09-22-2017, 08:49 PM
(09-22-2017, 03:49 PM)BMK Wrote: I'm going to take a different point of view.......The NFL isn't rigged or scripted. Refs don't hold a meeting before the game with some NFL exec to find out who's supposed to win that day.
I can't wait for the Bengals to finally win a couple of playoff games which will make all this nonsense stop. The day is quickly approaching that in Pgh, Ben will retire, Bell will be gone, etc and they will slip into mediocrity for a while. At the same time, the Bengals will have a new coaching staff, new attitude and focus and trade places with the steelers.....and then all the talk of games being fixed, the league not wanting us to win, the refs let all the other teams cheat when we play them, blah blah blah, will miraculously disappear.
The thing I don't understand is if you truly believe the league is fixed, then you have to also believe the Bengals players are in on it. In 2015 we had the playoff game won. The ONLY possible explanation for the actions of Hill, Burfict, etc at that point in the game is that they were told on the sideline that "the wrong team is winning...we're running out of time, fix it"....so they did.
So my question is, if you know the league is scripted or fixed, and that the Bengals have to be in on it, why on earth would you invest the time and emotion on them? Or do you believe everyone else is in on it, except the Bengals? Or do you believe the Bengal players, after spending most of their lives competing and training to be in the NFL, know and accept that they have no choice but to lose to certain teams.....oh and keep it all a big secret?
It's all pretty ridiculous. There's ALWAYS going to be bad calls. It's a fast game. As of last week, the steelers were the 1st or 2nd most penalized team in the NFL...weird stat for a so called "favored", big market team. (I believe the Pittsburgh market is equal to or smaller than Cincinnati.) BTW, I only use Pit as a reference point because, well, everyone else here seems to.
The NFL isn't rigged, for the same reason many here say that it is...money. Imagine all the bazillions of dollars of sponsorship money and tv money that would bolt if it came out that the league was determining or influencing games. And it's pretty standard contract language that allows any sponsor or network to do so under those circumstances. Nike, Pepsi, All the car makers, etc.etc, etc would be gone in a heartbeat. The only channel you could watch games on would be the NFL channel, but why bother if you already know that the game has a pre-determined outcome? Plenty of things more worthwhile to do.
Just my humble opinion.
This is the most logical response and is most likely true.
However, I personally think the game is biased. I watched years of football without seeing Bengal games, and then years of JUST Bengal games. There is definitely a difference between the two. I usually try to chalk it up to bad luck, but sometimes the games are straight up fishy. It doesn't help that the fishy games are always against big market teams.... maybe it is just a huge coincidence...
OR
The league is determined by the amount of money teams bring in. It's pretty crazy if you look at jersey sale trends and then look at corresponding records. More often than not, the highest selling jersey teams start to rise up the charts. Drafting noteable players who can bring in those sales drive interest in the NFL, and getting these teams to win equals more sales.
-BeastMode puts Seattle on the map, all of the sudden Seattle is a big market, they have been 'good' ever since. Sherman, Wilson, Lynch, all positive dollar sales
-Cowboys draft Elliot, Elliot equals sales, Cowboys have stellar season
-Lets see what happens with Watson and the Texans... highest jersey sales since the draft? I smell a Houston playoff push
-Remember when Palmer moved to Arizona and they drafted Tyrann Mathieu, woah, suddenly sales are up and Arizona is looking like a playoff team
-Steelers are a big seller, Big Ben, AB, Bell... why not keep them up there, people will buy that shit up.
-People get excited about Carr and others at Oakland, jersey sales are up. The team is looking good. Bring in Lynch, big boost in sales, Raiders look unstoppable.
-Even with the Bengals, AJ Green and Dalton come in, jersey sales are up! Lets get them to the playoffs. As the interest in Dalton/Green and the Bengals diminished, the team is now doing much worse. They haven't drafted anyone that boosts jersey sales by a substantial amount, so no change in the output. Did any of you pick up a Ross jersey after the draft? Ya, me neither
Granted, I think all of this is highly skeptical and not true. I agree with what you said BMK, but at the same time, I don't think it's TOO farfetched to think something is up.
As for your Steelers fading and Bengals rising scenario... it depends! If the Bengals draft some high profile players who can sell jerseys, I expect the Bengals to get a bit more preferential treatment. If the Steelers land some QB who can sell jerseys (most likely will as Steeler fans will support the new QB), I expect the Steelers to stay fairly relevant. It's all market trends my friend.
