I quit watching football like I once did. Down to a handful a year, and even those I see the manipulation from the officials. It's disgusting. They will call critical plays against one team, then make it look even by calling meaningless penalties against the other. So at the end of the game, it looks like a fairly called game. Ball placement is another trick. Some teams get n extra half yard every play, while the other is marked short. That adds up. And replays? Man, it's hard to stomach those when they look at the play and go against what EVERYONE is seeing. But hey, they had to add that element to appease the fans.
Football, while probably not 100% scripted, is still fixed in one way or the other. Sometimes it's just to keep the point spread under control. Others, to decide who wins.
I believe sports, in general, are pushed to get people to take sides, and then to accept cheating when it benefits your side. We see it every week. One team gets absolutely screwed, and the fans of the winning team make excuses for it. That carries over into real life.
THIS is one of the best and sanest replies I've read/heard on the whole subject. Do I think pro sports, esp the NFL/NBA are fixed or scripted in some ways? Why, yes, I believe that more and more...especially after this past Sunday's results. I mean, are the DS and NFL going to miss a chance to push #Swelce into the limelight at the Superb Owl? Not in a million years.
Honestly, this is Clandestine's by-far SHITTIEST hot take ever...and he really deserves an unfollow for not having a more open mind here...which makes me doubt his motives now.
I don't know how anyone could watch sports the last 20+ years and not question it. How many calls, darn near every game, are real head-scratchers? Especially the instant replays that clearly show something different than what they call. Over and over. I had to cut back, because I was getting so sick of it.
What's more, I think coaching staffs are all in on it. That's why they rarely ever go full on nuclear on some of the calls. There's a reason they get paid millions a year. It's not just to coach, but to stay quiet.
I'm with you, fren, 100%. Increasingly, like over the past 10-15 years, I have had "differing opinions" from the refs' interpretations after instant replay analyses...which is NOT to say I am a football call expert (far from it), but I sure as hell know what MY eyes see vs. the zebras down on the field. When they started all of the woke bullshit in the NFL, and condoned the kneeling during the National Anthem, is when I really checked out of the NFL for good. It is definitely "entertainment" (for some)...and not a sport. At least not the sport I grew up watching in the 70s and early 80s.
FFS, I didn't watch the entire Chiefs/Ravens game on Sunday (instead preferring to keep it muted on TV in the next room), and every other time I checked game progress an EFFING REF was on the field making a call. That told me all I needed to know about Sunday's proceedings....the end result of which confirmed my prediction to my sons and wife WEEKS ago (when they laughed me out of the room): That #Swelce and the Chiefs WOULD be in the Superb Owl.
Just control the referees and you influence the game.
I don't watch at all anymore so can't speak with authority.
I quit watching football like I once did. Down to a handful a year, and even those I see the manipulation from the officials. It's disgusting. They will call critical plays against one team, then make it look even by calling meaningless penalties against the other. So at the end of the game, it looks like a fairly called game. Ball placement is another trick. Some teams get n extra half yard every play, while the other is marked short. That adds up. And replays? Man, it's hard to stomach those when they look at the play and go against what EVERYONE is seeing. But hey, they had to add that element to appease the fans.
Football, while probably not 100% scripted, is still fixed in one way or the other. Sometimes it's just to keep the point spread under control. Others, to decide who wins.
I believe sports, in general, are pushed to get people to take sides, and then to accept cheating when it benefits your side. We see it every week. One team gets absolutely screwed, and the fans of the winning team make excuses for it. That carries over into real life.
The ultimate circus.
Nice observation.
Thanks for posting.
THIS is one of the best and sanest replies I've read/heard on the whole subject. Do I think pro sports, esp the NFL/NBA are fixed or scripted in some ways? Why, yes, I believe that more and more...especially after this past Sunday's results. I mean, are the DS and NFL going to miss a chance to push #Swelce into the limelight at the Superb Owl? Not in a million years.
Honestly, this is Clandestine's by-far SHITTIEST hot take ever...and he really deserves an unfollow for not having a more open mind here...which makes me doubt his motives now.
I don't know how anyone could watch sports the last 20+ years and not question it. How many calls, darn near every game, are real head-scratchers? Especially the instant replays that clearly show something different than what they call. Over and over. I had to cut back, because I was getting so sick of it.
What's more, I think coaching staffs are all in on it. That's why they rarely ever go full on nuclear on some of the calls. There's a reason they get paid millions a year. It's not just to coach, but to stay quiet.
I'm with you, fren, 100%. Increasingly, like over the past 10-15 years, I have had "differing opinions" from the refs' interpretations after instant replay analyses...which is NOT to say I am a football call expert (far from it), but I sure as hell know what MY eyes see vs. the zebras down on the field. When they started all of the woke bullshit in the NFL, and condoned the kneeling during the National Anthem, is when I really checked out of the NFL for good. It is definitely "entertainment" (for some)...and not a sport. At least not the sport I grew up watching in the 70s and early 80s.
FFS, I didn't watch the entire Chiefs/Ravens game on Sunday (instead preferring to keep it muted on TV in the next room), and every other time I checked game progress an EFFING REF was on the field making a call. That told me all I needed to know about Sunday's proceedings....the end result of which confirmed my prediction to my sons and wife WEEKS ago (when they laughed me out of the room): That #Swelce and the Chiefs WOULD be in the Superb Owl.