If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again

Anyone else see that crazy new penalty called on the New England Patriots in overtime last Sunday against the New York Jets? Being a contrarian type bettor I went against the public and took the home dog Jets so this outcome was in my favor but still find it odd how the referee's control game after game.

According to one site the Patriots had the most lopsided betting action on them for the whole NFL week with over 70% of the action coming in on them at -3.5 and the percentage even higher for moneyline bettors. Anytime I see these high percentages I usually go opposite or stay away from that game altogether. Seeing this crazy line and percentage I had a feeling I might see a strange outcome. I honestly believe this was a game that was predetermined for the Jets to cover.

Late in the fourth quarter, down three, the Patriots charged down the field and tied up the game with a field goal. Down to the Jets 26 yard line and then Brady throws three straight incomplete passes. I understand his receivers are new but I believe they easily could have scored a touchdown instead of this field goal especially the way they drove down field so efficiently. I think the manipulation was started here. If the Patriots scored a touchdown they would have gone up by 4 which would covered the spread and not given the Jets much time to drive back down field. I was kind of expecting a missed field goal but they didn't and the game went to overtime. The Patriots did nothing with their first drive but the Jets certainly did with the call of a new penalty, an overtime victory and more importantly they won outright and covered the all important spread. After Nick Folk of the Jets missed a 56 yard field goal a strange new penalty was called which gave the Jets a new set of downs and a shorter field goal made on the next attempt by Folk to win the game 30-27. Unsportsmanlike conduct was called on New England defensive tackle Chris Jones but this was actually part of a new rule. Rule 9-1-3 says, "Team B players cannot push teammates on the line of scrimmage into the offensive formation." Coach Belichick of the Patriots went ballistic and sports new sources around the country were looking for explanations as well. Click here for the best explanation but in my opinion this was just another manipulated game that should have ended earlier. Thanks to the referees the team that is supposed to win will eventually get there even if they have to try, try again. Controversial as sports sources call it or was it just plain fixed?

80-Year-Old Weightlifter Busted for Steroids

According to news outlets like the Associated Press and Fox Sports, 80-year-old weightlifter Don Ramos has recently been suspended for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for testing positive for steroids. Ramos tested positive in June while attempting an age group world record at the Pan American Masters Weightlifting Championships. While most people suspect the young for steroid use this just goes to show the elderly use as well. When it comes to competitions and unfair advantages age does not matter.

El Salvador Bans 14 Soccer Players for Life for Match Fixing

In a follow up to our feature about El Salvador investigating national Soccer players for match fixing they have now handed down lifetime bans on 14 current and former national team players with several others receiving suspensions from one to eighteen months while even more players are still being investigated according to multiple new sources including MLSSoccer.com.

Ray Lewis & Terrell Suggs Say Blackout was Conspiracy Against Ravens

The power outage of Super Bowl XLVII has been making news again but this time from Baltimore Ravens players Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs.

Last month Ray Lewis told NFL Films' that he believes the lights went out as a conspiracy against the Ravens according to Nate Davis of USA Today. Lewis also said, "I'm not gonna accuse nobody of nothing because I don't know know facts. But you're a zillion dollar company, and your lights go out? No. No way. But you cannot tell me somebody wasn't sitting there and when they say, 'The Ravens are about to blow them out. Man, we better do something.' That's a huge shift in any game, in all seriousness. And as you see how huge it was because it let them right back in the game."

Earlier this week Terrell Suggs went even further to say Commission Roger Goodell was behind this. Suggs told ESPN, "I was like Vegas, parlor tricks, you know what I mean? I was like, ahh, Roger Goodell, he never stops, he always has something up his sleeve. He just couldn't let us have this one in a landslide, huh? I thought he had a hand in it. Most definitely, he had a hand in it."

To revisit what happen, the Baltimore Ravens were leading 28-6 early in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII when the power outage occurred. Once the power and game resumed the San Francisco 49ers then rattled off 17 points but Baltimore ultimately ended up winning 34-31 after a late drive by the 49ers failed. Just to note the Ravens were 4.5 dogs the total was 47.5 so the outcome of the sides would not have changed unless San Francisco put up two additional scores. Regardless, any time stoppage can change momentum in a team for the better or worse and you have to wonder how could this happen during the biggest game of the year? Did Roger Goodell have some hand in this to keep the game interesting by having a close finish? Pretty damning stories when two top players are making these accusations.