious calls, I can’t watch this!

 

Same People: Don’t change the officiating process in any way! It’s fine as it is, they’re humans they make mistakes, games are long enough already, too many challenges, too many commercials...

 

NFL fans are going to turn into NASCAR fans if they keep this up. 

[Coffeedrinker]

51 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

People: oh my god these refs are horrible they are rigging the games, missing obvious calls, I can’t watch this!

 

I think the refs are horrible and they make a lot of calls to make sure games stay competitive.

51 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

 

Same People: Don’t change the officiating process in any way! It’s fine as it is, they’re humans they make mistakes, games are long enough already, too many challenges, too many commercials...

 

I don't feel this way at all.  I think they should change the officiating process and I think refs should be held more accountable.  Players get fined for blatant rules violations and it becomes public knowledge, I think refs should get fined as well for blatant missed or wrong calls.  And that information should be public knowledge as well.

 

 

 

[John Waylon]

33 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I think the refs are horrible and they make a lot of calls to make sure games stay competitive.

I don't feel this way at all.  I think they should change the officiating process and I think refs should be held more accountable.  Players get fined for blatant rules violations and it becomes public knowledge, I think refs should get fined as well for blatant missed or wrong calls.  And that information should be public knowledge as well.

 

 

 

 

Its not everyone for sure, but I have seen more than enough who say those things congruently. 

 

This new gambling age we’ve entered has changed the game. The kinds of penalties that are the reason we need these safety nets are absolutely the kind that alter the game. Transparency is going to become increasingly more necessary as time goes on. Millions of dollars are now changing hands based on the calls being missed and made incorrectly on the field.

 

I’ve said for years there needs to be a grading system for officials, and they need to have their weekly grades made public, and if their average grade is below a certain amount at the end of the season they are out. You’ve got a maximum of 16 games a week, so have a team of 2 re-watch and assess games each week and grade officials. 

 

Of course the Refs Union will never allow this to happen, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t by any means. The union is only interested in protecting the jobs of the officials, not the quality of job they are doing or it’s effect on the integrity of the game. 

 

The more workable fix is the sky judge. There aren’t that many plays per game that are called so badly they need to be corrected. People seem to equate this idea with a guy stopping the game after every single play and re-watching it. 

 

No. Don’t be foolish. This official would be heard from less than a half a dozen times a game if even half that. 

 

Get it right. The emphasis has been headed that way for years, and the legalization of gambling is the can of worms just waiting to blow this issue up entirely. 

[Valpo2004]

On 3/27/2019 at 9:19 AM, John Waylon said:

 

Its not everyone for sure, but I have seen more than enough who say those things congruently. 

 

This new gambling age we’ve entered has changed the game. The kinds of penalties that are the reason we need these safety nets are absolutely the kind that alter the game. Transparency is going to become increasingly more necessary as time goes on. Millions of dollars are now changing hands based on the calls being missed and made incorrectly on the field.

 

I’ve said for years there needs to be a grading system for officials, and they need to have their weekly grades made public, and if their average grade is below a certain amount at the end of the season they are out. You’ve got a maximum of 16 games a week, so have a team of 2 re-watch and assess games each week and grade officials. 

 

Of course the Refs Union will never allow this to happen, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t by any means. The union is only interested in protecting the jobs of the officials, not the quality of job they are doing or it’s effect on the integrity of the game. 

 

The more workable fix is the sky judge. There aren’t that many plays per game that are called so badly they need to be corrected. People seem to equate this idea with a guy stopping the game after every single play and re-watching it. 

 

No. Don’t be foolish. This official would be heard from less than a half a dozen times a game if even half that. 

 

Get it right. The emphasis has been headed that way for years, and the legalization of gambling is the can of worms just waiting to blow this issue up entirely. 

 

I would say a sky judge should be able to review everything, including missed calls but with the instructions that he only stops the game for missed calls that are blatant and obvious.  

[dodsworth]

The NFE "National Football Entertainment" has been a bit sketchy

since Goodell has taken over as the leader. Not to mention he has

a huge hard on for the Patriots.

 

I would probably quit watching the NFE if not for Ballard and 

Reich being in place. Maybe the football mafia will "allow" the

Colts to win a title within the next decade.

[crazycolt1]

8 hours ago, dodsworth said:

The NFE "National Football Entertainment" has been a bit sketchy

since Goodell has taken over as the leader. Not to mention he has

a huge hard on for the Patriots.

 

I would probably quit watching the NFE if not for Ballard and 

Reich being in place. Maybe the football mafia will "allow" the

Colts to win a title within the next decade.

What has Goodell done to the Patriots they haven't deserved?

[ReMeDy]

18 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

What has Goodell done to the Patriots they haven't deserved?

 

I think he's implying Goodell is allowing the Pats to win, hence will Goodell allow the Colts to win within the next decade in the same manner?

[dodsworth]

44 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

What has Goodell done to the Patriots they haven't deserved?

The NFE obviously has an agenda of who they want to advance

and win certain games, especially Patriot games. Just watch as

flags start flying in crunch time as certain teams are marched 

downfield for the victory. Look no farther than the recent Saints 

playoff loss.

 

When a ref goes under review and the whole world sees a play

but the referees calls it different, then things get a little suspicious.

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, ReMeDy said:

 

I think he's implying Goodell is allowing the Pats to win, hence will Goodell allow the Colts to win within the next decade in the same manner?

 

1 hour ago, dodsworth said:

The NFE obviously has an agenda of who they want to advance

and win certain games, especially Patriot games. Just watch as

flags start flying in crunch time as certain teams are marched 

downfield for the victory. Look no farther than the recent Saints 

playoff loss.

 

When a ref goes under review and the whole world sees a play

but the referees calls it different, then things get a little suspicious.

My impression of having a hard on for something is different I guess.

[NorthernBlue]

I feel like it's less of a ref thing and more of a rulebook thing.

 

It's a problem in the NHL, the NFL and even the NBA. So many rules with not enough clarity that it becomes a judgement call. Perfect example: Pass interference and what is and isn't a catch.

 

Solution: Dumb it down. Keep it simple. Call less stuff and have less rules for penalties. Have refs only call OBVIOUS stuff. Yes, I get that we have a lot of these rules for player safety and that's important, but, and as much as I hate to say this, it's football. Guys are gonna get hurt. There has to be a better way to help with player safety that doesn't involve Quenton Nelson getting fined for dishing out a clean block or Joe Haden getting called for PI fo playing defense,. It's becoming unwatchable in big games. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

On 3/27/2019 at 9:19 AM, John Waylon said:

I’ve said for years there needs to be a grading system for officials,

 

They do.

 

"On how officials are graded each week: Field judge Doug Rosenbaum explained officials file their game reports to the league office minutes after the final whistle. On Monday, every play is graded by the league and officials are given a report on Tuesday, highlighting incorrect or missed calls. Officials are then given a chance to offer a rebuttal before a final decision on the play is made by the league. By the end of the day on Wednesday, officials get a final grade from the game."

 

On 3/27/2019 at 9:19 AM, John Waylon said:

and they need to have their weekly grades made public,

 

And should your performance evaluation at your job be made public too? I don't see the benefit for either to be public.  Let the company/employers handle it.

 

On 3/27/2019 at 9:19 AM, John Waylon said:

and if their average grade is below a certain amount at the end of the season they are out.

 

"Typically, there are between 160-180 plays per game. According to umpire Fred Bryant, officials are ranked into three tiers, with the top tier averaging 98.4 percent on the season. Tier 3 officials finish with a mark below 97 percent. Those are impressive figures, but it still means officials are wrong on average of 3-5 times per game.

At mid season, tier 3 officials are assigned trainers by the league to help bring their average grade up."

 

 

 

[John Waylon]

On 5/17/2019 at 11:31 PM, ColtsBlueFL said:

 

They do.

 

"On how officials are graded each week: Field judge Doug Rosenbaum explained officials file their game reports to the league office minutes after the final whistle. On Monday, every play is graded by the league and officials are given a report on Tuesday, highlighting incorrect or missed calls. Officials are then given a chance to offer a rebuttal before a final decision on the play is made by the league. By the end of the day on Wednesday, officials get a final grade from the game."

 

 

And should your performance evaluation at your job be made public too? I don't see the benefit for either to be public.  Let the company/employers handle it.

 

 

"Typically, there are between 160-180 plays per game. According to umpire Fred Bryant, officials are ranked into three tiers, with the top tier averaging 98.4 percent on the season. Tier 3 officials finish with a mark below 97 percent. Those are impressive figures, but it still means officials are wrong on average of 3-5 times per game.

At mid season, tier 3 officials are assigned trainers by the league to help bring their average grade up."

 

 

 

 

Sure, if people are so inclined to know how I manage my warehouse go ahead and let them. In the two years I’ve held this position there have been a whopping zero (0) [you know, like, none] missed shipments. Legit batting 1.000 here. Do your job correctly and there’s not a lot of excitement to go around. 

 

The difference in my job and theirs, and for the love of all that is good and holy I’ll repeat it again, and with emphasis for those in the back, there aren’t millions of dollars in public money being thrown around with my mistakes figuring into them. 

 

The legalization of sports gambling has absolutely 100% changed the land of officiating. Because you don’t want to look down the road and see the clouds gathering doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Within 10 years every major sports league is going to come under very serious fire for the state of their officiating because they have the ability to get things correct and make sure that the millions or even billions circulating around at their judgement aren’t being influenced by crooked or worse yet incompetent officials. 

 

If they really have the behind closed doors program they claim (with the amount of ridiculous and missed calls I’ll hold onto my skepticism) that’s cool, I guess. Whatever. Either way it won’t stop what’s coming because it’s not enough. 

 

The romanticism of letting them make calls in real time because they are supposed to have some kind of mythical power as an official and it’s ok if they aren’t correct is coming to an end a hell of a lot sooner than later. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

59 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

 

Sure, if people are so inclined to know how I manage my warehouse go ahead and let them. In the two years I’ve held this position there have been a whopping zero (0) [you know, like, none] missed shipments. Legit batting 1.000 here. Do your job correctly and there’s not a lot of excitement to go around. 

 

Impressive, really. Now, I'm trying not to be disrespectful, but is your policies and protocol manual as vast and detailed as an NFL rulebook?

 

https://operations.nfl.com/media/3277/2018-nfl-rulebook_final-version.pdf

 

And even if so, do you have to act on them as often and fast as an NFL official, who in today's NFL, are somewhat like on-field judges interpreting volumes of rule text , case law and legal precedent (NFL wise) as fast as the athletes can run and make plays?

 

Quote

The difference in my job and theirs, and for the love of all that is good and holy I’ll repeat it again, and with emphasis for those in the back, there aren’t millions of dollars in public money being thrown around with my mistakes figuring into them. 

 

The NFL had never endorsed the legalized gambling. The have always invoked 'protecting the integrity of the shield' and actually considered it a threat. Now that has happened anyway, the NFL found ways to profit-

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-nfl-long-threatened-by-gambling-now-has-a-90-million-partnership-with-caesars-2019-01-03

 

... and more.

 

Quote

The legalization of sports gambling has absolutely 100% changed the land of officiating.

 

Yes, the NFL will make billions of dollars-

 

https://www.playusa.com/nfl-legal-sports-betting-revenue/

 

And will slowly make adjustments in rules, replay, and continue to push for even more/all full time refs.  Don't expect massive changes overnight.  Change made where it was determined it is needed, and unintended consequences looked at.

 

Quote

Because you don’t want to look down the road and see the clouds gathering doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Within 10 years every major sports league is going to come under very serious fire for the state of their officiating because they have the ability to get things correct and make sure that the millions or even billions circulating around at their judgement aren’t being influenced by crooked or worse yet incompetent officials. 

 

Nobody wants a repeat of the NBA ref fiasco. Even before legalized gambling.

 

Quote

If they really have the behind closed doors program they claim (with the amount of ridiculous and missed calls I’ll hold onto my skepticism) that’s cool, I guess. Whatever. Either way it won’t stop what’s coming because it’s not enough. 

 

"In 2017, NFL teams ran nearly 40,000 plays. The NFL Officiating Department meticulously reviewed its officials’ performance on every one of them. Every play. Every game."

 

https://operations.nfl.com/the-officials/these-officials-are-really-good/

 

Quote

The romanticism of letting them make calls in real time {snip} is coming to an end a hell of a lot sooner than later. 

 

How?  That's the rub. Then with every single change, what affect on the game, flow, and length do those measure create.  There will be changes/adjustments over time.  But they will be carefully scrutinized to prevent creating 2 problems while fixing 1.

[BertJones]

On 3/25/2019 at 11:17 AM, Valpo2004 said:

Refs are human and they miss calls.  When they do it on national television it gets blown out of proportion.  

 

Honestly given all the factors I think the officiating in most NFL games is pretty good.  

 

I honestly think the problem is with the fans. 

sheesh dude, how much kool aid do you drink weekly?

 a mistake once a month is one thing. every * week means its on purpose, as planned.

 

the Saints-Rams game , is distinct and blatant proof that the league decides who they want to win and has it carried out.

if anyone thinks that helmet to helmet call was just a silly,simple mistake/overlooked... they are complete *s.

the league has shown time and again for 6 decades and even further. they can make any call they want for any outcome they want. all the tech and rules changes are meaningless fluff. they do as they choose and its all legal.

 

[BertJones]

On 4/14/2019 at 6:07 PM, NorthernBlue said:

I feel like it's less of a ref thing and more of a rulebook thing.

 

It's a problem in the NHL, the NFL and even the NBA. So many rules with not enough clarity that it becomes a judgement call. Perfect example: Pass interference and what is and isn't a catch.

 

Solution: Dumb it down. Keep it simple. Call less stuff and have less rules for penalties. Have refs only call OBVIOUS stuff. Yes, I get that we have a lot of these rules for player safety and that's important, but, and as much as I hate to say this, it's football. Guys are gonna get hurt. There has to be a better way to help with player safety that doesn't involve Quenton Nelson getting fined for dishing out a clean block or Joe Haden getting called for PI fo playing defense,. It's becoming unwatchable in big games. 

the rules are absolutely clear. they were written by lawyers.. for the express purpose of being able to bend any interpretation of any call, to what ever judgement they want to make.

they are purposely ambiguous. the rules always finish with some wording that leaves it up to the ref's

[BertJones]

On 3/25/2019 at 10:15 AM, Nesjan3 said:

So its gotten so bad that it has made it difficult to watch at times. I won't stop watching the Colts, but a lot of things that have happened in the last 10 or so years have really made me take the conspiracy theories into consideration.

 

Im not going to go so far to say the conspiracies are true, but there has been a lot of moments where you just watch and can't help but think either the refs are really bad at their jobs, or its a set up.

 

Now Sean Payton has come out at the league meetings and questioned the reffing from top to bottom. Saying that his kids high school refs could do a better job than the playoff "All star crews." He goes on to say the whole thing is flawed and needs some serious revision.

 

Do you think the NFL will address the refs anytime soon? Is it a conspiracy and the NFL is just going to keep force feeding us what they want with the refs assistance? Is the NFL in trouble? What are your thoughts

 

they did address the refs. the refs have always done exactly what they are/were told to.

 

Quote

Now Sean Payton has come out at the league meetings and questioned the reffing from top to bottom.

thats just fluff,gossip talk for fake controversy

[Behle]

If conspiracy exists then why?  Who benefits?  And why is it important that that particular team benefits?  If it is strictly gambling influences then why would the favorites always win(Patriots)?  

[BertJones]

34 minutes ago, Behle said:

If conspiracy exists then why?  Who benefits?  And why is it important that that particular team benefits?  If it is strictly gambling influences then why would the favorites always win(Patriots)?  

The entire league benefits.  It's about money-period. It doesn't matter who wins. If the league thought the public was dumb enough to let Pats win 20 in a row,they'd do thst too.( the fact is they could make that happen and make you believe  it if they really wanted to) Profit sharing eliminates the need to compete. The league is not 32 separate  businesses. It's one solid,  billions dollars, entertainment  industry. If they were actually  competitive. Brady would have been limping from the game a decade ago.

 

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, Behle said:

If conspiracy exists then why?  Who benefits?  And why is it important that that particular team benefits?  If it is strictly gambling influences then why would the favorites always win(Patriots)?  

I'll answer a few of these. The casinos benefit, Vegas benefits, offshore gambling companies benefit. It isn't important that a certain team benefits, rather, certain players or people based on ratings or current events. The reason that Vegas loves when the Pats win is that 31 other fanbases hate them. They will bet against them for that reason, and the fact that the underdog Vs them is given points only makes it more enticing. 

 

Hope this clears things up a bit.

[jameszeigler834]

On 3/25/2019 at 4:10 PM, JimJaime said:

Perfect post! We all notice the plays that went against our team, but have blunders on for the ones our team got away with as well..  although that uncalled PI was beyond bad so I understand Peyton anger over it still.

Honestly when is comes to peoples belief on this forum that the refs major failures are blown out of proportion that is false these mistakes are starting to happen almost every week when I see it I don't care if im a fan of that team or not its garbage. I have been saying for years that sports are fixed and every year im reminded that it is a fact when you see multiple blown calls or major officiating mistakes in the same game sorry but fixed that no PI in the NFC championship game was ridiculous that crew should be fired better yet fire all of them cause I believe when all these crews are screwing up its on purpose. These officials get worst every season I can hardly wait to see what they screw up this year.

[BertJones]

14 minutes ago, jameszeigler834 said:

Honestly when is comes to peoples belief on this forum that the refs major failures are blown out of proportion that is false these mistakes are starting to happen almost every week when I see it I don't care if im a fan of that team or not its garbage. I have been saying for years that sports are fixed and every year im reminded that it is a fact when you see multiple blown calls or major officiating mistakes in the same game sorry but fixed that no PI in the NFC championship game was ridiculous that crew should be fired better yet fire all of them cause I believe when all these crews are screwing up its on purpose. These officials get worst every season I can hardly wait to see what they screw up this year.

It's simply  entertainment,  not competition. The sillyness of saying it's because  your team is losing.. I've been indifferent for 3 years and see it in every game.  I still like sports...hobbies,, I have trading cards, mini helmets,  I love sports uniforms history.  Sports is male bonding fun. I just don't waste time wondering  who will win and why. It's a waste of energy, emotion and time on nothing  important. 

 I just want the evil wrestler, Pat Patriot to lose lol

[Yoshinator]

10 minutes ago, BertJones said:

It's simply  entertainment,  not competition. The sillyness of saying it's because  your team is losing.. I've been indifferent for 3 years and see it in every game.  I still like sports...hobbies,, I have trading cards, mini helmets,  I love sports uniforms history.  Sports is male bonding fun. I just don't waste time wondering  who will win and why. It's a waste of energy, emotion and time on nothing  important. 

 I just want the evil wrestler, Pat Patriot to lose lol

Agreed here. I pay more attention to fantasy football and sports betting (football) now than the NFL itself. Still root for the Colts, but I don't take the league seriously with the refs making terrible calls and teams winning based on feel-good stories or ratings angles. At least with fantasy and betting, I can exploit the system and benefit myself while having fun. I'm turning 32 tomorrow and am getting older, watching a 3 hour game with nothing on the line is getting stale.

[Valpo2004]

Honestly if I believe that the league decides who wins ahead of time and the refs made that happen I wouldn't watch.

 

It strikes me as odd that anyone would watch a "sport" that they think the result is pre-determined.

 

But then again a lot of people like to watch pro-wrestling.  

 

And for the record there can be as many as 16 games on in a week.  So yes there is bound to be mistakes on a weekly basis.  

[jameszeigler834]

12 hours ago, BertJones said:

It's simply  entertainment,  not competition. The sillyness of saying it's because  your team is losing.. I've been indifferent for 3 years and see it in every game.  I still like sports...hobbies,, I have trading cards, mini helmets,  I love sports uniforms history.  Sports is male bonding fun. I just don't waste time wondering  who will win and why. It's a waste of energy, emotion and time on nothing  important. 

 I just want the evil wrestler, Pat Patriot to lose lol

Doesn't make this crap right.

[2006Coltsbestever]

The Refs stink, no sugarcoating it. Pats and Packers get away with more holding than anyone has over the last 10 years. Seahawks got robbed in SB 40 vs the Steelers so bad that it looked fixed. Saints got robbed out of a SB appearance in a Title game because of the worst non-call ever last year. Yet they catch Dee Ford being offsides when KC clinched a win over Tom Brady. They see and catch what they want  and it is obvious. Ford was offsides by an inch and they see that but they can't see the Saints player getting interfered with. Nonsense.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

The "fixed" or "rigged" argument is so annoying because it's a "rigged" argument.

 

If Team A wins, it's because that's what the NFL wanted, but if Team B wins, it's because they played so well (or Team A played so bad) that the refs couldn't "fix" the outcome like the NFL wanted.

 

You can't lose the argument if you say it's fixed because whatever you claim can't be proved or disproved when you have a built-in explanation no matter the outcome of the game...  

[BertJones]

3 hours ago, Valpo2004 said:

Honestly if I believe that the league decides who wins ahead of time and the refs made that happen I wouldn't watch.

 

It strikes me as odd that anyone would watch a "sport" that they think the result is pre-determined.

 

But then again a lot of people like to watch pro-wrestling.  

 

And for the record there can be as many as 16 games on in a week.  So yes there is bound to be mistakes on a weekly basis.  

 

Lol I still hate wrestling.  But like I say, it's entertainment. You know movies have predetermined outcomes. You just don't know exactly  how it ends sometimes. Same principle. Then its about the why,how and what for. I watch to make sure I'm right. To make sure I'm not fooling myself.  The fact is, if it were  untouched/real, outcomes would be a hell of alot more random, year to year,all over the map. No consistent  dynasties. Vegas would fluctuate like a rubber ball bouncing all over a room. There would be more field goals in games. Not as many close, end of game finishes. 

  Real life  simply isn't that exciting  on a regular basis. But turn on your tv and somehow  the magic happens for these jocks every week . My eyes are open now, I know I'm not wrong.

[BertJones]

The thank post" thing is all wonky on mobile.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

13 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Still root for the Colts

 

So isn't this kind of like gambling?

 

If your favorite team isn't supposed to win the game, then that old saying is true that not only are they playing against the other team, but also against the refs.

 

They're playing against "the house" just like a gambler.  Doesn't that just make it all the more exciting as a fan who also happens to be a gambler?

[2006Coltsbestever]

8 minutes ago, BertJones said:

 

Lol I still hate wrestling.  But like I say, it's entertainment. You know movies have predetermined outcomes. You just don't know exactly  how it ends sometimes. Same principle. Then its about the why,how and what for. I watch to make sure I'm right. To make sure I'm not fooling myself.  The fact is, if it were  untouched/real, outcomes would be a hell of alot more random, year to year,all over the map. No consistent  dynasties. Vegas would fluctuate like a rubber ball bouncing all over a room. There would be more field goals in games. Not as many close, end of game finishes. 

  Real life  simply isn't that exciting  on a regular basis. But turn on your tv and somehow  the magic happens for these jocks every week . My eyes are open now, I know I'm not wrong.

I have watched sports since the late 70's and I have to say some of it does look fishy. I won't say it is rigged but the refs can influence what happens if a game is real close, especially in the NBA.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

10 minutes ago, BertJones said:

My eyes are open now, I know I'm not wrong.