We joke about how the NFL has a script for the season. But maybe it's not a joke?

[KillerKat]

15 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

Witnessing and FEELING the NFL bend us over and grab our ankles in Super Bowl 50 in real-time…  that was the turning point for me.  I have not viewed the NFL, or pro sports for that matter, the same, ever since.  Look at the NBA.  You’re talking about astronomical odds for the #1 pick on the teams in the back-end of it.  The Mavericks mysteriously and inexplicably out of nowhere trade their franchise players - one of the biggest stars in the league, and an international superstar…  and of all places, to the LA Lakers, with LeBron.  They get back an oft-injured Anthony Davis.  Their team, including Davis, end up getting injured to the point they barely have enough healthy players to play games as the year goes on.  Their GM takes a ton of heat and never really offers a reasonable, not plausible explanation as to why they did the trade in the first place.  He also states that they never took any calls from any other teams, they never fielded any other offers for Luka, and they didn’t even take the offer elsewhere to see what other teams offered.  Absolutely no due diligence.  Now ask yourself, why would a team do that?  Not just in sports, why would any business do such a thing?  Not maximizing your return?  Not doing due diligence?  Fast forward a couple months…  the GM has been lambasted, ridiculed, and belittled the entire time since.  The lottery comes around, and the Mavs, who were just in the NBA Finals the year before, barely miss the playoffs due to all of their injuries.  Davis, Kyrie Irving, etc., all their best players were injured.  They had the smallest mathematical chance at getting the #1 pick.  Guess who got the #1 pick?

The Mavericks.  So this plays out like the NBA asked the Mavs to do them a solid.  One of their blue-blood, prestigious, big market franchises needed a bump with LeBron getting older.  LA throws together a garbage package, sending them an aging star and some garbage picks for one of the biggest stars and historically one of the most incredible offensive players in NBA history, and the NBA ensures the Mavs will beat powerball odds and get the #1 pick, when it just so happens that Cooper Flagg, projected to be a generational talent, is coming out in the draft.  You scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours.

Also, who got the #2 pick?  The Spurs.  A year after obtaining the #1 pick to acquire another touted generational talent in Wembanyama, after a 20+ year run as one of the most successful NBA dynasties in history.  They suddenly have their first bad year, get the #1 pick ahead of us, the Hornets (after wallowing in mediocrity for decades), and get Wemby, and now get the #2 pick the following year.  
 

There was talk here earlier in the offseason about things lining up for us to go to the Super Bowl this year, and at the time, I half jokingly said I could see it, as the patsy for Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson’s redemption arc.  Again, after all of the poo that happened in Super Bowl 50, then watching the refs stand by idly over the next two years while week after week our opponents took cheap shot after illegal cheap shot on our once-in-a-lifetime talent in Cam Newton…  that poo took a lot of the heart out of it for me.  I’ve said for years, if big money involved, corruption is inherent.  There’s no way around it.  I’ve accepted that every professional sport is influenced by the money.  And storylines bring big money.  It has become purely entertainment with a small pinch of competition.  At least the WWE tells you exactly what they are, and thus, you can enjoy it for what it is.  The NFL and NBA specifically, specialize in crushing the hearts of fans who believe it’s still real and untainted.  fug Goodell and Silver.

Week 1 of 2016 is when I decided to stop watching non-panther football games after the head hunting continued. Other people should do the same.

[KillerKat]

14 hours ago, Admiral Ackbar said:

The games, seasons, storylines, etc. are 100% influenced or pushed to go a certain way. There are too many instances of a game being decided by a "bad call" like roughing the passer or pass interference. Too many ambiguous calls on things like;

- whats a catch? 

- was it a late hit?

- was it pass intereferance?

- was the ball place properly on the correct spot?

etc, etc, etc....this could go on forever. Too easy to throw a flag when the game isnt going the way it should and make up some subjective, bullshit penalty.

And they have to take money on the side, how could you not? There is too much money in Vegas to not try to dictate how the games are going to go. Business is too big now to not make sure things go the way you want it, you dont leave a 24 BILLION in revenue up to chance lol.

Yes the rules are kept in a gray area so that the refs can push the narrative. I am 100% sold on this.

[OneBadCat]

6 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

I’ve said it a million times since, but it’s impossible to keep them from affecting the game.  In SB50, they literally took the game from us, and they did it early.  Cotchery’s no-catch?  The miraculous amount of times we converted for a first down only to have it suddenly called back make it a 3rd down and 15+ against the best defense in the league that specialized in rushing the passer and man coverage on the back end?  And you do that enough times, you kill the morale and confidence of the team you’re doing it against.  It’s telling the one team “you can do whatever with impunity” and the other “you can’t do whatever they’re allowed to do.”  It changes the aggression level.  It essentially neuters one team and allows the other to do whatever the fug they want.  Imagine you call the police for help and they get there and tell you to sit still while the other party beats the poo out of you and you can’t defend yourself.  That’s what the officials do.  There is no way to avoid them affecting the game.  And more often than not, it’s the most subjective calls they use to do so.  Even in SB50…  you saw the Broncos commit more egregious penalties than anything we did, and barely any of it was called.  Their OL was holding all fuging game and the refs did nothing.  We already had our work cut out for us against two future HOF edge rushers and the refs played to their advantage with that.  From what I remember, both Oher and Remmers were called for holding at various times and their hands were in the INSIDE of the defender.  It was garbage, but all by design.

Also, if there is any video of it anywhere, go look at what the refs did against us back in 2013 against SF.  The fix was in there too.  They stepped in early and often and ensured we knew we were not allowed to play with the same aggression or intensity SF was.  It was disgusting as well.

at this point, I hope Vince McMahon, errr, I mean Goodell just finally scripts us to win it, because this poo is not won via competition or off merit.

The refs in SB 50 100% rigged it for Mannings retirement. Clete Blakeman and the replay official for the game are verifiable Broncos fans.

[T-Wazzle]

My question would be if you truly believe its scripted or rigged...why watch/follow it?

[SmokinwithWilly]

There was a game many years ago, I want to say it was GB and Atl when one team went for 2 with 2 seconds to go up by 4. They converted. The only thing this did was cover the spread and saved Vegas from losing 300 million. It made no sense to the point the announcers were calling it out and were pointing out covering the spread. I was a much younger guy then, but that was my first clue that there was outside influence in this game. 

[Zaximus]

24 minutes ago, T-Wazzle said:

My question would be if you truly believe its scripted or rigged...why watch/follow it?

It can still be enjoyable.  I don't think the players are in on it.  I mean, I think they probably understand the "business" but they are trying.  So it's fun to watch them.  But I admit I'm not even close to emotionally invested as I was before the SB50.  It also just happens it's usually on a Sunday and I don't have much going on anyway.  I really think it's just one head ref that can push a game the way he wants it from instructions from the man upstairs.  Why else do they keep bad refs?   I don't think it always works out when they try to push the game though but more often than not it works.  Sometimes a team can beat the refs and the opposing team but it's rare.

[Gapanthersfan]

7 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

I had started typing my post hours ago and didn’t finish it and just came back to finish it, posted it, then saw yours and saw we were pretty much saying the same thing - even the games that stick out to us most.  I don’t think a lot of people remember that SF playoff game, but I felt like I had just got mugged in broad daylight.  I remember them calling Mitchell for unnecessary roughness, and then I remember watching Boldin take a super late cheap shot, dead in front of the ref and then showing him watching the whole thing in replay…  the refs let them have a fuging field day and didn’t do jack poo, but if we so much as breathed the wrong way it was fuging 15 yards.  Each team playing under two completely different sets of rules.  poo hurt.  I was enraged.  I’ve never went back to watch either that game or SB50 and never will.  fuging robbery.

It was completely disgusting and the most obvious fix I’ve ever witnessed. Deflating. It’s probably gone on for decades but high def TV has truly outed the egregious ‘officiating’. When was the last time a small market team was allowed to win a SB? 

Offensive holding is it, and it’s so predictable.

2nd and 7 turns in to 2nd and 17. Defense pins their ears back, covers the slot guy and TE roaming the middle, and watches for the WR/RB screen. D line needs to maintain gap integrity. The deep shot to the WR down the sideline is a low percentage play so no real worry there. Most average O lines won’t be able to convert. 

Loser getting too close to FG range in a close game? Holding. Winner needs a short field? Holding.

DCs love them some obvious passing downs. Narrows down the playbook and significantly puts the odds in their favor. Put a team in 2nd/3rd and long all day and they are NOT going to win that game. It would be interesting to do a statistical analysis of the relationship of holding calls and game outcomes. 

This is where having skill position people that can go yard on any given play is so valuable. 

[PanthersATL]

6 minutes ago, Gapanthersfan said:

 When was the last time a small market team was allowed to win a SB?  

Small Market? That would be Green Bay

Market smaller than Charlotte? Then you're talking Kansas City, Baltimore, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh...

Folks need to stop using "small market" when referring to the Panthers. It's not true when referring just to Charlotte.  It's definitely not true when combining Charlotte with additional coverage areas like Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville or Greensboro/High Point/Winston Salem

[CRA]

16 hours ago, HaricotVert said:

I wont go quite so far as to say games are rigged.  You wouldnt have to work hard to convince me there was the occasional thumb on the scale but outright rigged? nah.

 

but collusion on the rest of the "business" of football, sure.  No one really believes that the only time the 32 owners act as one is during the negotiations of the CBA do they?

the games are often influenced in certain directions.  Players also favored or worked against. 

you see it in all sports. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

40 minutes ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

There was a game many years ago, I want to say it was GB and Atl when one team went for 2 with 2 seconds to go up by 4. They converted. The only thing this did was cover the spread and saved Vegas from losing 300 million. It made no sense to the point the announcers were calling it out and were pointing out covering the spread. I was a much younger guy then, but that was my first clue that there was outside influence in this game. 

Correction. They were already up by 4 so it would have been a 5 or 6 point lead. 

[OneBadCat]

I don’t think the games are outright rigged but they are definitely nudged through bias and incompetence. And in a league with the best athletes in the world with the smallest margin of error that’s all it takes to change the outcome of a game. 
 

It doesn’t even feel like the best teams win anymore. It’s just who gets the bullshit call to take advantage of. 
 

The officials are the major problem and they certainly have a superiority complex. Remember when they made PI challengeable? They essentially boycotted it and refused to change calls. Why? Because they don’t like being told they’re wrong. 

[Gapanthersfan]

54 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Small Market? That would be Green Bay

Market smaller than Charlotte? Then you're talking Kansas City, Baltimore, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh...

Folks need to stop using "small market" when referring to the Panthers. It's not true when referring just to Charlotte.  It's definitely not true when combining Charlotte with additional coverage areas like Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville or Greensboro/High Point/Winston Salem

I was more referring to the actual following each team has. The above teams except for maybe NO have MASSIVE followings. You can go to any sports bar anywhere in the country on a Sunday and there will be all of the above teams’ jerseys represented. 

Yes, the Panthers occupy a large geographical area, but the number of people that actually care about the franchise or can name more than 5 prior players is still very small.

South Carolina is largely Clemson/SEC country and it’s not even close. There is a Panthers contingency, but it has to compete.

Like it or not, Panthers are still not all that relevant in the NFL. We’re a 30 year old team based in a transplant state that loses more often than not, has never had back to back winning seasons, no SB victories and is stuck squarely in college football country. It’s tough to grow our brand until more consistent winning goes our way. Most fans of sports teams are Luke warm bandwagoners. No one jumps on a broken down bandwagon. It’s not hopeless but until we start seeing consistent success it won’t change. 

[jtm]

Games are not rigged.  Collusion between the owners is a given in my opinion.  The NFL has too much to lose to rig a game and I don't see the upside.  Plus, with whistlblower laws, someone would tell and likely get a significant payout for blowing the whistle (pun intended haha).