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.
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