Entering the All-Star Break, there have been, according to Baseball Reference, 1,345 Major League Baseball games this season.
Taking that against the first 1,345 games of last season shows that Major League attendance is down about 482 fans a game -- about 1.75%.
And here, once again, are your lowest drops:
Toronto, down about 8,000 a game, is the biggest YOY drop.
San Francisco has finally seen the bandwagoners go away from one of the consistently worst teams in baseball the last two or so calendar years -- attendance down 5,800.
Seattle down about 5,600.
Washington down about 3,800.
Baltimore about 2,920.
But then New York, the Yankees -- one of the winningest teams of the first half, also down about 2,920. That one is just how bad the New Yankee Stadium is an overpriced Hell for anyone but a businessman.
Then Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City -- that AL Central Hell.
But then Houston. You're talking the two main favorites in the American League right now, and they're in the bottom 10 of average change in attendance year-over-year.
Basically, here's your current playoff situation.
AL East: Yankees (-2,923, #24) lead by 6.5. Best record in the American League by one game over the Central leader and a game and a half over the West Leader.
AL Central: Minnesota (+2,468, #5), lead by 5.5.
AL West: Houston (-1,750, #21) lead by 7.
Wildcards: Tampa Bay is #1 at 52-39 (6.5 GB NYY, +795, #11)
Cleveland #2 at 50-38 (5.5 GB MIN, -2,436 #24 -- even with any benefits season tickets might've given you last night and tonight)
Oakland is #3 and out at 51-41 (1 GB CLE, 1 1/2 GB TB, 7 GB HOU, +2,532 #4)
Boston 49-41 (another game back from Oakland, +1,086 #9)
Somehow, the Chicago White Sox lead the American League with an average attendance increase of 3,950 -- then Oakland, Minnesota, and Boston for the American League.
NL East: Atlanta (-445, #17) lead by 6. Bryce Harper has led Philadelphia to over 8,000 fans a game over last year and #1 on the list -- and they're four games over .500 and 6.5 out.
NL Central Cubs (-1,121, #20) half-game up on the Brewers (+10, #13), two up over the .500 Cardinals (+846, #10)
NL West: Still best record in baseball at the break, two up in that regard over Atlanta and 2 1/2 over the Yankees -- the Dodgers (+1,656, #7). 13 1/2 game lead in the division. Manny Machado has led to a similar boon in San Diego to that Harper has given Philly (+2,697, #3)
Wildcards: Washington is 1/2 game in the lead for #1 at only 5 over .500. (#27, -3,830 because of Harper). Then the aforementioned Philly.
Milwaukee is 1/2 game out.
Arizona is 1 1/2 games out. (-458, #18)
And, at .500, both St. Louis and San Diego are 2 out.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Monday, July 8, 2019
The All-Star Starting Pitcher For The American League Just Told You The Balls Are Juiced
Justin Verlander just said the balls are juiced in a press conference today in Cleveland.
Why is this significant?
He's starting the All-Star Game tomorrow for the American League.
The Commissioner was on ESPN this morning stating there was a difference in the balls, but denied (HAR HAR!!) involvement in changing them.
To which Verlander said at the press conference, according to ESPN:
Why is this significant?
He's starting the All-Star Game tomorrow for the American League.
The Commissioner was on ESPN this morning stating there was a difference in the balls, but denied (HAR HAR!!) involvement in changing them.
To which Verlander said at the press conference, according to ESPN:
""It's a f---ing joke," said Verlander, an eight-time All-Star who is starting his second All-Star Game on Tuesday. "Major League Baseball's turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you've got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f---ing company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it's not a guess as to what happened. We all know what happened. Manfred the first time he came in, what'd he say? He said we want more offense. All of a sudden he comes in, the balls are juiced? It's not coincidence. We're not idiots."Tonight, for the first time, Major League Baseball is providing a cash prize for the winner of the eight-man bracket Home Run Derby: ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
My Top 10 Fixed Games
So I just posted Brian Tuohy's Top 10
most-fixed single sporting events.
I'd been meaning to get on a list of my
own, which will differ quite a bit from the one you may have just
read of Brian's.
I can't really name baseball games on
at least my part of the list, for one very simple reason: Most of
the important situations of that regard are far more than just one
game (Jeter's obvious situation aside, more for the fact that a lot
of this stuff is far more important in the eyes of American lexicon,
if not the world's – see #1!).
I had to be careful and disqualify at
least one I had put on this list, which would probably more fit on
the “season or series” list I will do later. (South Korea in the
2002 World Cup)
#10: Favre's Last Hurrah, And He
Probably Remembers None Of It: 2010 NFC Championship Game, January
24, 2010.
For many, many years, I really felt
that Brett Favre himself rigged the Katrina Saints to the Super Bowl
with a blatant interception no one else could believe.
Brett Favre was jacked up, mauled, and
it was basically his last meaningful game in the NFL, because the
Katrina Bountygate Saints were allowed to do anything short of
killing the guy to get the Saints to the Super Bowl – and most
people understand Favre was never the same again.
I know the announcer for the Vikings
couldn't believe it. I wonder if he actually saw, in as condensed
form as I found it, how many headshots and other illegal shots the
guy took. I'd be shocked if Favre could count to ten by the time he
throws that fateful fourth-quarter pick!
The importance of this is the marriage
between lethal football and victory. On top of it, it also
demonstrates what most of Football Nation America sees as the sport
of football, and why they object to every measure taken to (falsely)
make the game safer.
#9: The Offensive Foul/Jordan Says
Goodbye – Game 6, 1998 NBA Finals, June 14, 1998.
I still remember where I was that
night. I was in Cell 5 of Lower 3 in Riker's Island, arrested three
weeks previous for wanting to maul Debbie Gibson. (Let's not mince
words about it – that was what was believed – and, in many ways,
the standard such law requires, and only the belief (my belief be
damned and declared irrelevant) was necessary.)
I didn't get the full ramification of
how blatant this final “Fuck You” to all fairness in the name of
His Airness was until I saw the blatant forearm shiver to the
defensive player's ass for myself a couple of years later.
But what did a triviality like an
offensive foul matter? The league, in many people's eyes, was about
to die, in the “Bittersweet Symphony” (and I got that from
Sporting News Radio playing that song over the end of the Bulls'
rigged dynasty) of the end of the Foolish and Wretched Ballhog Era.
So one more for the Jordan, #6 on the
way out. And the Suicide Prevention Advocate on our wing ran up and
down the hall of cells, pounding on each one in celebration of the
final Jordan title.
PS: There was no malice in doing so.
It was celebration in and of itself only.
#8 The Tuck Rule Game: AFC Divisional
Round: January 19, 2002.
It'd be higher, except this is, more,
the nascent beginnings of what the NFL would be doing to teams in the
two decades since. At this point, I was, as I said, still
thinking.... “OK, they're fucking Al Davis again, so be it.” It
wasn't until one far further up the list that I began to see the
connections.
So, really, I view this similar to what
Brian Tuohy put as his #1 fix (the Katrina Game – first MNF back in
the Superdome): A set-up for more down the road...
#7 Mayweather-.... McGregor! August
26, 2017.
I could've easily gone with the same
fight that Brian talked about, but decided, instead, to do this
Mayweather farce. It not only serves as a microcosm of the fraud
which is Floyd Mayweather (and, by extension, most of boxing!), but
this scripted fight (arranged, first, to make people think McGregor
could hang with the guy for a few rounds – then Money Team gets
it's 50-0....) is an example why the Nevada State Athletic Commission
could go fuck itself about seven ways from Tuesday.
#6 Slight break of the rule, but it'll
make sense: Packers-Seahawks: Fail Mary (September 24, 2012) AND
the 2015 NFC Championship Game (January 18, 2015)
I'm grouping these two together for one
simple reason: One started the “Legion of Boom” Era, the other
was it's final hurrah.
The Fail Mary was the final night of
the 2012 referee's lockout, where replacement officials had made such
a meal of the entire NFL season that one had to wonder if the league
actually was playing with their rigged cards face-up on the table.
Ironically, ask Bill Belichick, who all but attacked a replacement
ref the night before the Fail Mary.
But the league needed a new
dynasty/mindset/etc. Fans who would do ANYTHING for a championship.
Players who would do ANYTHING for a championship. A league that
would do ANYTHING to allow for it, because of what America really
wants out of their football.
I still recall, even knowing the score
was 19-7 in favor of the Packers in 2015, KNOWING the script was in
for the Seahawks to win. And I saw them basically commit several
acts which made them co-participants.
The Green Bay Packers have not played
another relevant NFL game since, and it's probably going to be quite
a few years – if EVER – before they do so again.
But The Fail Mary Game started the
Legion of Boom Era, and the NFC title game 2 1/2 years later ended
it.
#5 Super Bowl XXXVI
Previously addressed in it's place on
Brian's list.
Again, Previously addressed in it's
place on Brian's list.
And, the third time, and for the same
reason I said in it's place on Brian's list.
#2 Slight break of the rule: The
National Religion Deifies Brady and Belichick: Super Bowls LI(E) and
LIII(E)
The comeback and the inexplicable
“pitchers' duel” two years later (and you could also make the
case of Philly winning the Super Bowl in the interim as well!!) took
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and separated them from anything
football had to offer and placed them on a plane only the likes of
the 60's Celtics and a foolish and wretched one-dimensional ballhog
seem to inhabit.
That's the thing: Whatever Super Bowl
XXXVI started, these two “victories” for the Patriots solidified
in crystal the deification of the likes of Brady and Belichick. Both
on a sports and political/propaganda level, it now said that Patriots
were not only champions, but some degree of gods, at least for those
who bought into it.
And it's not hard to buy into it when
the NFL Network is showing ads promoting Patriots Championship Gear
for the Super Bowl – two
days-plus before the game ever took place....
#1 1-7 – 2014 World Cup Semifinal,
July 8, 2014.
I remember where I was for this one too. I was in an
upscale sports bar in my hometown to watch the World Cup Semifinal
between Germany and the home side of Brazil.
Within two hours, I was convinced that
I had just witnessed the biggest rigged sporting event in the history
of the world. It's one thing to talk about Super Bowls and their
impact here.
It's another when you talk about the
one worldwide event which can supplant it.
So explain to me, in a World Cup Brazil
literally waited decades to host as it's birthright to the game, how
Germany could make the home side literally look like Saudi Arabia or
a similar outclassed opponent.
Watch any number of the goals (but
especially an unheard of four goals in six minutes), and tell me
these weren't just given over by a Brazilian side who was throwing
the match...
Understand that, if you watched the
game, it was clear Germany knew the match was fixed: A Germany which
would've decided to play fully would've scored somewhere in the
element of twelve to fifteen goals that afternoon!
Part of it was the open space Brazil
allowed Germany, especially in that barrage that left the halftime
score at what was historic enough at 5-0, but could well have doubled
that number.
Part of it was that Germany, realizing
what was probably going on, had to take on the mantle of keeping up
appearances for the match to prevent such an alarming and telling
result.
And then part of it was revealed some
days later on Deadspin. As
covered in this blog, an online bettor not only correctly bet on
the result of the match (7-1 Germany), but felt lightly-regarded
German Sami Khedira would score in the match (Khedira scored the
fifth German goal – the fourth of that six-minute four-goal
onslaught.)
Khedira has scored 7 goals in, now, 77
caps for the German side.
That Brazil would lose by this
catastrophe on Brazilian soil in the World Cup semifinals is big
enough. But it does raise the question: If the game were
legitimate, would it not have exposed all four other Brazilian
matches to that degree of farce, since the team was actually not of
caliber much above the likes of the minnows of the World Cup.
My guess: Asian money, and shittons of
it. Why? Consider the over 2,300 to 1 odds on the bet I just gave
above.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Brian Tuohy Part II: Top 10 Multi-Game Rigged Events
I've got my list together for the Top 10 Most Rigged Single Events in my opinion. I can tell you right now that #1 on that list is something Brian did not touch on his list. We'll see if he does an obvious case in the same sport here.
But, some commentary on Brian's Top 10 Most Rigged Events (Season, Streak, or Series Edition):
#10: #HoustonStrong: The 2017 Houston Astros
Kinda in the same vein of what Brian chose as #1 on the individual game list, but this was blatant. Do not be surprised, however, if I go another direction and meld this into a larger context not for the team that won it, but a consistent, years-long vendetta against the team which lost it!
#9: Hell Freezes Over, NBA Division: Mark Cuban Finally Gets A Championship. The 2011 NBA Finals.
I, if I really wanted to do so, would go, more, the entire 2011 NBA playoffs, where one homophobic slur by Kobe Bryant got rid of one top candidate, and a second homophobic slur by Joakim Noah got rid of a second candidate.
And, at that point, I would not be surprised if the league shrugged it's shoulders, said "Fuck it.", and finally got Mark Cuban a ring.
#8: Ronda Rousey. All of it.
The entire Ronda Rousey mystique is placed at this spot on the list. I can't say I agree, though I would state openly I think it was the infancy of women's mixed martial arts, more than an active rigging, which helped Rousey -- and once people caught up, you have the results which have taken place since.
Ironically, the first to defeat Rousey (striking specialist Holly Holm) has a title shot at the next PPV.
#7: 2001 Eastern Conference Finals: Milwaukee vs. Philadelphia.
Another series which it does appear that the small-market team was not only beaten, but rendered irrelevant for many years (The Greek Freak may finally be changing that nearly two decades hence!!!), and a major player and the coach of the Bucks stated openly the league wanted a larger market against LA...
And if that one was on the list, you can bet the next year's Western finals will be somewhere higher!
#6: Tebowmania. All of it.
Yep. And I remember more than a couple late Sundays, where, after the recycling run, it would be about two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and here's Tebow!!!
If you want a primer as to how you get an NFL storyline going in completely rigged fashion, visit this phenomena.
#5: The entire New England Patriots dynasty.
If you want me to count that here, that's probably either #1 or #2.
Reason is that it's the first real dynasty where political ends are also melded in, with the white quarterback seen as above drugs by no less than the President -- and if you are a Patriot, you too are a CHAMPION!!!!
That the Patriots have been so central to the entire NFL experience since the Tuck Rule, it does raise a question, on any number of grounds, as to the rigging of at least half of the Super Bowls of that era. The six wins, the loss to Philly (which I still think Belichick threw as a message as to who was really in charge of the Patriots), the Tampa-Oakland game to pay back The Tuck Rule for both team and coach...
#4: #BostonStrong: 2013 Boston Red Sox.
I'd add the 2018 title to it too, with a note of the same screwjobbery their opponents have had to suffer. Do not be fooled that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball on July 4th. It won't be allowed to last because Rob Manfred hates West Coast Baseball about as much as he hates pitching.
#3: Leicester City's shock title.
Have to agree with this for the same reason that I still think that whole Man City-QPR game was fixed: Many leagues, especially in soccer, get away with being 1-4 team leagues with a bunch of also-rans filling the table.
Giving a title like this to Leicester City, which has seen nothing of it's like, raises all ships in the top division.
#2: LeBron Finally Wins One For Cleveland: The 2016 NBA Finals
I really think this is where the league finally got sick of the Warriors' bullshit.
I mean, consider: As shitty as the Warriors have conducted themselves the last few years, if the league didn't grease the skids in that series, the Warriors probably are on four-peat and the league even more mired in tanking, etc., as the time goes on.
#1: #VegasStrong: The Expansion Golden Knights
That's going to be a tough one for me to displace. If I had to move it off #1, it would be because the league, and smartly, pulled the plug at the last so Ovechkin could finally touch the Cup.
I still believe, to this day, we got too close to the concept of crazed fans creating #[Their city here]Strong moments so a championship could follow...
But, some commentary on Brian's Top 10 Most Rigged Events (Season, Streak, or Series Edition):
#10: #HoustonStrong: The 2017 Houston Astros
Kinda in the same vein of what Brian chose as #1 on the individual game list, but this was blatant. Do not be surprised, however, if I go another direction and meld this into a larger context not for the team that won it, but a consistent, years-long vendetta against the team which lost it!
#9: Hell Freezes Over, NBA Division: Mark Cuban Finally Gets A Championship. The 2011 NBA Finals.
I, if I really wanted to do so, would go, more, the entire 2011 NBA playoffs, where one homophobic slur by Kobe Bryant got rid of one top candidate, and a second homophobic slur by Joakim Noah got rid of a second candidate.
And, at that point, I would not be surprised if the league shrugged it's shoulders, said "Fuck it.", and finally got Mark Cuban a ring.
#8: Ronda Rousey. All of it.
The entire Ronda Rousey mystique is placed at this spot on the list. I can't say I agree, though I would state openly I think it was the infancy of women's mixed martial arts, more than an active rigging, which helped Rousey -- and once people caught up, you have the results which have taken place since.
Ironically, the first to defeat Rousey (striking specialist Holly Holm) has a title shot at the next PPV.
#7: 2001 Eastern Conference Finals: Milwaukee vs. Philadelphia.
Another series which it does appear that the small-market team was not only beaten, but rendered irrelevant for many years (The Greek Freak may finally be changing that nearly two decades hence!!!), and a major player and the coach of the Bucks stated openly the league wanted a larger market against LA...
And if that one was on the list, you can bet the next year's Western finals will be somewhere higher!
#6: Tebowmania. All of it.
Yep. And I remember more than a couple late Sundays, where, after the recycling run, it would be about two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and here's Tebow!!!
If you want a primer as to how you get an NFL storyline going in completely rigged fashion, visit this phenomena.
#5: The entire New England Patriots dynasty.
If you want me to count that here, that's probably either #1 or #2.
Reason is that it's the first real dynasty where political ends are also melded in, with the white quarterback seen as above drugs by no less than the President -- and if you are a Patriot, you too are a CHAMPION!!!!
That the Patriots have been so central to the entire NFL experience since the Tuck Rule, it does raise a question, on any number of grounds, as to the rigging of at least half of the Super Bowls of that era. The six wins, the loss to Philly (which I still think Belichick threw as a message as to who was really in charge of the Patriots), the Tampa-Oakland game to pay back The Tuck Rule for both team and coach...
#4: #BostonStrong: 2013 Boston Red Sox.
I'd add the 2018 title to it too, with a note of the same screwjobbery their opponents have had to suffer. Do not be fooled that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball on July 4th. It won't be allowed to last because Rob Manfred hates West Coast Baseball about as much as he hates pitching.
#3: Leicester City's shock title.
Have to agree with this for the same reason that I still think that whole Man City-QPR game was fixed: Many leagues, especially in soccer, get away with being 1-4 team leagues with a bunch of also-rans filling the table.
Giving a title like this to Leicester City, which has seen nothing of it's like, raises all ships in the top division.
#2: LeBron Finally Wins One For Cleveland: The 2016 NBA Finals
I really think this is where the league finally got sick of the Warriors' bullshit.
I mean, consider: As shitty as the Warriors have conducted themselves the last few years, if the league didn't grease the skids in that series, the Warriors probably are on four-peat and the league even more mired in tanking, etc., as the time goes on.
#1: #VegasStrong: The Expansion Golden Knights
That's going to be a tough one for me to displace. If I had to move it off #1, it would be because the league, and smartly, pulled the plug at the last so Ovechkin could finally touch the Cup.
I still believe, to this day, we got too close to the concept of crazed fans creating #[Their city here]Strong moments so a championship could follow...
Brian Tuohy's 10 Top Fixed Games
As part of his newly-revamped website for his fourth sports-rigging book, Brian Tuohy has promised several new features.
Two, in particular, interested me. He started by announcing the list I am about to comment on, his 10 All-Time Top Fixed single sporting events. Series and seasons will get their own list, and I'll comment on that as well.
It'll also motivate me -- eventually!! -- to give my own list.
But this is Brian Tuohy's list of the top ten all-time fixed single sporting events for, as he refers to it, any "business purpose":
#10: The Phantom Punch Fight: Ali-Liston II, May 25, 1965.
Probably on a short list of boxing matches most boxing observers would state as fixed, no one is still certain if Sonny Liston actually was hit with a punch in the first round of the heavyweight title rematch, or whether he took another dive on the behest of the Mob or whatever.
#9: Jeter Says Goodbye With A Scripted Game-Winner: September 25, 2014.
OH COME ON... And that's exactly what I said to it on this blog...
And, unlike many MANY old posts, the video still works!!!
#8: The National Religion Era and the War on Terror Marry: Super Bowl XXXVI, February 3, 2002.
One of the three major events in 2002 which turned me into convinced that most major sporting events are rigged.
I posted these as three of my first ten blog posts on this blog. This one, the first of the Tom Brady Six, was my seventh post on the blog -- and says more than I care to type here.
When I get around to posting my list of this, this will be far higher than #8.
#7: The Homophobe Gets His To Prevent Mayweather From Losing: Pacquiao-Taylor I, June 9, 2012.
A fight so fixed, the sanctioning body had to convene a panel to tell you it was fixed by stating Pacquiao had easily won.
Here are:
#6: Brian calls this the worst-called game in the history of baseball: NLCS Game 5, October 12, 1997.
1975-2000, Baseball America voted this the third worst-called game of the era. Brian Tuohy does not know #1 or #2. And I don't think the magazine ever published online the list, so I don't know either.
It was the impetus on which Florida won it's first World Series.
#5: Kobe Says Goodbye, Also With A Rigged Ballhog-Fest: April 13, 2016
Kobe drops 60 in his last game, and Tuohy notes Kobe's fans drop over $2,000,000 for Kobe merchandise in the last day of his playing career!!
#4: Dale Jr. Wins One For The Gipper: The Pepsi 400, July 7, 2001.
Five months after his father was tragically killed on the same track, NECKCAR came back for the summer race at Daytona, and it seemed all too coincidental when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won it.
#3: The Merger Is Validated: Super Bowl III, January 12, 1969.
Now even many of the players said the game was rigged.
No surprise. Two Packer victories in the first two Super Bowls would've made a very tough sell for the NFL to absorb the AFL, forming the league you know of today.
So they arrange Broadway Joe Namath to win one to basically put the AFL on even keel. There's a reason for The Guarantee. Namath was involved with the Mob, and they told him what was up, through common business interests in his restaurant in New York.
#2: The Greatest Tragedy in Sports, Game 6, 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals: May 31, 2002.
The end of the Sacramento Kings as a going concern. NFLRanking's video list now gives 54 minutes of service to the most-rigged game in the history of the NBA. (Yes, even more than Ballhog's offensive foul to lead to Bittersweet Symphony, because at least there was the illusion Utah could win.)
The third of the three expository events which led me to believe all games which could be meaningfully rigged are. These are my comments from my ninth blog post on the blog, which go into the NBA in general, but eventually get to the 2002 Western Finals.
So what does Brian Tuohy believe, above all of these, is the greatest fixed single sporting event in his knowledge of the history of sports??
#1: The Post-Katrina March Begins: Monday Night Football, September 25, 2006.
You know the story with the blocked punt and the first game back in the Superdome after a year out and all that stuff. Brian even admits it's an odd choice (and it wouldn't make my Top Ten).
But what it DOES DO is it represents a common NFL meme of the National Religion Era. And it goes to the likes of what us video-game fans remember from Final Fantasy X: Sin (the main villain of the game) can destroy everything in your town... "But at least we still have blitz..." (Blitzball, the main sport in Spira.)
And that's exactly on display here. Maybe it's not there for the one specific game, but for the meme it launched.
So that's his Top Ten. Probably means I should start on mine...
Two, in particular, interested me. He started by announcing the list I am about to comment on, his 10 All-Time Top Fixed single sporting events. Series and seasons will get their own list, and I'll comment on that as well.
It'll also motivate me -- eventually!! -- to give my own list.
But this is Brian Tuohy's list of the top ten all-time fixed single sporting events for, as he refers to it, any "business purpose":
#10: The Phantom Punch Fight: Ali-Liston II, May 25, 1965.
Probably on a short list of boxing matches most boxing observers would state as fixed, no one is still certain if Sonny Liston actually was hit with a punch in the first round of the heavyweight title rematch, or whether he took another dive on the behest of the Mob or whatever.
#9: Jeter Says Goodbye With A Scripted Game-Winner: September 25, 2014.
OH COME ON... And that's exactly what I said to it on this blog...
And, unlike many MANY old posts, the video still works!!!
#8: The National Religion Era and the War on Terror Marry: Super Bowl XXXVI, February 3, 2002.
One of the three major events in 2002 which turned me into convinced that most major sporting events are rigged.
I posted these as three of my first ten blog posts on this blog. This one, the first of the Tom Brady Six, was my seventh post on the blog -- and says more than I care to type here.
When I get around to posting my list of this, this will be far higher than #8.
#7: The Homophobe Gets His To Prevent Mayweather From Losing: Pacquiao-Taylor I, June 9, 2012.
A fight so fixed, the sanctioning body had to convene a panel to tell you it was fixed by stating Pacquiao had easily won.
Here are:
- My initial comments on learning of the fix.
- My own personal viewing and scorecard of the fight.
- And the official scorecards.
#6: Brian calls this the worst-called game in the history of baseball: NLCS Game 5, October 12, 1997.
1975-2000, Baseball America voted this the third worst-called game of the era. Brian Tuohy does not know #1 or #2. And I don't think the magazine ever published online the list, so I don't know either.
It was the impetus on which Florida won it's first World Series.
#5: Kobe Says Goodbye, Also With A Rigged Ballhog-Fest: April 13, 2016
Kobe drops 60 in his last game, and Tuohy notes Kobe's fans drop over $2,000,000 for Kobe merchandise in the last day of his playing career!!
#4: Dale Jr. Wins One For The Gipper: The Pepsi 400, July 7, 2001.
Five months after his father was tragically killed on the same track, NECKCAR came back for the summer race at Daytona, and it seemed all too coincidental when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won it.
#3: The Merger Is Validated: Super Bowl III, January 12, 1969.
Now even many of the players said the game was rigged.
No surprise. Two Packer victories in the first two Super Bowls would've made a very tough sell for the NFL to absorb the AFL, forming the league you know of today.
So they arrange Broadway Joe Namath to win one to basically put the AFL on even keel. There's a reason for The Guarantee. Namath was involved with the Mob, and they told him what was up, through common business interests in his restaurant in New York.
#2: The Greatest Tragedy in Sports, Game 6, 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals: May 31, 2002.
The end of the Sacramento Kings as a going concern. NFLRanking's video list now gives 54 minutes of service to the most-rigged game in the history of the NBA. (Yes, even more than Ballhog's offensive foul to lead to Bittersweet Symphony, because at least there was the illusion Utah could win.)
The third of the three expository events which led me to believe all games which could be meaningfully rigged are. These are my comments from my ninth blog post on the blog, which go into the NBA in general, but eventually get to the 2002 Western Finals.
So what does Brian Tuohy believe, above all of these, is the greatest fixed single sporting event in his knowledge of the history of sports??
#1: The Post-Katrina March Begins: Monday Night Football, September 25, 2006.
You know the story with the blocked punt and the first game back in the Superdome after a year out and all that stuff. Brian even admits it's an odd choice (and it wouldn't make my Top Ten).
But what it DOES DO is it represents a common NFL meme of the National Religion Era. And it goes to the likes of what us video-game fans remember from Final Fantasy X: Sin (the main villain of the game) can destroy everything in your town... "But at least we still have blitz..." (Blitzball, the main sport in Spira.)
And that's exactly on display here. Maybe it's not there for the one specific game, but for the meme it launched.
So that's his Top Ten. Probably means I should start on mine...
NO!!! The Balls Aren't Juiced As They Are Flying Out Of The Park In Record Numbers
Was waiting for confirmation on this, and ESPN has provided it this morning!
The just-completed month of June 2019? Most home runs in a month in history, 1,142.
Old record: 1,135 -- set in May 2019!!!
3,421 home runs have been hit this season -- a pace of about 2.7 per game, up nearly 20% per game over last year. The pace would break the record for home runs in a season about September 15: The record is 6,105 (2017).
No!! The balls aren't juiced. Really -- they aren't. Love, Rob Manfred...
The just-completed month of June 2019? Most home runs in a month in history, 1,142.
Old record: 1,135 -- set in May 2019!!!
3,421 home runs have been hit this season -- a pace of about 2.7 per game, up nearly 20% per game over last year. The pace would break the record for home runs in a season about September 15: The record is 6,105 (2017).
No!! The balls aren't juiced. Really -- they aren't. Love, Rob Manfred...
Ezekiel Elliott needs to go to the principal's office...
An apparent assault of a security guard will force Roger Goodell to meet with Ezekiel Elliott tomorrow.
Elliott needs to be brought to heel. He's the third Cowboy to face long-term discipline (he's already sat the six for domestic violence under the Personal Conduct policy, and has not, in any way, appeared reticent about the situation) this season.
Somebody has got to get Jerry Jones in for one of these meetings. It is long past time for the league to take serious action against it's most popular and biggest money-making franchise -- as well as it's owner -- for what has been allowed. I've covered this a number of times in the blog, and it appears as if the main issue preventing a real run for the Cowboys through the playoffs -- player misconduct -- is continuing apace.
Elliott needs to be brought to heel. He's the third Cowboy to face long-term discipline (he's already sat the six for domestic violence under the Personal Conduct policy, and has not, in any way, appeared reticent about the situation) this season.
Somebody has got to get Jerry Jones in for one of these meetings. It is long past time for the league to take serious action against it's most popular and biggest money-making franchise -- as well as it's owner -- for what has been allowed. I've covered this a number of times in the blog, and it appears as if the main issue preventing a real run for the Cowboys through the playoffs -- player misconduct -- is continuing apace.
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