More Monday Night Football Shenanigans

Did anyone catch the ending of the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers game two weeks ago? I had no action other than my confidence pool but I was watching this game with a friend who did take the Patriots on the spread and think he got screwed along with everyone else who took the Patriots.

With just 3 seconds left in the game from the 18 yard line, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady fired one last shot to tight end Rob Gronkowski. The pass was intercepted but the official at the back of the end zone threw a flag for pass interference on Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly who clearly was impeding Gronkowski from turning to make the catch. After officials gathered for a moment they waived off the penalty and called the game over.

The part that makes it even more interesting is that the Panthers were 3 point favorites with more action on the Patriots. Final result, Panthers 24 - Patriots 20. Once again right down to the last play and the side with more action loses. Doesn't anyone notice this happen over and over and over again? Obviously they can't have every game come that close for suspicion but the high number of games that do is completely impossible unless manipulated.

Once again the NFL, ESPN and Vegas clean house.

Cheating the Spread in College Sports

Many people ask if college sports are fixed as well. If you can gamble on it, you better believe it. There have been multiple point shaving scandals over the years in NCAA sports especially in basketball and football. With the amount of money college programs bring in these days and the corresponding television contracts these schools sign they have every incentive to win, create story lines and bring in high ratings. This is often done through point shaving, ridiculous officiating and more. On the other side of the ball, the athletes themselves are often tempted by bookies and others to point shave to earn a little money on the side or pay off debts since they do not get paid to play. A book called Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball by Albert Figone touches on the shady side of college sports and the infamous fix. Pick up a copy and let us know what you think the next time you see a star college player mysteriously start missing easy shots or field goals.

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?

Lebanese Soccer Referees Received Sexual Services to fix a Match

Lebanese soccer referees Ali Sabbagh, Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb were recently charged with receiving free sexual services to fix an Asian Football Confederation Cup match in Singapore. These are high level officials who have worked games for the Asian Football Confederation, Lebanese top league and matches between national teams. Sounds like the referees received the red card this time for their violations.

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?

2010 Soccer World Cup Warm-up Matches Controlled by Referees

FIFA reported earlier this week that the South African Football Association was duped into allowing an Asian match fixing syndicate managed by Wilson Perumal to appoint certain referees for certain warm-up international matches played in 2010 prior to the World Cup hosted by South Africa. Perumal has been convicted of match fixing charges in Finland since then. While matches and referees are investigated it just goes to show once again you never know where the fix is being controlled but almost certainly has to do with money. It appears all teams and countries show no evidence to manipulating games.

Soccer Corruption

We all know soccer has had quite a few problems with corruption over the last few years and the latest report will give us an idea just how big the problems are. A Swiss court has ruled that a document identifying soccer officials who took millions in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals will be released. FIFA will not appeal the ruling so obviously they have come to terms with the corruption the sport has recently seen and trying to move on. As I always say, it's always about money.

Sun Belt Officials Can't Count

Missed this one a few weeks ago in college basketball but thought it was definitely of interest. Host Western Kentucky lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 72-70 on January 5th. One website showed about 60% of the public was backing Western Kentucky and here is where it gets interesting. With second left in the game Louisiana-Lafayette made the winning layup but they did it with six players on the floor. Yes, they had one too many players on the floor and not one referee caught this. I understand mistakes happen but this is at the college level and you have multiple referee's so how would this possibly be missed? My guess, the fix was in. The majority of action was on Western Kentucky as a 1 1/2 point home dog and what do you know Louisiana-Lafayette wins by two to cover the spread while using six players. Something stinks here and have heard the referee's from the Sun Belt conference are expected to be suspended.

Another Blown Call at UFC 142

Usually we see the uneducated boxing scorers fix the outcomes of MMA decisions but this time we blame the referee for the blown call at UFC 142 last weekend in Brazil. Fighter Erick Silva made the most of his UFC debut by throwing a nice knee followed by some ground and pound on opponent Carlo Prater for an early referee stoppage in round one. When the official decision was announced that Silva was disqualified by referee Mario Yamasaki the crowd erupted in anger. Yamasaki DQ'd Silva for illegal blows to the back of the head. Shortly after announcer Joe Rogan went through the replay and strike after strike noted the each hit was legal. UFC president Dana White also criticized the call and continues to urge the commissions to start using instant replay before making these ridiculous errors in judgement and scoring or as we like to say, fixes! Silva was fighting in his home country with a raucous crowd behind him and also a heavy favorite at the sports books, go figure.

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.

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.

College Basketball Officiating at its Best

At a Big East second round game on March 9th three officials missed two crucial last second calls and basically didn't officiate until the end of the game between St. John's and Rutgers.  St. John's won the game 65-63 and did not cover the spread regardless but who knows maybe there was some kind of moneyline action being protected.  With 1.7 seconds left a St. John's player traveled and stepped out of bounds neither of which was called by the officials ending the game.  The NCAA men's basketball national coordinator even stated that Rutgers should have had one more possession.  The three officials did sit out the remainder of the tournament.

More Crooked Soccer Officials

Disciplinary actions have begun against six soccer game officials per FIFA.  This latest action stems from a match-fixing probe into two exhibition games held in Turkey on February 9th.  Exhibition games too, where does it stop?

More NFL High Jinx

Just an observation of last Monday night's football game between the Colts and Titans here.  I see it every week but since this game was the only one on the board it probably stuck out more.  Both teams hurting but a Manning led Colts team desperately needing the win only favored by 3 to 4.5 depending on where you got it.  With a 21-7 lead at halftime against a Kerry Collins led Titans offense that cannot score most bettors thought this was in the bag.  Remember the last two games the Titans only put up 6 total points.  So how in the world did the Titans almost come back and score 21 second half points and back door the spread with a 30-28 final score?  Vegas my friends!  Before this game started I checked two of my sources and found 85% and 81% of bettors backing the Colts on the spread.  Rarely is it that lopsided and anytime I see percentages that high I either lay off that game or bet against the public.  What else can explain an anemic offense to rumble back in the second half like that?  Let alone get penalties and interceptions called back in their favor just to get that last touchdown with no time left.  It didn't matter in the standings, it only mattered in Vegas and once again they made a killing on this game.  I will disclose that I took the Titans on the spread and won but I also lost by taking the under.  Before the game I spoke with one of my fellow gamblers and laughed at the predictable fix about to happen.

Fix From The Past - 1972 Olympic Gold Medal Basketball Game

The 1972 Olympic gold medal basketball game was marred by controversy.  Team USA won the game twice, the other team stepped over the inbound line on the third finish and the US still lost the game.  One of the most controversial basketball games in history especially during the cold war years with the USSR.  Watch this ESPN Classic video and judge for yourself.

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.

NU says Lacrosse Final 4 Tainted

Five time defending women's NCAA lacrosse champions were upset in this years final late last month.  Northwestern claims the final four was tainted.  School officials point out that official Pat Dillon has a conflict of interest and should not have been officiating and possibly cost them the championship.  Pat Dillon's life partner is Maryland's head athletic trainer Sandy Worth also Northwesterns championship opponent.  In 2009 the ACC prevented Dillon from calling ACC games to avoid such conflicts of interest.  Northwestern was trailing Maryland 11-10 in the championship game and found momentum to tie the game until a questionable charging call from Dillon waved off the game tying goal.  Momentum swayed back to Maryland who won a close championship game 13-11.  Northwestern plans to achieve change to the process of assigning officials as there should be not question concerning a referee's bias, integrity and professionalism.

This is why Soccer is not big in America

Soccer is not big in America for many reasons.  The main reason being these athletes try to be actors with fake injuries such as the ridiculous red card given to Kaka as seen in the video.  Kaka didn't even touch Ivory Coast player Kadar Keita's face and he falls in pain holding his face.  Touch someone in soccer and one player acts and the other gets penalized, what a joke.  And what is with the red card?  Brazil has already advanced to the knockout stage so what could this be for?  Are they trying to fix the upcoming Brazil versus Portugal game to be a low scoring affair or helping Portugal overtake Brazil for the number one spot in the group for positioning for the next round by penalizing Kaka?