From A Saints Fan

[RhodyRams]

I'm not here to try to change any Ram fan's (and other observers like Jim Nance) who saw what they thought was a blown call. And I'm not here to argue which is the better team. I just hope you have enough of an open mind to watch this(no, it isn't photoshopped or otherwise doctored) video and judge for yourself whether it was a blown call or not.

https://www.canalstreetchronicles.c...ss-interference-but-not-from-this-bulls-angle

if you really feel the need to defend a bullshitt call then come at us with more than that

the NFL script has been written and rewritten in favor of the Aints all year..go ahead and say it aint so

 

[dang]

 

[Big Game]

So you really expect us to feel sorry, when we played you guys Hekker got the first down on the field goal fake. I was there they wouldn't even show the replay smh. Bad calls happen keep it moving bro lol

 

[Rynie]

I am not anconspiracy nut, but a poster on the Cowboys site had a theory as to why the officiating has been so bad league-wide

Ad revenue.

Not saying i agree, but makes sense. Refs keeping the games close as possible to keep people from switching the channels.

 

[Ken]

I am not anconspiracy nut, but a poster on the Cowboys site had a theory as to why the officiating has been so bad league-wide

Ad revenue.

Not saying i agree, but makes sense. Refs keeping the games close as possible to keep people from switching the channels.

That's my theory as well. Parity policing to keep games competitive, if possible, but not to steer the outcome in favor of one team over another. But I can't discount the possibility of narrative steering. I hope it's not true.

 

[Merlin]

I think the 2001 Super Bowl is all the proof anyone needs of the league steering the outcome they want.

In the wake of 9/11 the Patriots enter the playoffs with the right colors.
Patriots survive the Raiders game they should have lost on a BS call.
Patriots film the Rams walkthrough and are sitting on routes for new plays Martz drew up specifically for that game.
Patriots DBs maul and mug the Rams' pass catchers all game long while refs swallow whistles.
League burns the tapes Belicheat and company had accrued for zero good reason.

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but when it comes to 2001 it's pretty damn clear what happened.

 

[dieterbrock]

Refs keeping the games close as possible to keep people from switching the channels.

I love how the refs get criticized left and right, and many fans complain that they would be better if they were "full time".
But somehow they are secretly "that good" that they can collectively alter the outcome of a game?
And more importantly, keep their mouths shut about it?
Comic gold

 

[dieterbrock]

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but when it comes to 2001 it's pretty damn clear what happened.

Yeah, me too.
The Rams were over confident, and turned the ball over 3 times which led to 17 points.
I'm as bitter as the next guy that the Rams blew that game. But the idea that it was fixed is just laughable.

 

[jrry32]

I love how the refs get criticized left and right, and many fans complain that they would be better if they were "full time".
But somehow they are secretly "that good" that they can collectively alter the outcome of a game?
And more importantly, keep their mouths shut about it?
Comic gold

The idea that the refs can put aside all their biases is also comic gold. They're people. And if they're NFL refs, odds are that they grew up playing and following football. I won't get into the steering or the possibility that refs are controlling outcomes on their own (but, as we saw with the NBA, it's certainly possible).

Yeah, me too.
The Rams were over confident, and turned the ball over 3 times which led to 17 points.
I'm as bitter as the next guy that the Rams blew that game. But the idea that it was fixed is just laughable.

The idea that the Patriots cheated and the NFL covered it up is not at all laughable, though.

 

[Jacobarch]

Yeah, me too.
The Rams were over confident, and turned the ball over 3 times which led to 17 points.
I'm as bitter as the next guy that the Rams blew that game. But the idea that it was fixed is just laughable.

Pretty sure you missed the entire point of his post. But that's cool...

 

[dieterbrock]

The idea that the Patriots cheated and the NFL covered it up is not at all laughable, though.

That is completely different than a suggestion that the NFL fixed the game

 

[dieterbrock]

Pretty sure you missed the entire point of his post. But that's cool...

Didn't miss it all, I don't agree that that game is fixed

 

[LesBaker]

if you really feel the need to defend a bullshitt call then come at us with more than that

the NFL script has been written and rewritten in favor of the Aints all year..go ahead and say it aint so

It ain't so.

 

[FarNorth]

The idea that the refs can put aside all their biases is also comic gold. They're people. And if they're NFL refs, odds are that they grew up playing and following football. I won't get into the steering or the possibility that refs are controlling outcomes on their own (but, as we saw with the NBA, it's certainly possible).

The idea that the Patriots cheated and the NFL covered it up is not at all laughable, though.

I stopped watching the NBA under David Stern because I thought the referring was not straight up, either because of generic favoring of home teams (how else could they get fans for bad teams to show up), stars, or big markets, or maybe something worse. The Portland Trailblazers were memorably shafted in the 7th game of a playoff series against the Lakers in the 90's in what appeared to me to be either a fix or the functional equivalent of it. Later a ref plead guilty to gambling and fixing games, and the story was buried almost entirely.

I don't think the NFL is at that level, but they appear to be trying to keep games competitive after a couple of years of sliding ratings. There is also really a lot of inconsistency as well. What particularly irks me are the politically correct calls on phantom personal fouls where it appears the refs have marching orders to call everything no matter whether it's nonexistent.

Belichek however was certainly doing bad things, notably against the Rams, but of course taping signals on opponents and deconstructing their play calls. Not sure it was specifically prohibited at the time, but it was sleazy and unethical. There were certainly compelling reasons why Goodell destroyed the tapes.

 

[MTRamsFan]

The league determined the Aints should be given home field advantage for the playoffs. Last Sunday's game only confirmed it because of not one, but two bogus pass interference calls against the Steelers. You can't convince me otherwise.

 

[dang]

I chalk it up as part of the home field advantage. Its natural for the NFL and referees to want home crowds to be satisfied with the outcome - so the close calls are probably going their way.

 

[badnews]

Im not commenting about the game being fixed or not but...

If you dont believe that there have been/are intelligence operatives in the ranks of the NFL power structure, thats laughable too.

 

[1maGoh]

I love how the refs get criticized left and right, and many fans complain that they would be better if they were "full time".
But somehow they are secretly "that good" that they can collectively alter the outcome of a game?
And more importantly, keep their mouths shut about it?
Comic gold

It's an alternative theory. I don't think those two things truly exist in the minds of fans at the same time. We'll say then one right after the other, but not in the sense that belief in both of equally true at the same moment.

It's an either/or. The refs appear to be supremely incompetent. So incompetent in fact that it almost appears that they are trying to be that bad.

So fans who are paying attention are left with two options only:

1. The refs collectively have an IQ lower than a linebacker's Jersey number, or...

2. The refs are actually very content but they don't act that way because they're intentionally influencing the games to one degree or another. How much no one knows, but it is being influenced (under this theory).

It strains reality to believe that so many people could be really truly attempting to be very good at their jobs, get so much training, be hand selected for quality, and still be so incredibly fucking awful at every single aspect of what they do. It's the equivalent of believing Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real and both are the same person. Unless what they are asked to do isn't to call the game as the rules are written. If there's some secret rulebook (double teams don't get called for holding, for example; where is that guy?) then it makes sense sometimes, but not all the time.

 

[Steve808]

Go back in time. Former Cheatriots employee Matt Walsh says he has tapes that prove the Cheatriots cheated in the 2001 super bowl. Lots of legal wrangling came up and eventually the tapes were handed over to Goodell. He says it was nothing and destroyed the tapes.

The Cheatriots cheated. If not, Goodell would have aired the tapes to prove it. To say they cheated in a close super bowl would have destroyed the entire NFL.

So he destroyed it and hardly anyone remembers at this point.

Who knows if the Cheatriots cheated in other close Super Bowls? What would Brady's reputation be with a 2-6 super bowl record?

 

[majrleaged]

I love how the refs get criticized left and right, and many fans complain that they would be better if they were "full time".
But somehow they are secretly "that good" that they can collectively alter the outcome of a game?
And more importantly, keep their mouths shut about it?
Comic gold

The refs can be told to call the game loose or tight, which can favor a teams style, but otherwise I blame most of it to being human and asked to do more than is humanly possible. Being human, they will have prejudice towards or against certain players, coaches and teams and it will effect games. They can be affected by the home environment. Also refs can only look at one thing at a time and there eyeballs can be distracted away from obvious calls. They cant follow one player all the way thru one play. So say for instance a D liner might be blocked into hitting a QB low and the ref only sees the low hit. Or the penalty happens on the other side of a player or the view is completely blocked by other players. We dont want them calling stuff they think happened. Dont forget, on plays that cover many yards, the refs are also on the run. As a human being ages, it gets harder to keep your eye site from bouncing up and down and focused on one thing when you run. They are making split second judgement calls. Most penalties are not black and white. The only way to improve the calls is to fill the field with more refs and put an age range similar to players.