If this is true, you just said that you think the NFL is fixed. I personally think that that notion is ridiculous - if there was this vast conspiracy involving the league influencing referees it would have come out long ago. The fact is that a penalty can probably be called on every play in the NFL - it's a brutal sport.
I don't think it's straight fixed, but if you don't think some calls are 'influenced' by outside circumstances, you're either a blind optimist, or not watching... Hell, you even said it... A penalty can be called on almost every play... That the referees call penalties when they do is and hold the flags when they do makes it hard to not be suspicious... Who knows if it's the referees' own convictions that cause them to call the games in biased manners, or if there is some sort of outside influence, but there is no denying that iffy refereeing often occurs in favor of the "in" teams....
Another poster had answered your question better, I just went off in another direction. I don't know if it feels like a ton of bricks because passers can't throw the ball as hard in extreme cold as I noted in the other post. Players would definitely prefer playing in last week's Lambeau Field conditions than today's conditions.
If I thought the NFL was fixed, I might continue to watch the games. However, I most certainly would not spend any time writing about football on the internet.
Optimism has nothing to do with it (I don't have an emotional stake in it at all), and I watch all the time. The fact is that fans are always convinced that things are unfair against their team, and it's rarely the case. The opinions of people on this board regarding the Patriots are ridiculously biased and unreliable, and it's funny how the supposed golden boy Favre didn't seem to get all this help until he suddenly has a good team again. Maybe it's just that they're a good team, not that the NFL is orchestrating things?
Like I said, I don't think it's directly set up, but obviously if things are being called in biased ways, the calls aren't going to go for the bad teams... You're acting like I'm saying the NFL decided from Week 1 that it was going to be NE and GB in the Super Bowl. That's not it... But when a team is playing well, and the fans and media get on their bandwagon, boosting ratings, it seems that very, very often, that team starts to get the calls. It's not any different from the leeway Michael Jordan got in the NBA, or the bigger strike zones some great pitchers get in baseball (orthe smaller strikezones some great hitters are given).... Is it set up intentionally? Who knows, probably not.... But be it by design, or by simple biases by those officiating the games, the fact remains that the inconsistent calls go, more often than not, in favor of the players/teams who draw the best ratings....
I thought they weren't throwing the flag there for a second and I felt like my heart was going to puke.
While it would have been tough to pull up, he didn't even make an effort, thus the flag... He just ran right through Manning although the ball had been released way before he got there....
That's two straight big 3rd down penalties on Green Bay to keep the drive alive. Guess the refs forgot their instructions at halftime ... :wink: And now Harris again gets abused by Burress. Pack D coordinator is a moron.
Regardless of team, I guess I just look at those plays with the mindset of someone who really enjoys seeing quarterbacks get blindsided and crushed.
Fuck Al Harris. He played like shit against the Cowboys this season. He's sucking today and he pissed me off four years ago when he ended the Seahawks season (not that I'm another YanksFan1992, I just would have preferred seeing Seattle win that particular playoff game). He's like the Cowboys to me. I rarely have ever rooted for the Cowboys to win a game. On occasions when I have, they almost never won. It's amazing. I rooted for them 2 times in 1993 (a season where they would go on to win the Super Bowl) and they lost both times.
Someone should tell the Green Bay linemen that you're not allowed to go into the backfield before the ball is snapped.
