Luck of the Irish?

Love them or hate them, the Fighting Irish are headed to the BCS National Championship football game on January 7, 2013. For those who watched most of their games this year you might recall a close game against Stanford and a mythical comeback against Pitt. I recall watching some ridiculous calls by the officials at these two games but the guys at "The Fix Is In" lay it out perfectly. Click here to see the luck of the Irish or the fix. What do you think?

Phantom Call

Alright this one angered me because I got the short end of the stick this time.  Did anyone else see the Chicago Bears 89-yard TD trick return nullified by a phantom call last weekend?  The Bears were a 4 point home dog to the Packers and the total was set at 45.5. With about a minute left and the Bears trailing 27-17 the Bears pulled off a sweet fake from Devin Hester but was actually fielded on the other side of the field and ran back for a TD by Johnny Knox. Regardless of the extra point it would have pushed the total over and with the extra point the spread in favor of the Bears.  The trick play the Bears had been practicing worked like a charm but of course it was too good to be true for Vegas and the National Fix League (NFL).  Don't get me wrong I love the NFL, it's my gambling specialty so I don't go calling fix every time I lose but this one was obvious.  The referee initially called holding on number 29.  Well that's weird, the Bears don't even have a player with number 29.  To cover his tracks he then calls it on number 21 Corey Graham who was about 35 yards away from the play and had no direct impact on the run back, nor was it a hold.  Not only did Bears and over bettors suffer, the fans did too in what was once of the best trick plays in a long time even mentioned by opposing quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Head Official Admits to Blown Calls During Super Bowl XL

If your like me you still remember those crappy calls from Super Bowl XL that ended in a 21-10 Steelers victory over the Seahawks.  I vividly remember getting screwed on the spread which I believe was +7 for the Seahawks and me.  The imaginary holding call on a 98-yard touchdown drive did us in and the inconclusive Roethlisberger touchdown didn't help.  Many including myself yelled at the tv this sh@# is fixed!  Check out the article on head official Bill Leavy admitting his blown calls at Yahoo Sports.

Author Declan Hill Risks Life in Pursuit of Fixers in Football

Now that the World Cup is over did you notice any weird games?  Horrible referee's with phantom calls and overabundance of yellow and red cards, goals too easy to miss, fake injuries, etc.  Check out Declan Hill's book The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime.

The Fix is the most explosive story of sports corruption in a generation. Intriguing, riveting, and compelling, it tells the story of an investigative journalist who sets out to examine the world of match-fixing in professional soccer.


From the Introduction:

Understand how gambling fixers work to corrupt a soccer game and you will understand how they move into a basketball league, a cricket tournament, or a tennis match (all places, by the way, that criminal fixers have moved into). My views on soccer have changed. I still love the Saturday-morning game between amateurs: the camaraderie and the fresh smell of grass. But the professional game leaves me cold. I hope you will understand why after reading the book. I think you may never look at sport in the same way again.

Where Do They Get These Refs?

If you haven't heard by now team USA got robbed of a victory against Slovenia last Friday.  The go ahead goal was disallowed by referee Koman Coulibaly.  It was first believed to be a bad offsides call but was soon called an unspecified foul.  USA star Landon Donovan said, "We asked Coulibaly many times who it was on or what the foul was, and he wouldn't or couldn't explain it."  FIFA officials have been hush hush about the controversial call but have removed referee Coulibaly from officiating further world cup games.  This is one of many bad officiating calls this world cup has already seen from bad offside calls to premature yellow and red cards.

Donaghy Claims Mob Threatened Family

Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy is back in the news and will be featured on 60 Minutes on Sunday, December 6th. Donaghy tells his story about the mob threatening his family to ensure he dispensed his insider picks. He bet on these games based off his knowledge of other officials' biasis for and against certain teams and players.