B$C$: Rick Reilly may be about to be fired from ESPN after this one...

Rather than go into a long diatribe as to why Boise State is getting screwed up the ass without lube, I will let ESPN's Rick Reilly do it for me. Quoted material is from his new article: Boise State Broncos can't buck this trend.

(Again, material is quoted for purposes of commentary and criticism.)

"So that's it, then. It's done. The fix is arranged. It's Game Over and everybody knows the score. The BCS computers TKO Boise State. Why keep punching when it's not a fair fight?"

Correct, and your network is largely to blame. Not only does ESPN have 500,000,000 reasons to have an interest in only the Marquee Value teams play in the BC$ National Championship Game, but they have another interest in keeping this enterprise alive...

ESPN OWNS AND OPERATES quite a few of the bowls in the archaic, obsolete, and, frankly, stupid bowl system.

According to their corporate website, ESPN Bowls (through ESPN Regional Television/ESPN Plus) owns:

1. The New Mexico Bowl
2. The Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburgh
3. The MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas
4. The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
5. The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
6. The Texas Bowl
7. The Birmingham Bowl
   

That is SEVEN of the 34 bowls, and they just paid $500,000,000 for the four-year rights to the five BCS games.

Does ANYONE honestly believe they want to blow up that kind of investment? Hence, we get this kind of a situation...

"Auburn and Oregon are No. 1 and No. 2 in the country according to Sunday's latest, most fraudulent compilation yet from the BCS rankings. If those two schools win the rest of their games, they'll play in the BCS Championship Game."

Not so fast, Rick. I know what you are trying to say and imply, but I'm not so sure 12-0 is going to be enough (because of these very same computers!) to get Oregon into the BC$ Championship Game.

I think, even with one loss, a potential Big XII Championship Game between Oklahoma and Nebraska would send it's winner to the title game over Boise, TCU, Michigan State, AND Oregon -- even if all four were undefeated.

Why? Because of a lot of what you say in this article.

"It's the biggest rip-off since the Nigerian prince scam. It makes you wonder why you watch college football at all. What Boise State is being asked to do isn't doable. It's like trying to win a Cuban election. Or break into the Genovese family."

I've made it clear -- I almost don't watch college football at all, and, what I do watch, I watch to see if Boise is actually finally going to get their rightful title shot or get screwed again.

I don't think we need to know who is really deciding the national title this year. It's six computer experts, one of which stated openly that he would be tempted by a $1,000,000 bribe.

Rick, your employer paid half-a-billion dollars for the TV rights to the BCS. Do you honestly believe another couple million to the right people to ensure "their matchups" is that out of line?

The day Boise State gets to play for the title, there is no further need for the BCS. The BCS was constructed to prevent another BYU-type title.

"The Broncos are 6-0. They've won 20 straight games, the longest streak in the country. They've beaten two BCS automatic qualifiers -- 6th-ranked Virginia Tech and 24th-ranked Oregon State. Doesn't matter. BSU could whip the 103rd Infantry and it wouldn't get a sniff. The computers are in charge. The pod bay doors won't open."

Bingo. Your employer stated openly, the week before the first rankings, that Boise State would not only be in the title game as of the end of week 6, but would be the #1 team in the country by the BCS standings. (A result a little sleuthing on the Net and a good spreadsheet confirm.)

Do you honestly believe, people, that the money behind college football (more and more of it from ESPN) would allow this to happen? Face it: The level of play in the Six AQ BCS conferences has gone through the floor.

So much so, that, when you examine this:

"Amazing, isn't it? NCAA Division I football is the only sport in the world where continued, uninterrupted, hats-in-the-air winning doesn't mean you keep progressing. For Boise State, it gets you a squirt of vinegar in the eye. It's a three-card Monty game and all they get is two cards. OK, here it comes. Say it: Boise State doesn't play anybody."

If you take a look at the last seven BC$ National Title Games, they are consisting of:

• LSU, Alabama, and Florida from the SEC
• Texas and Oklahoma from the Big XII (South)
• Ohio State
• and the two illegal U$C teams.

There's your BC$. And if you don't think "arrangements" are made to keep it that way, examine what the computers have done the last two weeks.

"Boise State plays -- and beats -- whoever they throw at it. It thumped San Jose State 48-0. Wisconsin, which beat No. 1 Ohio State and No. 15 Iowa, only beat SJSU by 13, at home!

Boise State smashed Wyoming 51-6. Wyoming nearly beat Air Force and Air Force nearly beat Oklahoma. You're telling me Boise State couldn't beat OU? Oh, wait. It already did.

Boise State whipped Virginia Tech on the road. VT is undefeated in the ACC. Are you telling me Boise State wouldn't be carving up the ACC?"

None of those teams are relevant -- Wyoming isn't, the ACC isn't, the Big Ten minus Ohio State isn't (one of the reasons even an undefeated Michigan State is going to get rigged and screwed), and the fact is that, to the BC$ (and, dare I say, the Worldwide Leader), there are only about 7 or so teams who matter. You MIGHT be able to add Nebraska to the equation this year, but, end of the day, not even some of the undefeated-AQ teams would get in before a prospective one-loss SEC Champion Alabama (or probably Auburn, unless it lost to Alabama), or a prospective one-loss Big XII Champion between Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Why? Follow the freaking money. The computers are responding to the money which is dependent on them. Boise and TCU in the title mix (worse yet, even them against each other in the title game!!) would destroy the BC$ and the entire bowl system, who is only meant to enrich middling schools and the likes of the Worldwide Leader.

""If they played anybody in the country," said Oregon's offensive coordinator, Mark Helfrich, who used to coach at Boise State, "they could give them a game. One time? Against anybody? Absolutely, they'd give them a serious game."

"I think they'd be tough to beat," said Auburn's offensive line coach, Jeff Grimes, who also used to coach at Boise State. "They've proven that. They could beat anybody on any given Saturday. Could they win every Saturday in the SEC? No. But who can?""

If you gave me a fairly officiated game, Boise could beat any team in the country. (Hell, you even have one of the coaches from the BCS #1 team in the country, Auburn, saying the same damned thing!)

But why does this not matter? $500,000,000 for the BC$ and how much more for the seven other bowls they own?

Da-da-da. Da-da-da.

"How would Grimes feel if he were the Boise State coach, getting more shaft than Chilean miners?

"I think I'd say, 'Bout time for a playoff, isn't it?'" Grimes said.

Exactly.

Of course, Petersen, who's just so annoyingly classy, won't say boo. "Coach Petersen likes to stay away from the topic," said a Boise State spokesman. "If he starts worrying about the polls and all the noise out there about it, it will just be a distraction to the team.""

You won't say it, but I want names on that one, so I can tell them the Captain Obvious Comment:

"Too late, it already IS a distraction to the team!"

That's exactly what people would say and should say. And anyone who doesn't realize what kind of financial boon it would be for all 120 FBS schools (especially the 106 such schools who are losing money on their athletic programs) to have such a playoff is being silly.

But waaaait... That's the problem. The people behind the BC$ do not WANT all 120 schools and their 11 conferences to benefit.

Why? A playoff would lose money, so they claim, for the elite schools.

No, it'd lose money for ESPN, who would lose seven bowls they already freaking own and operate.

They'd lose that $500,000,000 4-year contract they have for the BC$.

This is why you won't see a Winter Madness, even though it would be HUGE.

"No, what Petersen needs to do is get noisy in Boise! He needs to be calling up reporters and seething about the short in the BCS mainframes. He should be asking anybody, "How come your schizoid computers keep vaulting unworthy teams over us to No. 1? Two weeks ago it was Ohio State. They lost. Last week, it was Oklahoma. They lost. This week, it's Auburn. Who's the computer going to leapfrog us with next? Swarthmore?""

TCU. Next week. Bank on it.

"Boise State's athletes and coaches deserve better than this dog's breakfast. Fix the crappy data going into the computers. Get rid of the SEC bias. Update the strength-of-schedule logarithms. This is 2010, not 1960. The difference between the old-school schools and the new-school schools is a butterfly's burp."

I'd say the "new-school schools" are better. The problem is that we are operating under a system to benefit the old-schoolers.

Boise State would probably already have a national title under the old system, IMHO. Might be a split title from the year they beat Oklahoma, but it'd be a title.

They won't get one now. There's too much money in keeping them out.

"Sports isn't fun when you take the anything-can-happen out of it and that's exactly what the computers have done.

Better yet, get us a damn playoff."

As Brian Tuohy says: There are no coincidences.

If you keep the "anything-can-happen" in "it", you get results which might endanger the very financial setup which the BC$ (and it's main corporate partners, including (and especially!) your employer) want to maintain.

And that requires keeping the relevant number of elite schools to an abject minimum.

Da-da-da. Da-da-da. Watch your back, Rick. This one sounds like biting the hand which feeds.

It's right, obviously.... But it still bites the hand which feeds, and the man who signs your paychecks.

And, once again, the NFL has a little nod for the Steelers...

I do not understand why this fucking worthless rapist Rothlesberger gets all these calls (I can only think he's the next Great White Hope of the NFL -- the White QB who will lead the next dynasty...), but the Steelers got another one handed to them this week.

Take a look at this clip: 22-20 Miami. 3rd and goal at the 1.

Ben goes back, comes through the line, and...

FUMBLES.

So does he cross the line before he fumbles?

Stop the clip at 1:05.

HE DOES NOT CROSS THE LINE.

OK, they call that. They called a touchdown, though.

SO PITTSBURGH GETS THE BALL BACK TO KICK WHAT WOULD BE THE GAME WINNING FIELD GOAL?

Again, as for two Super Bowls already, this worthless piece of crap is getting every conceivable call, and, now that "HE'S BACK!!!", people are seriously saying the Steelers might be the best team in the NFL.

Don't -- buy -- the -- hype. It's clear, to me, that Mr. Worthlessburger probably has some knowledge of some serious skeletons.

Hard to when you've probably been accused of getting away with raping half the women in Pittsburgh.

OH, AND ONE MORE THING: Why was there no "reverse-angle" replay on that play?

Gee, you think they might've had it set up that they could not reverse the call or at least determine the recovery?

OH, AND "ANOTHER" MORE THING: Vegas line on the game: Pittsburgh -2.5 to -3.

Jeffrey Maier II, anybody???

We've got a live one, people!!!

Reminiscent of Jeffrey Maier's controversial involvement in Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series (which played a large part in deciding the ALCS that year) the Yankee Stadium fans and MLB have apparently pulled another one.

The video is not up yet -- and I'll edit this when it is -- but Robinson Cano has been credited with a second-inning home run when at least three fans have been pictured as interfering with a ball in play, reaching into the field of play and obstructing the Texas Rangers' outfielder from catching the ball.

(The picture is on both ESPN.com's and MLB.com's coverage of the game, and probably on many other media outlets as well. Again, this is for criticism and commentary purposes, and is, for that reason, covered by the Fair Use provisions of Copyright Law.)

Look where the ball is. At least two fans are clearly interfering with the ability of the outfielder to catch the ball -- a third is actually about to catch it on the fence.

It's clear that the better team here is the Texas Rangers (especially with the pitching of the likes of Cliff Lee). It's also clear that TPTB do NOT want them in the World Series, against either the Giants or the Phillies.

ON EDIT: Well, at least there's some justice. The Texas Rangers ARE that much better -- too bad it's probably going to lead to one of the lowest rated World Series in history. Even with an attempt to rig the game, the Rangers still won 10-3.

And, as promised, here's the MLB.com video of the farcical "home run".

The NFL tries to railroad another game for the purpo$e$ of $$$

Not really an outright rigging/skepticism/conspiracy comment, but something that I saw today which might explain more than a few things regarding the present state of the NFL, including matters in which games are probably manipulated or outright rigged.

During the last part of last night's 30-3 blowout by the Tennessee Titans over the Jacksonville Jaguars (long after the game was really decided), the coaches were asked, by the referees, to call time outs to satisfy the advertising commitments of the Monday Night Football game.

It turns out, according to Terry McCormick of the Tennessee Titan blog Titaninsider.com, that this is standard operating procedure!!

(Quoting from the Yahoo! Shutdown Corner blog article, referenced above... This is apparently from Titan coach Jeff Fisher's press conference, yesterday:)

"At the two-minute warning in every game in the fourth quarter, there are conversations that go by. There's conversations that take place at the two-minute warning before the first half. But there's conversations that take place, and it's the official's responsibility to give the head coach a status of commercials and TV timeouts," Fisher said. "Yesterday, I was told that they were two short. And they looked at me and smiled, and I said, 'Sorry, I can't help you.' Mike Carey came across and said, 'Here's the deal. We're two short.' And I said, 'Mike, I can't help you. I'm trying to get a first down and I'm gonna kneel on it.'"

Oh boy.

Oh -- my...

If this is basically going on in every game, it makes you wonder what else might be going on in many of these "contests".

Ahh... They think I'm a "nutcase"... Gotta love it...

Social pressures of imposing the norm on those who refuse to accept it...

Like THIS gem from USENET:

"You sit there whining about Boise; why aren't you coming up with magic
theories about screw jobs on behalf of Auburn, you nutcase?"

Because Auburn's not one of the Elite Seven (the seven (previously referenced) schools which are the only seven to have played the BCS title game the last seven years). I find it difficult to believe that LSU won't defeat them next weekend. If something happens during that game which significantly benefits an Auburn victory, we'll revisit this.

Or THIS remark, elsewhere, from the same person:

"How many unbeatens are there right now, Mike?

Can they ALL be #1 right now?

If not, explain why you're pissing and moaning about just ONE of them."

Two responses:

First, there are ten unbeatens -- maximum of six will make it to the end of the year (LSU/Auburn winner, the Big XII champion between Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Oregon, Boise, and the TCU/Utah winner).

Second, I'm pissing and moaning on Boise State because of one simple fact: They WILL get fucked -- in fact, my belief (after seeing today's numbers) is that an undefeated Boise State will be denied ANY BCS bowl appearance.

And all it would take is TCU jumping them.

Right now, the BCS appears to be two teams each from the Big Ten, Big XII, and SEC -- single teams from the other three conferences -- and ONE non-AQ.

In fact, it will be the FOURTH time that Boise State goes undefeated in the regular season in the last eight years, and is denied a BCS title berth.

At that point, it's time to reevaluate Boise State's position in college football. As in: welcome to FCS.

Any FBS team who is undefeated at the end of the regular season should play for the National Championship. If that means more than one game, so be it.

But I found something interesting which, of course, posters like the above-quoted will refuse to admit, because it invades their reality.

I found a post on Yahoo! Sports about one of the most-respected statisticians in football calling for a boycott of the BCS.

"Death to the BCS": Nonsense Rules

Listen to some of these quotes (from part of Chapter 11 of "Death to the BCS"), and tell me honestly whether you can believe this is a fair system:

First: "Take the actual computing itself. Every week, the six systems input scores, let the computers spit out the rankings and send them to the BCS. That’s it. Nobody at the BCS double-checks the rankings. Only one of the six, Wes Colley, makes his formula fully public. Which leaves five systems open for corruption with no safety net. Massey once admitted that if offered $1 million to doctor his standings, “It would take a lot of willpower to refuse that, to be sure.”"

Massey is still one of the six computers used in the BCS standings.

ESPN is paying $500,000,000 over the next four years ($125 million a year) for the exclusive broadcast rights to the BCS. You don't think they (who have a name interest in the Coaches' Poll -- one of the two polls used in the BCS rankings) would have a vested interest in who plays for the championship?

FIVE -- HUNDRED -- MILLION -- DOLLARS. Remember, they were the ones who actually "alerted" everybody that Boise was #1 going into this week, if they had an official BCS Ranking before today.

“It’s about respecting and accepting what the math tells you,” James said. “If it tells you Boise State is better than the teams that have the opportunity to play for the championship, what are you going to do?

“Well, if Boise State ever finishes first, they’ll change [the formula] a fourth time.”

James isn’t exaggerating. The BCS really has tweaked its formula three times. Its original version used computer rankings, human-poll rankings, a strength-of-schedule component, and number of losses. In 2001, the BCS added bonus points for quality wins. That wasn’t good enough, so in 2002, it changed its quality-win formula and removed margin of victory. And after USC ended 2004 at No. 1 in the AP poll despite not playing for the BCS championship, the whole BCS system was blown up to de-emphasize the computers."

And they have five hundred million reasons to do so. As compelling of a story as Boise State is, do you really believe that the powers that be have an interest in expanding the relevant championship level of college football beyond the four conferences which basically now control it?

Think: What sport is there, frankly, in which there are more than a handful of truly relevant teams to the championship?

Not baseball. With an occasional shuffling of the chairs, you might get the argument beyond the Yankees, the Phillies, and the Twins -- but, really, would that have included more than the Rays and the Giants, in this case?

Not basketball. David $tern has been doing his level best to exclude all but the chosen teams, such that, as Brian Tuohy once pointed out, at it's zenith, fully 70% of all NBA fans were Chicago Bulls/Michael Jordan fans.

(I feel sorry for the lot of you.)

Not football, at least not in the Goodell Era. You can't even really make the case that there are 12 playoff-worthy teams year to year. However, in most cases, the Preferred Teams are brought forward, one way or the other.

NA$CAR? Forget it! Five in a row for Jimmie Johnson, anybody? They might as well call it Hendrick-CAR -- and that's with that millstone who is riding the #88.

NHL? How many people really watch the NHL? And it's still only a few teams that are on top...

Point being: To be a sports fan, you are expected, as a matter of American social norm, to follow a very few teams in any given sport. And loathe for anyone who would blow up the process.

Remember my first precept of Rigging in Sports: If professional sports are nothing but a business, then any sports league would be out of their categorical mind to allow the games to be adjudicated fairly.

If sports are nothing but a business, then you start talking in terms of real dollars and cents. As many people who are enamored with Boise State (and TCU and Utah would be in this discussion too, until the two play): How much money would an Oklahoma National Championship bring the BCS' sponsors? The BCS' network (who again paid $500,000,000 for the rights to air the games)? The preferred conferences?

It is my firm belief that a Boise State BCS National Championship would blow up the BCS once and for all. We'd have a playoff, at that point.

Why? Consider the money in March Madness. Now consider how popular a college playoff would be, financially...

It just wouldn't be popular for all those 6-6 programs who get a bowl based on their reputation and fanbase's travelling ability.

The B$C$: ESPN cried out, and the computers answered!

Boise is now not only NOT BCS #1, they aren't even in the BCS National Championship Game.

The hue and cry went out from ESPN (the new home of the BCS) on about Monday or Tuesday. Someone ran the numbers (or at least what numbers could be found) and found out the same thing I did. Under the current structure, Boise State would be #1 under last week's numbers.

Well, they made that very public, and, wouldn't you know it, this is what we get for the first BCS Rankings:

OKLAHOMA is #1!!

Geez Louise: Oklahoma, one of the Elite Seven. The only seven college football programs you should really care about (if you're someone like ESPN, the new home of the BCS). The only seven college football programs to play for the BCS title since 2003.

Oklahoma was (and a distant, at that) FOURTH in the projections I had last week, using all five available computer programs and both BCS polls.

Oklahoma was #1 on only one of the five computers I saw last week. They are #1 on FOUR of six BCS computers.

OREGON is #2.

So the national title game right now is Oklahoma-Oregon.

Follow the money, people. And, Oregon, do not make your plane reservations for Arizona for January 10. LSU is jumping you, unless they are beaten.

Why? Consider what an Oklahoma-Oregon game would look like (especially with Boise and probably TCU subjugated -- much less an undefeated Michigan State) to the corporate suits at ESPN vs. two of the Elite Seven.

Think this is legit? It's not.

Statistical Anomaly of the Night

When you look for a scripted production, you either look for incidents like the Tuck Rule, the Samaki Walker shot, the Calvin Johnson ruling in Week 1, Super Bowl XXXVI's ending, and the like -- or you look for statistical anomalies which just say "That CAN'T be right."

It is clear that the New York Yankees are going to the World Series. There is too much money riding on that they don't. It is almost as clear that they will play the Philadelphia Phillies.

Why? Look at this statistical anomaly.

We all hear about "home field advantage" and all this noise in Major League Baseball.

The home team, with Friday night's 6-5 comeback win by the Yankees over Texas is the sixth consecutive playoff game played by Texas in which the visiting team has won. In the entire American League playoffs, the home team is now 1-8. The only win by a home team in the entire American League playoffs was the Game 3 clincher by the Yankees over the Twins.

Overall in the playoffs, the home team is now 4-12.

Anyone who tells me something is not being rigged here is either simply ignorant to the facts (I'm not sure, frankly, you could have that kind of a record, as a home team, in most cases, even if all the games were being played in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Wrigley Field!) or too gullible to be reasoned with.

Follow the money.

The Bowl Championship Series: Watch this one, it's about to get obvious...

There is really only one reason I would have any interest in the corrupt toilet which is the Bowl Championship $erie$, or major college football at all.

(Or, as I call it, the BSCS or the B$C$.)

I want the BCS motherfucking dead, to paraphrase a former radio host I used to listen to.

I believe the BCS to be nothing more than a cabal; it's sole purpose, to keep the recognized FBS/Former Division I-A National Championship to a very small number of schools.

Here's a little primer for you to counter a lot of the BCS' arguments about the fairness of the system:

In the last seven years:

How many different schools have been involved in the BCS National Championship Game?

The answer? Seven.

LSU
Alabama
Florida
Texas
Oklahoma
Ohio State
USC (one appearance to be vacated -- the other, almost certainly, as well)

What this means is that the BCS does not consist of six conferences. It really consists of two conferences plus the only other two elite schools the mediots want us to care about.

Why is this? You say that there are other bowls in the BCS? Other conferences??

Remember the one stated goal of the Bowl Championship Series: To decide the National Championship on the field. It cares nothing for other than it's #1 vs. it's #2.

Never mind that that issue was probably settled in each of the last two SEC Championship Games, both Alabama vs. Florida.

The SEC has won the last four BCS titles, and five of the last six the BCS will eventually recognize.

So why is this important?? Well, there was a nice little article inserted just before the beginning of the college football season this year.

Just 14 of the 120 FBS/Former Division I-A colleges made money on their sports programs this year.

It has been confirmed that Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, and Texas made this list.

Coincidence? I think not. A BCS bowl bid nets the conference nearly $10 million.

So, why do I say to watch this one as if it were a train wreck you can't turn away from?

Because the BCS is in trouble.

BIG TROUBLE.

I gave you the stated version of the BCS' mission. The real reason is to keep what are called "non-AQ" schools out of the championship process. They don't want another BYU.

And, for that, I have two words for you: Boise State.

Boise State, for those who do not know, is, by won-loss record, the most successful FBS program of the last decade. It has more wins in the last 10 years than any team in any 0-9 decade in the history of Division I-A/FBS.

Boise State has FOUR undefeated regular seasons since 2004. They DO have two BCS appearances, and have won them both against top-flight competition.

But they have NEVER played for the National Championship.

Well, the alarm bells have already sounded -- as the call has gone out to make sure they never will.

The ESPN BCS experts, one week before the official first BCS rankings, have confirmed that, unless San Jose State can upset the Broncos of Boise State, that Boise State will be #1 BCS for the first official rankings.

I can confirm this. So can anyone with an Internet connection. Both BCS polls (the Coaches'/USA Today and the Harris), as well as five of the six BCS computers are now on the Internet, and can be accessed as soon as the results are updated.

(I'll give links later -- we'll come back to this as a recurring series.)

They show that Boise State is #1 BCS right now, and it's not close -- even though Boise State is a distant #3 to Ohio State and Oregon in the polls, and a distant #2 to LSU in the computers.

So, why be concerned?

The ESPN mediots (and, remember doubly, ESPN takes over the BCS this year) are trying to sound long and hard that Boise State will eventually be dropped for the weakness of their conference.

Well, let's take a look at a few FACTS:

The NCAA publishes a list of the cumulative records of all the opposition of all 120 FBS teams -- their Strength of Schedule.

This list goes backwards AND forwards.

Boise State ranks just below the middle at #63.

The following schools in the current Top 10 BCS (at least as I can figure with five of the six computers) are below Boise State in that measure:

Oregon and TCU.

Just above Boise, in a seven-way tie at #55, is Ohio State.

Michigan State is #37.

Only when you factor in just the SEC and Big XII teams do you get impressive results.

It is as if, bluntly, the ESPN mediots (and the B$C$/Cabal supporters) are trying to prepare us for yet another game between the Big XII Champion and the SEC Champion for the BCS National Title.

If you add USC and Ohio State into this mix, it will be the EIGHTH consecutive year that two of those four entities (Big XII Champ, SEC Champ, Ohio State USC) play for the BCS title.

Watch this space.

Brett Favre: Why this story actually DOES matter...

Brett Favre is basically a marked man these days, and not just because he's going back to Lambeau next week for the obligatory national Favre War III match -- provided his elbow and knees can make it...

... and that sexting his dick around doesn't get him suspended by the National Football League.

Brett Favre is another example of why I have lost most material respect for everybody. He was put up as this pantheon of probity -- as we watched Pac-Man and TO and Dog Killer (his exploits might actually be putting Philadelphia on "The Short List" -- if the league isn't pushing the Bears to get Obama off the owners' backs for the pre-orchestrated 2011 lockout!) disgrace "The Shield".

Who will forget that Monday night when Brett Favre was featured in a poignant pre-game video, with his wife Deanna talking about the last several years and all... And then, in Denver, he throws the winning TD in overtime to put the Packers in prime position for a playoff run...

Well, most of that is water under the bridge now. Brett Favre has spit (and possibly other bodily fluids as well) all over his NFL legacy.

Normally, I would not give this that much more than that, and a cursory question as to whether this might merit a suspension (it does -- but is this worse than what Dog Killer did?? Hence, is whom the league is marketing and whom the league is marketing to making race a factor in all of this? Yes, I'll go there.)

But the reason that I'm posting this on a sports conspiracy blog is that I believe that we have not nearly heard the last of the Dark Side of the Immortal Brett Favre.

And I'm not just talking about more mistresses or Deanna divorcing (I think Deanna had better have a lawyer on call -- stat!).

I'm talking that I believe Brett Favre will eventually be seen in football the same way Pete Rose is seen in baseball.

I am now of the firm belief that Brett Favre has thrown/rigged/taken a dive in/intentionally lost and tanked at least two playoff games, and perhaps another two.

Ridiculous? Most believers of the National Religion would obviously say so.

But Brian Tuohy purports no less than Peyton Manning threw last year's Super Bowl for the league's benefit toward the city of New Orleans in putting on a pretty face after Katrina -- and he didn't do it willingly.

If Manning can do it, such that polls and stories (see the Tuohy link) actually purported the Saints having won the game before it took place, then why not Favre?

Consider the following:

1) NFC Divisional Game -- The infamous "4th and 26" game -- Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles -- January 11, 2004

The game which really should've struck alarm bells in many Packers' fans over the real loyalties of #4. The Packers were leading 17-14 and had the ball, running methodically to run the clock out and win a berth in the NFC Championship Game.

So it is now 4th down and less than a yard to go, on about Philadelphia's 40 yard line.

Let's examine the situation:

-- You have a purported quarterback with the "mentality of a linebacker".
-- Philadelphia has no time outs, and probably loses the game if the Packers get a first down.
-- If they do punt the ball, they only get a "net" of 20 yards if the punt goes into the end zone.

So the Packers call a time out, decide to punt, and it goes into the end zone.

What happened to the "mentality of a linebacker" which would, in the classic words of his biggest fan, would "get in behind the center and guard, and keep pushing and pushing" until the sticks were moved?

Well, we found that out in the ensuing overtime, after Philadelphia wiped the net 20 yards out in one play, fell back to "4th and 26", and then drove for the tying field goal, when I saw something which had me even questioning if Brett Favre had thrown the game.

I can't find a YouTube video on this one, which is shocking to me. I'm trying to find it, because it, at best, is one of the worst passes ever thrown in the history of the National Football League.

At worst, it's Brett Favre throwing the game.

After a Philadelphia punt, Favre, on the Packers' first play of the overtime, throws an absolute cheapie interception down the field. There was not a Packer receiver within 10-15 yards of where the ball was thrown, but there were certainly two Eagles defensive backs. So much so, that they could set up a return and returned the ball over thirty yards to where one first down gives Akers a chip shot to send Philadelphia to the NFC title game.

All I could think was:

"Did I just watch Brett Favre throw a playoff game? Did I REALLY just watch that??"

Turns out, it probably wasn't the last time.

It might not, also, have been the first.

2) NFC Divisional Playoff -- Green Bay at St. Louis -- January 20, 2002.

The six interception game.

But this is one of the games I'm not so sure about, because St. Louis was clearly the better team. The problem was that they needed the defense (and six Favre interceptions) to score three touchdowns outright, because the offense was doing the Rams no favors.

3) NFC Championship Game -- Favre's last game as a Packer -- New York Giants at Green Bay Packers -- January 20, 2008

Six years to the day after the six interception game, Favre throws yet another key overtime interception to aid the Giants into the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.

However, I'm not so sure about this game being thrown either -- if the Packers had deigned to make even one reasoned defensive stop on the frozen tundra in the second half, they probably get to the game themselves.

Of course, by then, one can only believe that, for at least two reasons (19-0, and Favre's affinity for the then-Patriots' Randy Moss), he might've thrown that Super Bowl.

Why? Because of one game and one play I AM sure about that he threw...

4) NFC Championship Game -- Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints -- January 24, 2010

I don't need to go much further on this one but the wondrous Minnesota radio call of the play.

Let's take a look at this play rationally.

There are 19 seconds to go in the game. It's 3rd and 15 at the New Orleans 38. New Orleans has no time outs left. The Vikings have one.

Chances are, even if this goes incomplete, the Saints ARE probably getting the ball back anyway.

So Brett Favre goes back to pass. He immediately bootlegs to the far side of the field. He has open field to run after he pumps the ball.

He has a number of options here. He can either:

-- Throw the ball away, if everyone's covered, and, as the Minnesota radio people put so well, they can attempt a 55-yard field goal to send the Vikings to the Super Bowl against the Colts.

-- He can run for a small gain, either sliding or running out of bounds. Since New Orleans has no time outs, chances are they'd try that field goal.

-- or he can do what he did. Throw across his body to a pass only one man can catch.

A man wearing a New Orleans Saints uniform. One of two New Orleans defenders in the vicinity of the ball. Save a receiver he has woefully (and I believe deliberately) underthrown, there isn't another Viking within 10-12 yards of the ball.

"Intercepted. I can't believe what I'm seeing right now."

If you knew, REALLY knew, about Brett Favre, you'd believe it all right. This guy only cares about one thing, and that's Brett Favre. He has screwed over the Packers, screwed over the Jets, and now is screwing over the Vikings.

And I truly believe that if we take a legitimate look at the history of Brett Favre, some people had better ask some hard questions about "The Gunslinger", because I truly believe that he threw the NFC title game last year and at least the Philadelphia playoff game.

Why would he do it? I gave you one reason: It's all about Brett Favre.

Now I'm going to give you a second that people don't think of:

Brett Favre is in the NFL Drug Program for his vicodin addiction, and has been since before his Super Bowl win. (So much so that, had Favre even taken a beer or a champagne upon his Super Bowl win, he'd have been suspended to start the next season.)

Does anyone actually, REALLY, believe that Brett Favre isn't taking something against the NFL Drug Program to keep The Streak going?

Get a good look at that MLB/Interpol article I just posted a couple days ago. Think real hard about how much Brett Favre is about Brett Favre.

This "sexting" story might get him suspended. The truth about Brett Favre's career probably will get him blackballed.

WADA: Interpol and MLB Provide Evidence of Game Fixing by Drug Lords

Oh, and it just gets richer. From a post on Yahoo! from this morning:

"Interpol and Major League Baseball investigators have given evidence to the World Anti-Doping Agency that criminal gangs selling performance-enhancing drugs also manipulate sports results for betting purposes, according to an Australian media report."

This should come as a surprise to NOBODY who has an inkling that the games are dirty.

One of the major avenues in which many people believe the games to be dirty is a question of the influence which peddlers of illegal performance-enhancing drugs have over the players.

Those peddlers could end careers in an instant with the truth. The loyalty is no longer to self and team, but to those peddlers.

It's gotten so bad that one has to question every meaningful sporting event. Was that Atlanta player's three errors simply a matter of poor performance, or was he beholden to somebody?

We do not know now.

So How Did I Become a Sports Conspiracy Theorist... (Part III -- $tern Finishes It Off)

UPDATED INFORMATION: NFLRanking's YouTube account was closed by the NBA. Getting new information.

(Before I begin this third post as to why I became a sports conspiracy theorist: There is a quintessential series of videos on YouTube which chronicle the events (both of the 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals scam and of events leading up to this farce) I am about to describe better than anything I could ever do. It is called "The Greatest Tragedy in Sports" (of which this is the link to the first part of nine), by a person with the moniker "NFLRanking" (the NBA took down that account, it's now "NFLRankingDOTnet"). Watch it. Watch all of it. He then made a followup "The Making of the Greatest Tragedy in Sports", when he added a lot of what we have learned since.)

(The first series has nine parts, the second series has five. He also has a series of highlight videos of that 2002 Western Conference Final series. I will refer to these videos a number of times -- and he is to be commended for gathering as much information as he could.)

So now we fast-forward a little more than two years. The Patriots have been given another title with a late Vinatieri field goal (at least the non-credible Carolina Panthers were given the dignity of an attempt at running the kickoff back), Tom Brady might as well be on posters in every American city calling for the populace to be patriotic, and I'm continually getting sicker and sicker of the American sports scene.

What finally did it in, once and for all, was the actions of one David $tern. I will not give the man the intentional dignity of his correct last name, as I believe he is a white man marketing a black man's game (maybe not basketball in and of itself, but professional basketball in the Jordan era and post-Jordan era is clearly a black man's game), manipulating the results like a charlatan to line his own pockets.

And, yes, Mr. $tern, I do accuse you of a felony in all 50 states, to respond to your ESPN Radio comments about how much you do rig the games.

The NBA, of the major sports leagues, has always had the worst reputation of manipulating games. This reputation has went back for at least 25 years, if not more.

The first real public indication that David $tern had no interest in the integrity of sport was the creation of the NBA lottery and the execution of the first NBA lottery. The belief, in the league, was that the Houston Rockets were deliberately tanking their season to gain the draft rights (the NBA, before the lottery, had roughly the same system as the NFL, in that the worst team would be the #1 draft pick, etc.) to Hakeem Olajuwon.

Eventually, the Rockets would get him, and, largely as a result, get the two titles that Jordan "retired" to them.

Never mind that proof of such an allegation should be grounds for expulsion of the franchise from the league, $tern instead decides, knowing that the situation could even be worse the next year, to hold a lottery for the NBA Draft, the winning team getting the draft rights to Georgetown superstar Patrick Ewing.

The rest is shown in this clip of the 1985 Draft Lottery. On another different clip, the CBS announcer, just as the clips start, states the envelopes will be "gingerly placed" into a clear plastic drum, from which $tern will draw the team Ewing will play for.

ROTFLMAO!!!!

From the broadcast of the draft, it is clearly seen that the "certified accountant" throws all seven envelopes into the clear, plastic drum. He throws six of them in "flat", and the seventh (the fourth one placed in) appears to be dropped such that one corner hits the side of the drum.

Then the drum is rotated. $tern then goes over, and while looking at and into the clear plastic drum the entire time, draws an envelope that appears to have a "dinged" corner in it (0:46 of the Draft Lottery clip). It is for the Knicks, and Patrick Ewing makes the Knicks a relevant team for a long and illustrious career.

(There was a clip in the "Greatest Tragedy" series which even zooms in on that corner before $tern draws the envelope, but the other clip actually shows the envelope with the "dinged" corner being drawn. The clip has been removed from YouTube again for the use of "Money" by EMI.)

What $tern then did over the next 15 years with one Michael Jordan merits it's own blog. In fact, I believe it has one (The "Jordon Haters' Society"). So let's skip forward to the 2002 Western Conference Finals, an NBA Scripted Production.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings

Sacramento, in fact, has the higher seed and the home-court advantage in the series.

But the Lakers have Shaq and Kobe.

Want to know how important that is?

I'm going to give you a list of names.

Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Julius Erving (have to include him: without him, there's no ABA-NBA merger)
Bad Boys Pistons
Michael Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O'Neal

There's your NBA of the last 30 years. That accounts (even the Pistons' win and the Celtics' win in the last decade was more "against Kobe", when the NBA could not trust Kobe with the title, because of the Eagle, CO allegations) for every NBA championship of the last 30 years.

As Brian Tuohy so well points out, the NBA has made it's reputation the creation and "marketing of heroes". So the NBA attempts to basically make most of the other teams the theoretical equivalent of the Washington Generals.

The NBA had already been involved in tampering the Lakers to the previous two NBA titles.

But the 2002 Western Conference Finals took that to a whole new dimension, because Shaq and Kobe had to be the "heroes" to go along with Duncan in the post-Jordan era.

The Kings were up 3 games to 2 heading into the pivotal Game 6 in Los Angeles. The Lakers actually took home-court in game 1, only to lose it back in game 3.

Game 4 had the first huge controversy, as Samaki Walker of the Lakers, after time clearly expires, heaved a 30-foot shot which was allowed to count. The Kings would've went into the locker room up 17 points at that point, but the three-pointer started a furious rally that eventually allowed the Lakers to win the game -- by one point.

(I have strived long and hard to find a clip of this, and finally did. NFLRanking's dramatic highlight clips of the 2002 Western Conference Finals show CLEARLY that the shot was after the buzzer.) (Check at the 4:32-4:33 mark. It's as clear as day -- you stop the clip at the instant the clock in the background hits 00.0, and the ball is still in his hands.)

Combined with Sacramento's victory in game 5, the Kings have already won the series, in fact if not on the scoreboard, once already.

Part Six shows a litany of bad calls against the Kings in Game 6.

But the one that clinched my theory that meaningful sporting events are scripted is one of the most flagrant acts of intentional referee malfeasance I have ever seen.

It's at the end of the Part Six clip. The Lakers are inbounding, leading by a point, with just 12 seconds remaining, under their offensive basket. In fighting his way through the defense of Mike Bibby, Kobe Bryant (one of the NBA's "heroes") deliberately throws a flagrant elbow to his face.

At the start of Part Seven, you see Referee #27 looking RIGHT AT IT!!

Such a foul would've carried the following penalty:

-- The Sacramento Kings would've been awarded two free throws.
-- As well as possession of the ball, due to the flagrant nature of the foul.
-- Kobe Bryant would've been disqualified from the contest for "intent to injure".
-- Bryant, if the league had any scruples at all, would've been suspended even if there were a Game 7.

The Lakers eventually win the game by four points.

They win the series, as Sacramento, seeing the writing on the wall after they won the series once and probably twice, lays down in game seven.

If you need to know why I am a sports conspiracy theorist, watch the clips again.

And if you still need to know, again...

(This doesn't even get into the absolute proof which has been provided Federal authorities, during the Donaghy investigation, that NBA referees were manipulating contests.)

So How Did I Become a Sports Conspiracy Theorist (Part II -- Super Fraud XXXVI)

(The main reason I named this blog "Super Fraud" is, after reading the book Interference, I decided to chronicle ways in which each and every one of the previous forty-four Super Bowls were rigged (or at least there was enough evidence, given the characters many of the players (and especially owners) hung around, that the games were manipulated or rigged).)

That will come later, including another look at one of the most farcical events in the history of American sport, Super Bowl XXXVI -- the New England Patriots vs. the St. Louis Rams -- February 3, 2002.

As noted in the previous post, there had already been significant controversy surrounding the New England Patriots. Not only had the New England Patriots been the beneficiary of "The Tuck Rule", previously referenced, but there was a fair degree of controversy surrounding the Patriots' AFC Championship win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Much of this surrounded the apparent ignorance of the officials to take notice of the apparent holding and illegal contact of the defensive backs of the Patriots in the game.

Opposing the Patriots were the defending World Champions, the St. Louis Rams, "The Greatest Show on Turf". A prolific passing offense combined with an opportunistic defense (just ask the Green Bay Packers in the divisional game) and the rushing of Marshall Faulk made for the belief that we were about to witness the next NFL dynasty.

So much so, the Rams were two-touchdown favorites in the Louisiana Superdome.

But, after an initial long field-goal, the Rams appeared to put on a truly abysmal performance -- a performance completely unlike the St. Louis Rams, and doubly unlike a team which appeared to be on the cusp of immortality in the NFL.

I believed immediately after the game (and for several years afterward) that the Rams were ordered to "take a dive". Now, given more knowledge (Spygate, anyone?), it appears as if the Rams had been illegally compromised by members of the staff of the New England Patriots.

But it was worse than that... There was belief that the officials allowed the Patriots to get away with numerous penalties. But there is one moment that changed my sports fandom forever.

I also remember where I was for this situation. I was at the Mad Dog in the Fog, a British soccer pub in the Haight-Fillmore district in San Francisco. I was standing in front of the television set to get a look at this, and I saw the most obvious screw-job I had seen to date.

The winning field goal.

(YouTube clip of the FOX broadcast of the last 29 seconds of the game here.)

After a drive in which it appeared there was at least one questionable call benefiting the Patriots, Vinatieri was brought on once again to give the Patriots a three-point lead. The field goal begins with seven seconds remaining (on both the unofficial FOX clock on the top of the screen, as well as Pat Summerall's announcement).

One interesting thing, though: In most airings of big games, if a play to decide the outcome at the end of the game is about to occur, usually at least one dramatic shot of the scoreboard clock is taken. The only shot outside the game itself was a clip of Vinatieri's pre-game practice.

So the kick is up and it's good. Patriots lead 20-17.

The unofficial FOX clock appears to have 2 seconds still on it when the kick is declared "good".

No, the Patriots WIN 20-17.

The time is run off, the fireworks explode, and the game is over.

The field goal, on the clip, starts at 2:04. The uprights are placed on the end line -- so when the ball goes through them, the ball is out of play, the play is over and the clock is supposed to stop.

The ball is through the uprights and the field goal declared good at 2:09. Only five seconds had elapsed. Watch the clip. It's right there.

One second later (at 2:10) a Patriots player is seen streaking toward the end zone, ready to celebrate a Super Bowl Championship.

HE KNEW THE GAME WAS OVER!

He knew that, despite there clearly being two seconds remaining at the conclusion of the field goal attempt (and despite there still being one second left when he was seen running into the shot in which the two officials on the end line had both signaled the field goal "good" and the play over), that the St. Louis Rams were not going to be given their entitled opportunity to score a "miracle" touchdown on the ensuing kickoff a la "The Play" in Stanford-California a number of years back.

There was going to be no ensuing kickoff, despite the incontrovertible fact that time was supposed to still have been remaining on the clock.

Why? Simple. In fact, one of the most simply-explained sports farces of all time.

The NFL, having a vaunted position in the American national folklore (so much so that I refer to some NFL posts with the tag "The National Religion" -- people putting the NFL above everything else in life for at least six months!), basically placed themselves as an instrument of propaganda.

Remember what I said in the last post: To win any war, including the "War on Terror", you must first win the home front.

Remember, too, that everyone believed we were on the cusp of witnessing immortality in sport with the Rams. It turned out, though, that the immortality was the start of a campaign to make the Patriots into something more than a football team...

"Patriots are champions!!

To be a champion, you must be a Patriot!!

If you are a Patriot, you too are a CHAMPION!!!"

Propaganda, right out of the playbook.

The Patriots were made the centerpieces of the NFL for, basically, the next four years -- so much so that quarterback Tom Brady, during the playoffs of the second of three World Championships the league and government gave to the Patriots, was actually invited to and made part of the State of the Union address as a prominent athlete outside of the influence of performance-enhancing drugs. No less than the President of the United States gave his public endorsement to Brady's efforts, only a couple weeks before his team would be awarded Super Bowl XXXVIII.

That basically changed everything, as it was blatant and incontrovertible evidence to me, for the first time, that the games could be decided by factors completely contrary to the reality of what took place "on the field".

A little more than two years later, I saw what could happen when a league is that desperate to take even this to the extreme level.

Enter David $tern.

So how Did I Become a Sports Conspiracy Theorist... (Part I -- The Tuck Rule)

I used to be a big fan of sports.

I used to be obsessed with the numbers and the statistics and the games on television, with the accompanying discussion on various television, radio, and Internet media.

I used to be able to use sports as an escape mechanism, from everything from school to, eventually, incarceration.

Now, it's almost as if I would rather use sports as a mechanism to get incarcerated again.

Over the last 8-10 years, I have witnessed a number of events which basically turned me from a sports fan who just couldn't wait for the next major event, to a sports conspiracy theorist convinced that the world of sports more resembles a cross between the influence of organized crime (which see Moldea's Interference), the corrupt nature of sports leagues whose sole purpose is to entertain the brutes (which see Tuohy's The Fix is In), and a thug subculture which has turned our athletes into raving lunatics with only two loyalties: themselves and whoever they have to answer to to ensure the desired result.

But I can basically boil it down to three major events that made me question every sporting event in this country -- even to the extent that legitimate error now has to be questioned as part of a greater plan.

First: The Tuck Rule (AFC Divisional Playoff -- Oakland Raiders at New England Patriots -- January 19, 2002)

Wikipedia post here.

I was living in San Francisco at the time, and the Raiders were actually still pretty decent. They had advanced to play the New England Patriots, and with the Patriots at about midfield down 13-10 with about one minute to play, Tom Brady went back to pass.

What happened next was NFL legend or infamy, depending on who you believe.

Brady appears to want to pump fake, but the ball is knocked out of his hand by a Raiders pass-rusher.

The ball falls to the ground, with no apparent effort to bring it forward.

The Raiders recover, game over, right??

(There's a wonderful YouTube clip of someone uploading a video of an ESPN special on the game here.)

Enter the NFL. Remember on both this point and the next one, this was the first playoffs since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. To win a war -- any war -- you must first win the homefront. Keep this in mind as I go through the play.

At about 50 seconds into the referenced clip, the play is slowed down while the Oakland Raider Radio Network commentary is playing.

The Tuck Rule in question is as follows (from the Wikipedia post linked above):

NFL Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, Note 2. When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.

Brady HAS brought the ball down to tuck the ball back into his body to take the sack from #24, except that same player has also already wrapped his arms around Brady, and that act is the one which removes the football.

I remember where I was. I had stopped walking in downtown San Francisco outside the Fourth Street Bar and Grill on Fourth and Mission. I had the game on a portable radio, and stopped to watch the near-end of the game on television.

I was happy for the Raiders when the play occurred and turned away, knowing that the Raiders were two kneel-downs from facing what would turn out to be Pittsburgh in the AFC title game.

Except for the replay review, which made me turn back to the window where I could see a television.

And the MOMENT that I heard that the play was going to be reviewed, I had but one thought:

"My God, they're going to fuck Al Davis."

That's all I thought it was at the time. The NFL and Al Davis had been at opposition for years -- on the field, in the courts, etc. It's always been a wonder to me that the Powers That Be in the NFL have not expelled Davis from the league, with only his penchant to sue the living crap out of the league stopping them (though the league has probably taken great pleasure in the laughing-stock Davis and the Raiders have become).

But I truly believed they were going to try to find a way to screw Davis. I mean, this was completely obvious. There'd been a hundred such calls beforehand.

As far as screwing Davis was concerned, though, I was right (at least for that moment).

The moment the call was reversed, I forget if I just told myself or that I told anyone who wouldn't listen around me my next thoughts:

"The Patriots are either going to score and win outright, or they're going to kick the field goal and Oakland is never meaningfully seeing the ball again. Patriots win -- one way or the other."

In that, I was right. Vinatieri kicked the field goal, Oakland got the ball back with insufficient time in the snow and wind, New England won the overtime toss, and the drive in overtime was a fait accompli.

But all through this, for the moment, I truly believed that I was simply witnessing the league screwing with Al Davis. A fixed result? Indeed!!!

But that was nothing compared to what I would witness a couple of weeks later in New Orleans.

Whee... Another great piece of news from the world of baseball....

Never do I say that it's only the leagues or the Mafia or the gambling interests who are in on the Fraud which is sports in America.

The players do it all the time.

And it's now clear that we can now officially coronate the Philadelphia Phillies as at least National League champions, because not only are they considered so good that the other three teams shouldn't even bother...

... but now the umpires were fooled to believe that, in what turned out to be a key moment in a seven-run reversal of fortune in Game 2, Chase Utley was hit by a 101-MPH fastball and didn't even flinch.

He took his illegal base, the next two batters went out, and then all Hell fell apart for the Reds.

A key error in right field, and a 4-0 Cincinnati lead turns into a 7-4 Philly win, with Game 3, and all but the end of the series, tomorrow in Cincinnati.

Thanks for playing, really. You know that there are issues with the game's integrity when the players can openly fool with the officiating, deny (more) what did(n't) happen on the field, and openly get away with it.

The recently-completed FIFA World Cup (one of THE most fixed events in the world -- read Declan Hill's The Fix if you don't believe me...) should be wonderful example of that.

We now have had four days of play in the playoffs, and at least three of the series have now been marred with umpiring "incompetence".

This is really looking like when the Chicago White Sox used several controversial calls to win the 2005 World Series.

Forgive me. I'm not entertained when blatant errors by the officiating become the story.

Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Tampa Bay Rays manager ejected after the controversy from yesterday -- team is down 2-0.

Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire tossed, arguing balls and strikes yesterday -- team is down 2-0!

And, just about five minutes ago: Bobby Cox got the ol' heave-ho in the second inning. -- team is down 1-0 in the series and the Giants got three runs in the first.

And Philly just ran off 7 unanswered runs to get 2-0 in their series, 7-4.

Is Major League Baseball even going to try to give us one competitive series in round one?

And now the baseball news of October 7, 2010:

So we're now two days into the playoffs, and, already, at least two controversial calls have appeared to severely impact the playoffs.

The first one, frankly, has some people questioning the future of the Tampa Bay Rays entirely.

(Video of the incident is at the bottom of the linked article. It's from SI, so I'm not sure MLB is going to take it down.)

Already down one game to the Texas Rangers in Tampa Bay and 2-0 in the top of the 5th inning, the Rays get Michael Young to swing at the sixth pitch for an apparent strike three and the second out of the inning.

The handle of the bat clearly crosses what would be considered a swing, but an immediate appeal says "no swing".

Two pitches later, 3-run homer to dead center, ballgame and series over.

If anyone does not believe that the umpires are more than willing to see the back side of the Tampa Bay Rays in this series, you do not understand the one simple tenet of rigging professional sports:

If professional sports are nothing but a business, then any sports league would be out of their categorical mind to allow the games to be adjudicated fairly.

Keep this in mind. You will hear it again and again and again.

The Tampa Bay Rays are an enigma in baseball. They are one of the lowest-attending teams in all of Major League Baseball, so badly that they gave away 20,000 tickets to their last home game of the year this season.

Consider the ratings and merchandising potential of the Rays being in the World Series (the Rays had the best record in the American League this year) versus the Yankees. I don't think I need to say any more as to why Bud $elig would gladly sell the Rays up the river.

And then, in the same day, we get another controversy to alter the course of a series.

This second one involves the Giants, playing the Atlanta Braves.

The Giants won 1-0, two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum two-hitting the Braves in a complete game victory.

And how did the Giants get their one run. By Rookie of the Year candidate Buster Posey, after he was called safe stealing second. (MLB.com video)

The problem is that the replay CLEARLY shows Posey was thrown OUT -- out like a light -- by at least a foot!!

C'mon Bobby Cox, you could've added one more ejection into the books before you retire -- it certainly appears that Major League Baseball is going to ensure a speedy retirement for you and a speedy end to the season for the Atlanta Braves.

Rule #2 of understanding the rigging of sports:

When you can see incontrovertible evidence that the call on the field denies the reality of what took place in the game, there's something going on.

So you can expect "Rig Job of the Day" to be a common label on this blog. There's two for you.

Musburger with an EverythingBurger -- foot in mouth...

So why do I start this blog now?

Well, because of the fact you just can't go day to day anymore without complete gems that expose sports as something beyond that which has any reasoned control under law, common sense, or, really, anything else.

Want a good example?? Here's the latest pro-steroid garbage!! From none other than Brent "You Are Looking Live" Musburger.

(All quotes are taken from an October 6 SI.com article -- report from October the 6th. Parties like Righthaven should refer to the Copyright Act of 1976, the references being made for the purposes of criticism and commentary.)

I used to respect Brent Musburger. I used to respect him a lot.

But in his old age and in the current state of sports, he appears to either have gone senile or he's finally licking the boots of those who have made his life comfortable. (Namely, the National Football League and NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.)

Brent was speaking with a class of journalism students and came up with these gems, for which I would like to leave comment:

"Here's the truth about steroids: They work," he said in a story reported by The Missoulian.

Well, someone the general sports fan will not choose to ignore finally admits the "No Shit, Sherlock!" statement. The sports leagues, in attempting to backpedal themselves out of admitting that the greatest number of sporting achievements of at least the last 25 years have been due to the rampant use of steroids, have denied this very fact for a long time.

Brent Musburger has been watching sports and covering it for television and radio at least my whole life. He has seen steroid-ladened athletes from Lyle Alzado to today's sorry crop. If people could be able to tell the difference between the performance of a "clean" athlete (how few of them actually exist anymore) and the performance of an athlete on steroids, I would think it would be a man who has watched as many sporting events as Musburger.

He's almost the first person (outside the steroid trade) to actually admit the obvious. Steroids increase performance. Pick up "Game of Shadows", where the book has many testimonies as to the blatant increase of BALCO athletes' performances -- on the track, at the plate, etc.

Asked by The Associated Press to expand on his comments Wednesday, Musburger said through a publicist at ESPN that he stood by the comments he made to the students and that his main point was that "the issue of steroids belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist."

No, the issue of steroids belongs in the hands of those who actually run the sporting leagues.

We have actually gotten to the point where, if a high-schooler wishes to make any real inroads on "the next level" of whatever chosen sport he or she is playing, he or she would be out of their minds not to consider the use of steroids.

Why?? Consider this experience from about 4 or 5 years ago. I was sitting in a hotel room at a convention in Southern California when I turned on the local cable sports network and they were showing a high school football game between two prominent Southern Californian high schools.

So I basically watched about three minutes of the third quarter of the game, and turned the game off when I noticed something. They had cut to the sideline and showed one of the offensive linemen for one of the two teams.

Then they gave his height and weight: 6' 7", 315 pounds.

No joke. *click!*

If anyone wants to honestly tell me that elite football programs on all levels high school and above are not using steroids, I'd love to hear it, because I think most of them would be lying.

If you want a good idea of the problems that can present, I submit to you something which happened about a week ago: A Rhode Island football team has forfeited a game because of the injury risk being too great in facing a team with 5 FBS recruits, many of them outweighing the forfeiting team by 75 pounds or more.

(Source: Rivals.yahoo.com)

"No athlete should ever be made to feel compelled to use drugs, nor should such behavior become normalized, particularly when our youth are so influenced by the example set by their sports heroes," said Erin Hannan, spokesperson for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

And you know this is the case. It is quite normal behavior, and expected for success at certain levels.

I mean (as just one example), is it any surprise that Alberto Contador has now been put under the microscope for an apparent positive drug test? They really need to shut down the Tour de France once and for all.

What Musburger is saying is that athletes who juice up should be allowed to do so with a doctor's supervision.

What Musburger is, in my honest opinion, endorsing, is the widespread sanctioned use of steroids under the supervision of a doctor -- simply to increase performance.

Brent: It's time to take yourself out to retirement. Shame on you.

Welcome To Super Fraud...

Welcome to my new blog.

If you thought my last blog was rather adventurous, this one is going to blow your mind.

Let's be up front about it right now:

SPORTS ARE RIGGED.

Anybody who refuses to believe that will either believe they are getting comedy from this place, get all their conceptions of sports blown up, or won't be welcome here at all.

I am a sports conspiracy theorist. I'm not the most famous nor biggest sports conspiracy theorist out there (two books which are required reading: Interference by Dan E. Moldea (link is to the first chapter) and The Fix is In by Brian Tuohy, would be closer to the fact.

But basically I'm going to use this blog to expose what I see in sports today. I used to be a sports fan, and I can't say I am anymore.

Prepare to get your mind blown. Seriously.