Lance Armstrong Drug Case Moves Forward

It has been recently reported that U.S. investigators are moving forward with an investigation for a drug related case on cyclist Lance Armstrong.  Officials in France have received requests from U.S. authorities requesting evidence on Lance and other members of his former U.S. Postal team.

Barry Bonds - Who Cares?

So the Barry Bonds hearing is over as of a couple of weeks ago and we all know he was found guilty of obstruction of justice.  A mistrial was declared on the three perjury counts.  Case closed, we all know he cheated with steroids and hope we don't hear more.  I do think that all 105 or whatever the number of players named in the Balco report should be publicly named.  If we know some of the names why not all of them?  They should all be treated the same, as cheaters!  Release the list and let's finally move on.

MMA Judges Blow it Again

On Saturday April 16th at Bellator 41 we witnessed another controversial MMA decision.  The controversial decision went to Joe Warren who defeated Marcos Galvao.  Not only was it questionable but one judge ruled 30-27 for Warren which was clearly wrong.  MMA fans took to forums to express the displeasure of continued bad judging which many are calling fixed.  Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney refutes the notion that this match was fixed and agrees MMA judges need to be better educated on the sport and judging.  MMA judging just seems so off at times how can it not be fixed?

Another Steroid Bum

Last week baseball player Manny Ramirez retired rather than face a 100-game suspension for failing another drug test during spring training in which he tested positive for a banned substance.  Just another disgraced athlete on the juice trying to cheat his way to the top.

What Can't You Bet On?

Seem like you can bet on pretty much anything these days.  How about some WWE wrestling?  Yes you read that correctly.  Bodog online sportsbook is offering moneyline action on tonight's WrestleMania 27 matches.  This form of entertainment is coordinated and not a true sport so how could this even be offered?  Obviously the people at WWE already know the outcome of these matches so why even bother with the fix?  I guess this is for the true betting junkies.  I will pass but enjoy.

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.

Cyclists Will Have to find Other Ways to Cheat

Alright so cycling is not one of my favorites but over the years quite a few cyclists have been caught using illegal growth hormones and blood doping to gain unfair advantages during there races and thought it had reason to be discussed here.  The Association of Professional Cyclists and Professional Cycling Council recently met and proposed an automatic four-year suspension for cyclists found doping, using growth hormones, use of EPO and blood transfusions.  It's a start but someone will always be ahead of the testing and finding new ways to cheat the system and this sport.  Cheating cyclists, is it really worth it?

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?

IOC to Combat Game Fixing

The International Olympic Committee recently held meetings to discuss match fixing and illegal gambling.  At least someone is finally admitting it happens but doubt anything will change.  Check out the article from Examiner for more on this sports news development.

O.J. Mayo Banned for Ten Games

Here is another laugher in the excuses athletes come up with when caught using illegal substances.  Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo recently tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) which is banned by the NBA.  His actions cost him a 10-game suspension.  His excuse was that he believes and energy drink he bought at a gas station contained the illegal substance.  Really O.J.?

Super Bowl Fix

Gamblers favorite game of the year is in two days!  Yes I am talking about the Super Bowl.  Why do I call it a fix?  Because Vegas wins out almost every year.  I featured this last year and have to update for this year.  Over the last 20 years Las Vegas sportsbooks have profited on the Super Bowl in 18 years and had minimal losses in two years.  How is that possible?  The fix is in!  Good luck with your bets and enjoy the bad penalty calls that will screw us all I'm sure.

Barry Bonds Trial Set to Begin March 21st

The infamous trial of former MLB player Barry Bonds is set to start March 21st.  He has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.  A San Francisco U.S. District Court judge has recently ruled that several former and current MLB players will be allowed to testify at this trial and be questioned in regards to their relationships with Greg Anderson, Bond's former trainer.  Innocent until proven guilty but I think the evidence against him and the dramatic size increase in his head and biceps says it all.

Scorecasting

I was just reading the latest issue of Sports Illustrated (January 17, 2011) and came across an article called, "What's Really Behind Home Field Advantage?"  An interesting article that debunks myths such as home crowds and rigors of travel.  Much of the argument behind home teams winning more often lies with umpire bias especially with large professional crowds in attendance per the article.  I personally think this bias is the fix but definitely worth exploring.  The article is written by authors Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim who also wrote the book Scorecasting.  The authors use statistics to back their claims and as they say the numbers speak for themselves.  Once I have time to read "The Fix is In", I will most likely pick this up next.

Playboy Explores the National Fix League (NFL)

Matthew Kredell of Playboy recently explored the world of gambling and the NFL or what some of us like to call the National Fix League. He explores both sides of the table, those who want NFL gambling legalized and those who don't (the NFL). The NFL claims they don't want their games legalized for betting because they maintain integrity and fear this would lead to corruption. They also claim in their history not one game has been fixed. Those are both complete laughers to me. They also mention something I have read quite a few times that they have contacts at the Vegas sports books so they can be notified of irregular betting patterns or possible corruption. I laugh at this too. I think these contacts feed them the information on where the money is so they can manipulate the outcomes of these games. NFL and casino owners have so much power and money they don't want to share it. Do you think these bigwigs would let that kind of money be left to chance? NFL teams and casinos should not have any communication what so ever if they want integrity. If NFL gambling were legalized they can't control all the winnings they rake in every year. Talk about greed! If it was legalized state deficits could be reduced, jobs would be created and the teams themselves could make more money than ever. Although this article is not too detailed it does bring up some good points. Check out this article and worse case scenario you have some Playboy bunnies to check out so you really can't go wrong.