Vegas Sportsbooks Making Their Own Rules

Two weeks ago we read about an odd scenario in college football between USC and Utah.  USC was a 7.5 favorite for this game.  On the final play of the game with USC leading 17-14 they blocked a Utah field goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown.  A miscommunication between the scorer and officials initially waived off the touchdown due to an excessive celebration penalty leaving Utah with the cover.  Pac-12 officials changed the score over two hours later to include the game ending touchdown making the final score 23-14 effectively changing the outcome of the betting side.  This erupted in a barrage of calls from gamblers and casinos to the Nevada Gaming Control Board but still resulted in some casinos honoring one side while others honored the opposite side.  What was the gaming board doing?  If not consistent across the board then each sports book is making it's own rules and not being regulated.  Sounds like another case of Vegas never loses.  The fix in is!

Odd Ending to Michigan - Western Michigan Game Last Week

Last week was the very first time in Michigan University history that a football game was canceled.  Well it was canceled after three quarters.  Keep in mind Michigan was a 14.5 point favorite over Western Michigan with a 57.5 over/under.  One source showed over 70% of the public on Michigan and a slight majority on the over as well.  Already handily covering the 14.5 spread and nearing the over did someone pull the plug on this game early?  Alright so severe weather was in the area and did delay the game but games in close proximity were all completed as normal so what gives?  Although Michigan was credited with the win it was not a complete game therefore bettors of Michigan were not paid out and once again Vegas doesn't lose a penny.  Just something to think about when you see weird occurrences in sports.

Corruption Charges by FIFA

The governing body of soccer FIFA has had numerous claims of corruption over the last few years and finally taking a step forward to clean things up.  Three match officials from Bosnia-Herzegovina and three from Hungary have been banned for life from any soccer related activities at the national and international levels.  They were found guilty of unlawfully influencing match results and passive corruption.  This is a start but soccer has a long way to go at all levels of play.

Boxing Sham - Mares vs. Agbeko

Last Saturday Showtime boxing put up a horrible display of refereeing.  I just got home to see my twitter timeline blowing up with people screaming fixed.  New IBF bantamweight champion Abner Mares was for the most part handed the title by referee Russell Mora.  Abner landed low blow after low blow on his opponent Joseph Agbeko throughout the fight with barely any warnings and no penalties from referee Mora who was consistently out of place.  Even more surprising is the commission who sat cage side and did nothing.  This fight is being called one of the worst in boxing corruption history and I don't blame people for what we saw in this ridiculous refereed match.  Mora had to be in on the fix, completely biased or totally incompetent as a boxing referee.  Check out this article too for more on the fight.

World Cup Suspicions

Everyone loves the underdog and Cinderella stories but something just didn't seem right about the Women's World Cup final between U.S.A. and Japan.  In the weeks after the final many have expressed these same doubts.  No team from the continent of Asia has won the cup and in 25 matches between them Japan has never defeated the U.S.  The shoot out at the end brought up even more suspicion when the first three shots by the U.S. were very uncharacteristic of the team even being mentioned on the live broadcast.  The U.S. had not missed a shoot out shot yet and very good at hiding direction.  Two of the first three in this game were very easy reads and pretty much shot to the goalie while the other was booted well over the goal.  This just seems too easily given away to Japan.  Then we have the storyline of Japan riding emotions for their country in the aftermath of the horrible earthquakes and tsunami's that ravaged the country.  Add it all up and it just seems too good to be true like it was fixed for Japan.  I do think the parity between countries has definitely decreased and will continue to see more competitive games between most countries.  What do you think?

Another Toledo Football Player Convicted in Point Shaving Scheme

Former Toledo running back Harvey McDougle Jr. recently plead guilty to working with a Detroit gambler involved with point shaving at Toledo University.  McDougle was the third Toledo athlete to be convicted in the point shaving scheme and most likely worked in recruiting other players for the scheme.

Match Fixing Probe Postpones Turkish Super Cup

Turkish football teams Besiktas and Fenerbahce have been implicated in a match-fixing case.  This probe has led to the postponement of the Turkish Super Cup final between the two teams which was to take place tomorrow with no new date set.  Approximately 30 people have been charged including the deputy chairman and coach of Besiktas and the president of league champ Fenerbahce.  The probe alleges 19 games were fixed.

Women Soccer Players on the Juice Too

Women take steroids to cheat too.  At the soccer Women's World Cup five North Korean players tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid.  The cases will be reviewed by FIFA and each player could face a ban of up to two years.  As usual there is some far fetched story of why they were taking this.  After a lighting strike the players accidentally took the steroids with traditional Chinese medicines which they claim can be confused with each other.  Doesn't make sense and how was it an accident?  You cheated and you got caught.

Tour de France Rider Fails Doping Test

The Tour de France kicked off July 2nd and now has its first rider to fail a doping test.  Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev of the Katusha team failed a doping test from July 6th that contained traces of Hydrochlorothiazide.  Kolobnev had four days to submit a B sample and contest the positive result but his team decided to end his ride for the Tour.  Kolobnev was 69th at the time of his departure.

Corruption in Soccer

We have been hearing it for awhile now and only time will bring out more evidence of corruption in Soccer.  When it reaches to the highest level you know the sport has some issues.  FIFA, the international governing body of football is deep in conflict over recent corruption claims over the World Cup selection process.  The latest allegations came from the U.K. after an inquiry into their failed bid for the 2018 World Cup.  Lord Triesman, former FA head has accused four member of the FIFA executive committee who votes for World Cup hosts of unethical and improper behavior.  These accusations include demands for money and honorary knighthoods.  Last fall two FIFA voters were suspended for similar actions when they tried to sell their World Cup votes.  The World Cup is big business and can potentially generate great sums of money for a host country.  Anything for the almighty dollar.  Not just the players and games but now the governing body is embroiled in sports corruption.

Mexico Soccer Players Test Positive for Banned Substance

At the beginning of the CONCACAF Gold Gup five players from Mexico's soccer team tested positive for a banned substance and were temporarily removed from the tournament.  The illegal substance was clenbuterol which the secretary general of Mexican soccer federation believes came from the players eating contaminated beef.  Regardless of the five players missing time the team still went on to win the Gold Cup.

MMA Judges Control Outcomes

With another UFC event upon us tomorrow let's first revisit the last event, UFC 131.  Yes, you guessed it the judges completely bombed on another decision.  Darren Elkins was awarded a unanimous decision over Michihiro Omigawa.  Not only was this baffling but one judge called it 30-27, all three rounds in favor of Elkins when clearly this was not the case.  So lopsided that UFC president Dana White said, "I don't know what the fuck in the world that guy was seeing.  He should never judge a fight again, ever."  More baffling is the fact that the judges for the first time had cageside monitors to get closer views of the action.  Guess Dana White is right when he says to his fighters don't leave it in the hands of the judges.  Maybe Dana realizes this fixing by the judges is making a mockery of this truly awesome sport.

Kyle Busch's Team Penalized

The team of number 18 Kyle Busch were penalized by NASCAR last week after his car failed post race inspection because the car was too low.  Busch was docked six points in the standing and crew chief Dave Rogers fined $25,000 after the race at Pocono Raceway.  Kyle finished the race third so it just goes to show every inch in NASCAR counts, in this case lowering the car.

Is The NBA Milking It?

Just some thoughts on the current NBA finals.  With the possible lockout looming I can just see it now, the finals will go to seven games to milk every possible amount of exposure possible from television, to tickets and stadium sales and everything in between.  As the years go by I get less interested in this sport as it is so easily manipulated.  Don't be fooled by another brick shot in the NBA.