What sporting events have you thought were fixed?

I never said it was worse than Jones, but I'm amazed that anybody could buy into that official's apology regarding Holyfield.

 

Reinstate this.


(I was grabbing my crotch when I said that.)

 

Nice.

I coached my son's U-14 soccer team this past year and we had a ref do everything he could to hose us -- both before and three days after.

We're playing the team closest to us in the standings (we're in second and they're tied for third). We're up 3-0 and in control.

The other team scores a goal after a questionable free kick (our player gets tripped stealing the ball from the opponent) to make it 3-1. A few minutes later, the ref grants them the mother of all phantom PKs. When I throw my hands up in a "WTF" pose, he makes this elbow motion with his arm.

Naturally, they score on the PK, so it's 3-2 midway through the fourth quarter. A few minutes later, they're given another questionable free kick just outside the box, but my son the goalie makes this incredible save and we run the clock out.

After the game, I ask the ref (who now happens to be our regional commissioner) who committed the foul that led to the PK. He looks around, then nervously says "No. 12."

"That's funny," I say. "No. 12 wasn't in the game that quarter." Whereupon, he says. "Oh, I meant No. 11."

The opposing coach tells me he didn't see what the penalty was about. Neither did five players on my team who were in the game at that time.

Oh, but we're not through. Three days later, I get home from work to find a message on my answering machine. It's the ref calling in his role as assistant commissioner of our region, saying that I have a "three-quarter violation," meaning I didn't play every one of my players at least three quarters.

At this, I come unhinged. I get my lineup sheet, call him back and ask him which one of my players didn't play three quarters. He tells me who it was and I say "Wrong. He was in quarters 1-2-4. I can tell you who was out every quarter."

He apologizes for the mistake (the asst. ref on my side allegedly didn't record the subs), then warns me to make sure I check the ref's lineup card after every game, otherwise we'll forfeit our next game.

I was still simmering about this three weeks later. Fuckin' youth sports bullshite.

 

Maybe that ref is more of a Wheel of Fortune guy.

 

Everyone knows your team gets shitty TV ratings, though.

You need to turn Birdscribe Jr into a punk. Make him a bad guy that other teams and fans hate. Get working!

 

Au contrare, BYH. We got among the BEST ratings.

I had a damn good team; my leading scorer looks like one of the Beatles, half the U-10 girls in our region had a crush on my son and my post-game pressers were well-attended because my filter between brain and mouth was hardly engaged. ;D I led the league in fines.

As for Little Birdscribe, in the course of his keeping duties, he broke the noses of two kids and put another one during his high school season on crutches this season. A fourth had to be carried off the field during a tournament after he charged Little Bird on a loose ball.

Little Bird jumped up, got the ball, then used the kid -- half his size, BTW -- to break his fall.

Feral instincts? Check.

 

Your son IS a bad-ass.

Hmmm. Perhaps it's a bias against Jeopardy contestants.

 

The 2000 U.S. presidential election. And, might I add, I was seated about 10 feet from the election supervisor for the single most controversial precinct in that entire debacle. She was complaining that a new law mandates that a certain percentage of ballots be manually audited.

 

Just one, this time.



Even Abraham Zapruder stood aghast.

 

Still makes no sense.

When I think "fix", I think something in the works before the game begins. You are saying this guy decided "Holy Shit! I can take down the USA!" with 0:03 left . . . but he didn't decide this until the USA had taken the lead! And he decided to "do something" about it when the odds were stacked way against him. The odds of the USSR executing that play were about 25:1. Do you really think that guy was ready to restart the clock 25 times if necessary?

There was exactly ONE correct "restart" to 0:03. Russia never made three attempts at scoring with 0:03 left, despite the myth.

1. Russia inbounds, but Brazilian referee stops play because of "previous" timeout that was requested (the only real controversy).
2. Clock is reset WRONGLY (to 0:01), and horn sounds as ball is being inbounded again.
3. Clock is reset correctly, and USSR executes winning play.

Fixes usually take a little more planning than this.

 

After contact pushed him back. Not even the worst call of that game. The worst was when Haggans got away with being two steps over the line at the snap, thus drawing a holding call that negated a huge pass play down to the Steelers' 1. The very next play, interception to end the threat.

Ah, such fond memories.

 

What reason would the NFL have for fixing a Super Bowl?

A playoff game leading up to the Super Bowl? I could see it. But unless Tagliabue had some axe to grind with Holmgren or Paul Allen, what reason could he have to deliberately screw the Seahawks and/or ensure the Steelers of winning.

I agree that that game was terribly officiated, and the Seahawks had some terrible calls go against them. But why would the NFL try to rig the outcome of that game?