If you like or pay attention to sports, you probably know that they have problems with either being terribly officiated, or maybe rigged in some cases. Recently, it seems as if officiating is at an all-time low for sports like basketball. Every week there is a terrible call that decides the fate of the game, and it ends up going viral on social media. The most recent occurrence of this was the holding call during the Superbowl that cost the Eagles the game. There’s no doubt that officiated can be awful, but are professional sports rigged? There are many fans who believe in the “NFL script”. People think that the games are set up, and that the winners are already determined before the games actually happen. Sometimes this can seem believable, like when the Minnesota Vikings came back from down 33-0. Even though an entire league being scripted is highly unlikely, it is still possible that some games are rigged, and several fans are wondering if they are.
There have been cases in the past where games have been rigged. As an example, game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento KIngs. The referee, Tim Donaghy, was confirmed to have been betting on games he officiated, and he ended up going to jail for it. It is a known fact that this game was rigged, and it cost a great team a potential championship. The Kings were the team that they called most of the fouls on. The Lakers got 40 free throws and the Kings only got 25. 27 of those free throws for the Lakers came in the fourth quarter. There were also a plethora of terrible calls during this game. This game is often looked back on as one of the worst officiated games of all time, and it was definitely rigged.
The next example is a conspiracy. The 1985 draft was the first year they introduced a lottery system to prevent tanking. This draft class contained one of the most promising big men to come out of college ever. Patrick Ewing from Georgetown was a stud, and he was almost guaranteed to be the number 1 pick, but you had to win the lottery to get him. The way the lottery worked was that Jack Wagner would place envelopes, with the team's logo inside of them, into a plastic ball. Then he would spin the ball, and after that, the commissioner, David Stern, would take out an envelope and that team would have the number 1 pick and get Ewing. This is where the conspiracy starts. Jack Wagner was part of the accounting firm that was part of the auditing firm for the ownership group of the Knicks. People believe that when he put the Knick's envelope into the ball, he bent the corner of it so David Stern could easily identify it, and give the Knicks the number 1 pick. This conspiracy theory makes sense because at the time the NBA needed a big market team to be good to take away from all the drug usage going on in the sport. Also, the Knicks were a struggling team, and they wanted New York to do well.
Those were two examples of how professional sports were seen as rigged in the past. Recently, there is a lot of buzz about the NFL script being leaked. It was said to make the Eagles win the Superbowl 37-34, but this didn’t happen. There is also a lot of talk from the players about the script. A former player from the Texans, Arain Foster, jokingly mentioned in a podcast about how the NFL is scripted. Also, in a playoff game, the Jaguars completed an improbable comeback, and their quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, said that they couldn’t have scripted it any better. This seems like a joke, but some people might actually believe it. Along with the script, there is terrible officiating lately, and a lot of people may think the holding call in the Superbowl was rigged for the Chiefs to win.
Personally, I think that professional sports aren’t rigged anymore. I think that there are questionable calls from officials from time to time, but they have a hard job. I believe that the only reason sports have been rigged is because of marketing and that they’re trying to create more revenue opportunities. I feel as if today, sports are heading in the right direction, and that less scummy things are happening.
http://https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401
Do you think professional sports like the NFL and NBA are rigged?
Do you think bad officiating is hurting sports?
Do you think we will see more conspiracy theories about how sports are rigged in the future?
Replies
Not all games are rigged but there are a lot of bad calls that can ruin a game. Bad officiating is hurting sports by making lots and lots of people mad, then everyone starts hating and lots of drama is caused, and people lose who maybe was supposed to win
I think that bad officiating is hurting sports and that bad calls can ruin a game.
I don't think some games are rigged but during the AFC game for NFL, I think it was rigged with the refs not calling anything that is noticeable. I think that bad officiating is hurting sports because they can turn the game around and get hated. But I think that in the future once people start getting older people will start to make theories.
I dont think they are rigged but I do know there can be bad calls. I think bad afficating is hurting sports because that super bowl call wasnt the best call but he also heled him a bit. I think as sports gets older people are gonna try to figure out a way to make therories.
I personally think that the NFL and NBA are not rigged. It would be too hard for those leagues, which consist of so many people, to keep quiet. Someone would fess up and tell that it was rigged. However, I do think that bad officiating is hurting sports. People are getting frustrated about some of the calls being made. You are obviously going to have a few people who try to say that a call was bad, when it really wasn't, but if it is truely a bad call, then these officials need to do better. I bet that we will see more conspiracy theories in the future.
I believe professional sports can be rigged. For example, the refs can call bad calls but it is ultimately up to them to make the decision to an extent. Like with the chiefs, a lot of people don't like the chiefs and the refs are some of those people.
I don't think that professional sports are rigged. I do think that there can be some bad calls but that doesn't mean that the whole league is rigged to make one team win over the other. I do think that bad officiating in hurting sports, this can determine how the game ends. I do think we will see more, lots of people are getting more and more into conspiracy theories because they have nothing better to do with their time.
I don't think that professional sports are rigged. I think bad officiating is hurting sports because one or two calls could ruin an entire game. I like Pat McAffe's idea of having full time officials. He said that they can go to camps over the summer and watch film too. I think that conspiracy theories will always pop up, but I don't think that they are true.
I like that idea as well because I feel like we would get better calls and fewer people complaining.
Professional sports are 100% rigged! I might be a little salty right now because of the holding call at the end of the super bowl. Some people would just say it was one missed call, until you see that it literally decided who won the superbowl. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs ran one running play which ended in their RB sliding at the one. They kneeled the ball. And beat the Eagles on a field goal. The Eagles basically didn't even have a chance to win, all because of these dumb calls. I think that there would be a lot less calls if the refs really looked at the big calls. For instance, if it is going to decide who wins, take a few minutes and actually look at it with your eyes! The NFL is for sure rigged, and maybe other sports too!
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