You have just witnessed the greatest B$C$ lay-down in the history of college football...

I knew better than to celebrate too handily when Alabama ran out to a 24-0 lead at Auburn.

I did a little, but I just had this gut feeling...

And I was right.

Thanks for nothing, Alabama. If even part of what's being alleged is true, you took a fucking dive, didn't you?

A decent article on conspiracies by Rosenberg...

I was coming across Sports Illustrated and SI.com after Jimmie Johnson's fifth straight NASCAR title (is there another relevant team in the sport right now? No, thanks to Mr. France and Co.).

And I happened upon this two-pager from SI's Michael Rosenberg which examines some sports conspiracies, in light of the possible Brett Favre suspension for SextGate.

He dismisses most of them out of hand, but at least examines some of them. So I'll do the same, and add some comments as to why I disagree on most of them...

Babe Ruth missed the first few weeks of the 1925 season with VD: Huge for 1925? Yeah. But let's face it, Babe Ruth, as Rosenberg relates, had a reputation for women. I'd say it's pretty much a mortal lock he caught something from somebody, and is probably very fortunate, given the medicine of the day, that he only missed a few weeks. 1-10: 10.

Liston took a dive in the "Phantom Punch" second fight with Ali: This, too, was almost a given. We still don't know, to this day, who Sonny Liston was beholden to for his championship, and, given that day, God knows what else. Sonny Liston was a very dark character, and that had little to do with his skin color. 1-10: Oh, about a 20.

Tyson took a dive in Tokyo vs. Buster Douglas: Hmmm... First I've heard of this one, and I think it falls into the column of "no other logical explanation" rather than "denial of reality".

The problem with this one is: WHY? Tyson was the baddest man on the planet at this point, so why lose that position to a literal nobody? He had all the money he wanted, probably -- Hell, he was due a lucrative payday just a couple weeks after the fight to referee a WWE Main Event for national television (Douglas did so instead.). -- so the question is, why?

I think it was right as Rosenberg said: Tyson felt he could beat anybody at 20%, and Douglas showed he couldn't, starting the descent into madness. 1-10: 0.

The NBA and the 1985 Lottery: 1-10: About a 30.

This is what Rosenberg has to say about it, starting with his 1-10:

Two. If you watch the video, you'll notice that Stern intentionally looks away as he reaches into the globe thingie, and that he picks an envelope in the middle of the pile. How could he know which envelope was bent? What is he, David Copperfield? Besides, when the globe thingie spins around, the envelopes hit the side at least as hard as that first envelope did when it was thrown in there.

If Stern had known that he'd still be answering questions about this 25 years later, he would have gone the ping-pong ball route and nobody would have suspected anything. Oh, who are we kidding? Of course they would. It's the NBA!

Watch from about the 5:15 mark onward.

He looks at the case the entire time he's heading into the case, and goes straight for the envelope with the bent corner. If this had been any kind of a random draw, the accountants would've opened the hatch for him, the case would not be clear plastic, and he wouldn't look in.

On top of that, if it came out that one of the envelopes was different in any way than the others, the lottery would've been stopped and the envelope replaced.

Sorry, $tern wanted Ewing on the Knicks. Watch the evidence for yourself.

UNLV took a dive against Duke in the 1991 Final Four: There's only one real reason one can come up with this theory, and it would basically invalidate the integrity of the last 20 years of college basketball -- that Duke and Coach K were being orchestrated into a mega-dynasty. Again, as with the Tyson thing, UNLV stands to gain a lot more by winning than by losing.

We will never have another undefeated DI college basketball team go through the tournament. It's just not going to happen again. Can you imagine the fame that the UNLV team would've had by doing so, even in 1991? In fact, it's probably more likely THAT was the fix, than anything else. 0-10: 0.

Jordan's first retirement was due to an under-the-table suspension for gambling: The charges were known and admitted. Remember: By this time, it was estimated that 70% of all NBA fans were Bulls/Jordan fans, so one can see the argument against this.

Consider, however: If Jordan was in big-time gambling trouble, this all-but-certainly meant he was beholden to interests other than the NBA. It's clear that the NBA was making Jordan the God Among Basketball Gods. If things got much worse than they did, chances are that someone might've found out the ties between Jordan, $tern, and probably the Mafia. At that point, since 70% of the fans were Jordan fans, that blows up your entire league.

I understand how much his father's death hurt him, but he was in too deep with too many probable problems for even $tern to deal with.

Yeah, I think he was told to lie low and hush down. 0-10: 10.

2002 Western Conference Finals: Probably one of the grandest conspiracies in all of sports history. Previously discussed. A mortal lock that one was dirty.

Wayne Gretzky's wife took the fall for Gretzky in the Phoenix Coyotes gambling scandal: Consider in how bad of shape the NHL has been the last half-dozen years or so. When this went down, I was pretty certain they were going to have to fold the Coyotes and throw the franchise out of the league.

The problem, even if Gretzky was gambling on another sport, is that it put him in league with types who COULD fix NHL games, and HAVE fixed games in pretty much every other professional league imaginable. If Wayne Gretzky had to take that kind of a fall, the NHL would be finished.

Done.

Kaput.

I agree with the 8 Rosenberg put. It's almost a lock.

The 2008 Chinese Gymnasts had underage performers, and it was covered up: Duh. Consider the weight of the 2008 Games, across the board, here. This was China's coming-out party as the New Greatest Nation on Earth, and they not only lived up to it in medal count, but in presentation.

One of the biggest known controversies of those Games were the female gymnasts from China. There is a minimum age (I believe 14) that you have to be to legally compete in the Olympics. If you put a young girl through the Communist grinder and basically groom her from birth to be a Chinese Hero in the Chinese Olympic Games, it would not be a stretch to use every known advantage, including illegal youth. 0-10: As I said, DUH!

And if you think I believe Michael Phelps was clean when he won those eight golds, you're mad.

LeBron tanked the playoffs because he was already known to bolt Cleveland for Miami: The evidence is all there. The three had discussed this for two years. $tern needs his new mega-team. Cleveland was not going to be LeBron's home for much longer anyway. I'm just shocked no one has jumped the sonofabitch yet. 0-10: 25.

And then Favre's streak ending in an under the table suspension: No. If a suspension was going to end the streak for SextGate, especially with who it appears Goodell and Co. are marketing the NFL to, they'd have done that above the table.

Oh, and Brett: How'd that ass-job today in the Metrodome taste? 0-10: 0.

B$C$: The government might be forced to step in -- this year. Newton saga not about Newton, but TARP fraud?

Oh boy.

I don't even know how much longer ESPN can keep this quiet.

I've been basically following the Cam Newton situation, and came across LSU message board Tigerdroppings.com and this thread in the "SEC Rant" section entitled "As the Plains Burn...".

In absolutely no uncertain terms:

If even a small portion of the alleged material which the original several posts in this thread come out to pass on the part of a purported multidimensional FBI investigation, the Federal government is going to take over college football in very short order. Perhaps as early as this year.

Basically, this is the latest part of the Newton investigation to "go viral". It purports a massive amount of research into long-standing and pervasive violations in the Auburn program which, if exposed, might not only fell the Auburn football team nor just the athletic program...

These allegations, if being investigated and found true, might end Auburn University itself. There is one claim that previous misconduct had already put Auburn on probation with a group called the SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

This is the sanctioning body which allows a Southern-US institution to actually be accredited, and the probation would be the largest sanction they could give before disqualifying a school from, frankly, being a school!

This actually did occur in December of 2003.

The first several posts in the thread indicate accusations of a pattern of behavior going back to 1992 (!!), and that Cam Newton is the least of Auburn's problems (and, in fact, the State of Alabama's).

• This apparently has roots in the government takeover of Alabama's Colonial Bank, and what the Feds found when they seized the bank. Four members of the Board of Directors of Colonial BancGroup at the end of the last full year of it's business (2007) are rumored to have also been on the Board of Trustees of Auburn University while much of this was going down. Much of the misconducts alleged are from wiretaps of Colonial Bank and it's Board of Directors, and the Auburn stuff is actually peripheral to it.
  
• The misconducts alleged go far beyond pay-for-play. They include:

1. Improper benefits in allowing Auburn players into casinos (and rigging the games that the boys would actually win them all the time!),
   
2. Unmarked (and, hence, untraceable) ATM cards (which probably indicate slush accounts) for Auburn players,
3. Improper loans to players and their families over the last two years, at least.

• The rumor is that the NCAA actually wanted Auburn to sit Newton, on the basis of these allegations, for the recent win over Georgia. (This is patently asinine, for Auburn is already in it far too deep to get out now. Sitting Newton now is an admission of guilt, and that Newton was never eligible in the first place -- at Auburn or anywhere else.)
• The belief, according to several "sources", is that Auburn boosters know their school is materially finished as a relevant program, so it's going to steal the National Championship and the Heisman, even if it is taken away later.
• The overhanging situation may also have already resulted in charges against four Alabama state legislators.

One "source" said that we would find out more "by the end of the week". Well, today is Friday -- I'd say that qualifies.

Now, let's get to brass tacks on this.

If the FBI has even a remote FRACTION of the material that this thread claims it has, the FBI must step in and seize control of the present BC$, at least vis-a-vis the 2010-11 season.

Auburn has only one regular-season game left, against Alabama in the "Iron Bowl". It has already clinched a berth (as long as they remain eligible for it) to represent the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game, the winner of which gets a BCS berth, and a berth in the National Championship Game if it's Auburn (as long as it beats Alabama).

LSU's only loss is to Auburn, and having it nullified would result, probably, in LSU (once everything is reexamined) jumping the two non-AQ schools to take Auburn's spot. LSU's one meaningful remaining contest is at Arkansas.

Then you've got the two non-AQ schools themselves. TCU is almost a lock for 12-0, while Boise has three games left, including showdowns against Fresno State this week and at Nevada next week.

So basically, I've been calling for the NCAA (or whatever authorities have the information) to declare Newton ineligible if it can be proven so -- BEFORE THE SEC TITLE GAME.

A Newton ineligibility puts LSU against South Carolina. A victory by a then-declared-undefeated LSU probably gives them a National Title berth. That's one lawsuit if this goes past the naming of the BC$ pairings.

Then you have TCU, who might declare direct succession. That's two.

Then you have Boise State, who might (correctly) claim a conspiracy all along to ensure they never got the chance. That's three.

Then you have the real wild card. Say, as an example, the FBI doesn't come out with this until after the BC$ names who plays for their National Title. Newton is then declared ineligible, and then the FBI pretty much has to step in and order the BC$ to redo the rankings and find who actually WILL play for the title.

Auburn's in too deep, the NCAA is probably stuck, the BC$ is probably hanging by a slimmer thread every day... It's clear there is help in VERY HIGH PLACES in this situation for Cam Newton and the other Auburn players. Can they get Auburn through at least Christmas before this explodes the entire university?

Why not just coronate the dog-killing sonofabitch and get it over with?

That was so scripted, it was comical.

Philadelphia was a 3-point favorite Monday night, and the over/under was 44 -- so Dogkiller Sonofabitch scores six touchdowns in one of the largest MNF routs in history?

Look, I know Daniel $nyder's latest fantasy football attempt is disintegrating, but the NFL really wants to put it's stock and trade into that asshole now quarterbacking Philly?

Too much more of this and I will make the evening news.

Again.

ON EDIT: Bleeding Green Nation got this rant from a D.C. sportstalk radio host, Chad Dukes, about Monday Night's fixed debacle.

Chad obviously did not get the memo.

From WJFK Radio in D.C through a YouTube poster (a second one, the first one was made private):



Chad, you got had. There's no way that was a legitimate situation.

And, just to show the BS is not confined to just sports:

One more for you, from the world of game shows:



OK. Let's get it out there right now.

Anyone who's followed game shows for the last 50 years knows that there is black-letter Federal Law against the rigging of anything on a game show. It's called "Prohibited Practices in Contests of Skill and Chance".

I've spent about six years trying to help people get American Idol and Survivor and all this rigged reality shit off the air, and have basically found that the FCC, in it's infinite (*cough*pro-corporate*cough*) wisdom, has declared them "entertainment" and won't touch them.

As a result, we get AT&T ensuring Adam Lambert doesn't win American Idol and Richard Hatch not disqualified from Survivor for apparent sexual assault and all sorts of scripted mayhem which has now put everything competitive on television in question.

So I look at this incident. First off, it's probably the first someone who does not watch the show has heard of Wheel of Fortune since their first (and, to date, only) million-dollar winner a couple of months after they started the million-dollar format.

(And even that one was more than a bit questionable. The first time someone gets to spin for the million, and they hit the 1-in-24 and solve? As the old song went: "Things that make you go hmmmmmmm...)

Now, understand, as a kid, I had my occasional situation where I could go off and solve a blank puzzle. Here, I'll even give you that puzzle and you tell me if you can solve it blank:

_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

You are looking for a LANDMARK. (It was actually two lines of two words each in the original, but Blogger won't let me quite get that right, so you get this format.)

OK, I'll let that one be an exercise to the reader, but compare the complexity (and the realistic number of options) of that puzzle to this one, and tell me, legitimately, that something funny wasn't going on here.

Then add this to the equation: If this wasn't a rig job to get the show some "buzz", that is HORRIFIC strategy on the part of the contestant (as friends of mine who were game-show fans have said to me for several days now). Unless you are very fearful that the next spin is going to a turn-loser, you don't solve it like that. You rack up a little spending cash for that trip you just were going to win.

So this DOES NOT pass the Smell Test, and, hence, wins Rig Job of the Day.

And now, to the latest B$C$ story: Cam Newton.

If those two weren't enough, we can go to the college level too.

#2 BC$ Auburn's Heisman Hopeful, Cam Newton, has been the subject of several Reggie Bush-level stories this week already.

It all really started with this story a week ago that a former Mississippi State player shopped Cam Newton to Mississippi State for upwards of $200,000 (the second allegation article I'm going to link confirms this figure -- that the player said that other schools would pay $200,000 to get Cam Newton).

So that's one story. Cam Newton was definitely, as reported there, the top JUCO prospect.

But, then, the question came up as to why he was in Junior College in the first place. That leads to a second allegation against Newton four days later (three days ago). This allegation remarks that he was caught in acts of academic dishonesty when he was the University of Florida after a theft conviction and that he was going to be expelled from Florida and that this was the reason he enrolled in junior college.

Hmmmm... Now we're getting somewhere curious.

Then, a third story now claims that two sources from Mississippi State are claiming that the Newtons talked about this money situation, and that the amount of money involved would determine where Cam Newton was going to play.

I'm going to put this in very simple terms:

First, if anyone is actually legitimately believing that a college player is effectively for sale to the highest bidder, especially at upwards of $200,000, you have to believe that assurances are going to be made that this player is going to be:

• Either the winner of the Heisman Trophy or very close
• The leader of BCS National Champion
• and the NFL's next #1 draft pick (should there be an NFL Draft next April)

This basically means that, if you're going to make that kind of an (illegal) investment, there's got to be something on the table for that investment. So the fact that this is being alleged really should raise some red flags on the part of just about everybody.

At first, what you should be thinking is that this might be a fraudulent shyster who really doesn't have any position from which to talk. Then the story of the Florida situation comes out, and now people have to openly ask "What's really going on here?"

The NCAA needs to settle this, if it can, before BC$ Selection Sunday (three weeks from this Sunday). If it doesn't, it stands a real chance to have to nullify another BC$ "National Champion", and, at that point, I think it safe to say that you might finally see "outside influence" on the NCAA to get the power out of the BCS conferences and into a national (former) "I-A" playoff.

Because if Newton has to be declared ineligible, this probably leaves four realistic schools for the BCS title: LSU (which would become undefeated), Oregon, TCU, and Boise State. Here's a question for you: Do you think we're outside the realm of possibility that E$PN might be trying to keep this (in an official sense) quiet long enough to ensure the latter two are denied (their rightful) entry into the dance?

And while we are discussing out of control on the gridiron?

Goodell, WHERE IS THE FUCKING SUSPENSION FOR THIS GARBAGE??



This is as blatant as it gets. He literally tries to helmet-to-helmet the guy, from behind, with the pass dropped and the ball four yards past the receiver.

Yeah, he got 15. He got $50,000 fined. He should've gotten tossed (not that it mattered, the 'Girls had quit anyway!), and suspended for the next game.

I don't want to hear your bullshit, Goodell. How is he not suspended?

Not a conspiracy one here, but just to give you an idea of how out of control football has become:

Watch this play, and watch the entire sequence of events:



Hopefully I got that right.

OK, let's walk through this.

#11 of the blue team, after starting in motion, starts doing back handsprings down the line.

The officials, having none of that, throw a flag (:05), and assess a 15-yard penalty on #11 for unsportsmanlike conduct (:26). You can also see the referee having an animated exchange with #11 after making the call, as, according to this refereeing forum, #11 had a previous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and was tossed from the contest.

"What's illegal about it?"

IT'S TAUNTING!!!

So the coach gets pissed and he gets on the field and engages one of the other officials, and, at the end of the clip, he gets a 15 yarder as well, and the thumb -- because HE TOO (same source) had a previous unsportsmanlike conduct call.

First, #11 should've been tossed in the first place, even if that was not the first unsportsmanlike call. That's taunting, drawing attention to oneself, and, apparently, he knew he was going to get flagged. Hit the showers just for that.

Then, that's his SECOND unsportsmanlike?

Then the coach gets involved and HE gets HIS SECOND???

You do realize there's a provision of the rules which allows the referees to forfeit such a contest for "making a mockery of the contest". Where's the forfeiture here?

Ding-da-ding-ding TILT! The fines keep piling up, as do the dirty hits...

So, it's been 2-3 weeks now since the NFL started threatening suspensions for dirty hits.

Let's go over the list for this week, from an ESPN.com article on the fine list for the week. Please note a pattern:

1. "Defensive lineman Myron Pryor has been fined $7,500 for a fourth-quarter hit that opened a cut on Favre's chin."
2. "Patriots linebacker Gary Guyton was also fined $7,500 for his first-quarter hit Favre in last Sunday's 28-18 win." [...] "Pryor told the Boston Herald earlier this week that his helmet "slid up into Favre's chin" after he first hit the quarterback in the chest."

3. "Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison was fined $20,000 for a late hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the third time he has been fined this season for a dangerous tackle."

4. "Tennessee defensive end Jason Babin was fined $20,000 for roughing San Diego QB Philip Rivers when he unnecessarily struck Rivers in the knee area. Babin previously this season had been fined by the league."

5. "Manny Lawson was docked $12,500 for roughing the passer, using his helmet to hit Orton in the chest. Lawson is a second offender, having been fined for unnecessary roughness last December."

6. "Ahmad Brooks loses $10,000 for striking Orton in the head and neck area. It also was his second offense, the other coming last November."

7. "Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons was fined $7,500 for a late hit on Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell. He is a three-time offender, with previous incidents in September and January last season when he was with the Eagles."
   

8. "Two Raiders also were fined, including guard Robert Gallery for a late hit on Clemons that cost him $7,500."

9. "Rookie linebacker Rolando McClain was hit for a $7,500 fine for grabbing Seahawks running back Justin Forsett by the helmet in an attempt to tackle him."

So, Roger Goddell, given that he now has two three-time offenders, at least two second offenders, numerous late hits, etc., suspends...

N O B O D Y ! ! !

And is it any shock as to why?

The league THRIVES on dirty hits. For the manly nature of the bullshitters who play this game, whom we are all supposed to worship, the league needs knee shots and helmet-hits and blows to the head and all this other bullshit.

It's just like Personal Conduct Policy: If they actually enforced these edicts, there'd be no NFL. Dirty play and criminal conduct are necessary to truly be part of this league. They wouldn't have players left to play the (rigged) games.

B$C$: $crewjob e$$entially complete.

The investment is coming through loud and clear now.

TCU, as this blog fully predicted, has jumped Boise State to #3 in the BC$ rankings.

Boise State is going to go 12-0 and is probably not going to play a BC$ game at all.

Why do I say this?

#1) Oregon is just keeping the seat warm for when Alabama is moved up to either #1 or #2, in which case they and Auburn will bump Oregon to #3.

If the Cabal wishes to mark Strength of Schedule that heavily, then Alabama, should it win out to the November 26 Iron Bowl game with Auburn, should get to #1 or #2 by then.

#2) And then we look to Nebraska and Oklahoma. Though both with one loss, should they win out, they should be able to climb such that a Big XII title game between the two should propel the winner into the title game over at least two undefeated schools and probably three.

The Giants win the Series! Too bad no one cared...

If you need an example why people actually have come out and said publicly that certain teams need to be rigged to championships, I submit the ratings for the 2010 World Series:

The 2010 World Series has been the worst-rated in history, earning joint "honors" with the 2008 Series between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

The 2010 Series was rated an average of 28% lower than the 2009 Series between the Phillies and...

... the Yankees.

Sunday night's Game 4 was actually defeated by the NFL Sunday night game, the first time in history this had ever occurred. (The football game got a 10.7. The World Series got a 9.0)

And even though Monday's World Series game was on a network and Monday Night Football is on cable now, MNF was watched by about 80% of the audience size of the clinching game of the World Series.

Yeah, $elig's not going to see this and panic, especially with that pitching staff in San Francisco. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...