02-14-2022, 11:10 PM
(02-14-2022, 09:57 PM)Headless Horseman Wrote: Interesting discussion, for sure....
The truth is the NFL is rigged and has been for almost two decades now. Scripted? Doubt it. Rigged? Without a doubt. They are not in the business of selling sporting events, they are in the business of telling stories. Last night? It was blatant as can be all the way from the Pre-game show throughout the game. The entire even was all Los Trashelas, all the time. The entire event from top to bottom was one huge circlejerk for the homeless capital of the United States.
Here is where people ask what Goodell's reasoning is. It is simple: Goodell has wanted a team in L.A. since he was hired. It has been his wet dream, the cash cow of cash cows for the NFL in his eyes. The problem is what the problem has always been with L.A., it is a fairweather, fake as hell fanbase. Always has been. So far the L.A. 3.0. experiment has been failure number 3.0..10 billion dollars spent on the market and the fanbase isn't showing up.
What really hurt Goodells plans was Marc Davis snubbing his nose at the NFL and building the Raiders a new stadium in Las Vegas, only a few hours from L.A. and within the "Los Angeles market." Why do you think he leaked those Gruden emails and tried to sink the Raiders? Let's be real here. The old Los Angeles Raiders fans are making the commute to Vegas to support the Raiders. Goodell was counting on them to jump bandwagons.
This entire event was all about the Rams and Goodell trying to build his brand. There was zero chance, none at all that he wasn't going to have the officials effect the game if need be to have the Rams house the Fraudbardi trophy in their home stadium. Again, he blew 10 billion dollars on the "L.A. Rams" brand and is desperate for a return on investment. The Rams had to "win" the story the NFL spent all day yesterday trying to tell. There was no other way.
The referees threw the game. That is blatant and obvious. It is also disappointing.
I'm not sure rigging is the right term. Maybe rigged if the right opportunity presents itself. What I mean by that is if you turn the entire game around and flip flop it to where it was Cincy driving for the winning score it's possible the false start gets called or the holding doesn't get called because I think the media had already ordained Stafford and the Rams as the team most deserving...because of what they did to get the talent there TO win it. I just think in some games it really is ordained that refs favor certain teams when it comes to questionable calls. The unnecessary roughness. Think about it....all the way back against Pitts with Joey Porter being on the field and not getting flagged when Burfect and Jones did. The final play had Donald been called offsides (which he clearly was) then that's a free play rather than the end of the game. No call even though it had to be as clear as day to the line judge who is LOOKING for those things. The Rams game winning drive.....had the false start been called Taylor would have turned it down and it would have been fourth down and goal, instead no false start was called and holding was called on the same play. Just too many things over the years that are too obvious that make me think the refs "know" when to swallow the whistle and "when" to blow it. That being said the Bengals don't give the refs the opportunity had they had just a mediocre offensive line in the second half. It is what it is
