Will SuperBowl Officials Manipulate Game?

This is a conspiracy theory... but I think the question has some merit. We all know how officials can control the outcome of a sporting event. Im convinced that the NBA officials were instructed by the powers that be to influence the Golden State / Cleveland Championship series to ensure that LeBron got another ring. We saw how Tim Donaghy (ex NBA Official) manipulated games for his own benefit by betting on the games he officiated.... but these are for a different time and place.

Although I dont necessarily think NFL officials partake in fixing games, because they are paid fairly well, it wouldnt surprise me if they did. We know that Roger Goodell has major beef with New England and Tom Brady. So, could it be possible for certain instructions to be handed down to the officials to ensure the outcome be in Roger's favor? We can do all the analyzing we want on the teams and their offense and defense, etc, but if the officials are swaying toward one team for victory, this could have a major impact on the outcome of the game.

So, the question is: Do you think the officials will be favoring Atlanta in Superbowl?

Why do you think Tom Brady has to deploy his counter-cheats? All makes sense now, huh? ::tinfoil::

Quote: Romes

Why do you think Tom Brady has to deploy his counter-cheats? All makes sense now, huh? ::tinfoil::

So, how firmly do you believe that they will impact this game? Would you bet on Atlanta or New England ?

I like to think I take integrity more serious than most, and have a host of examples spanning from leaving lucrative employment to playing it 100% in family court to prop up my claims. I have done and will continue to do things very harmful to my well being to preserve my own integrity, and I'd like to believe that those in a position of power, like an NFL ref, have the same constitution.

That said, I'd sell my own mother into sex slavery to be able to ref an NE game, just to allow every head hunting hit list on Brady to be completed, and completed well. And often. Continuous. Eternal.

Last chance for severe, permanent, life altering injury. Let us all pray to the Spirit of Ed Hochuli that it is so this time around.

(For those with no sense of humor, no, this isn't serious. I know Ed Hochuli isn't dead ;))

Quote: Face

I like to think I take integrity more serious than most, and have a host of examples spanning from leaving lucrative employment to playing it 100% in family court to prop up my claims. I have done and will continue to do things very harmful to my well being to preserve my own integrity, and I'd like to believe that those in a position of power, like an NFL ref, have the same constitution.

That said, I'd sell my own mother into sex slavery to be able to ref an NE game, just to allow every head hunting hit list on Brady to be completed, and completed well. And often. Continuous. Eternal.

Last chance for severe, permanent, life altering injury. Let us all pray to the Spirit of Ed Hochuli that it is so this time around.

(For those with no sense of humor, no, this isn't serious. I know Ed Hochuli isn't dead ;))

LMAO.... not that is fricken hilarious! I thought you were going to go on an integrity / righteous rant after reading the first few lines. I purposely did not mention the word integrity in the poll post because.... well, where there is big money at stake, and powerful egos involved.. I leave not stone unturned.

I was having a bit of fun with my first response, but if you want a real response:

Why would the ref's cheat? Do you know how much senior refs in the NFL make per year??? ~$200k/year with bonuses for post season games (~$50k for the super bowl). That's the NFL bribing them $50,000 to just call the game fair with no risk of penalty to them. Why would they cheat at that point? To that extent, if they DID try to cheat that STILL doesn't guarantee anything. It's got to be somewhat of a close play to not just get overturned and make it obvious you're cheating too. If brady bombs a touchdown pass 5 times you can't just call all 5 of them back... They're still going to score and play most of the game on their own.

Quote: WatchMeWin

LMAO.... not that is fricken hilarious! I thought you were going to go on an integrity / righteous rant after reading the first few lines. I purposely did not mention the word integrity in the poll post because.... well, where there is big money at stake, and powerful egos involved.. I leave not stone unturned.

Thanks =)

FWIW, I totally agree. Big money + ego = anything can happen. I like to believe people are generally good, and as a life long athlete, I often look at these things as being more important than they actual are. Not so serious to call it a "religion", but enough a purist to feel that it is too sacred to soil it.

Then again, these are people we're talking about, and it's a YUUUUUUGE game. The type of game where "feigned ignorance", aka "I didn't see it" done just once could net a dirty ref 5 figures if not more. And as a ref, "I didn't see it" is a very easy and in fact oft occurring SNAFU in any game. Given that, I'm not sure you can afford any sort of certainty. It really does revolve around the integrity of just 4 men.

Yeah, but you know how games can come down to just a few calls. Pass interference in Falcons favor. Non PI call in Falcons Favor. 3rd down calls going in Falcons favor. It very well could be determined by officials in a game like this.... Will it be done? ..that is what I am struggling with. I tend to think and hope not, but I have some big dollars at stake so Im analyzing EVERYTHING, which is probably going to be my downfall. lol Pats and Over is my almost final decision.

As some of you may know I support Southampton FC ("Saints" in the English Premier League) and have always wondered about a few matches when we were in lower divisions. In soccer it is possible for the referee, and to a limited extent assistants (linesmen), to bias close decisions. However in the Premiership all matches are shown on TV (maybe not live in the UK, but other countries somewhere have them), so there are pundits calling anything strange. There is an end-of-day program (BBC:Match Of The Day) which is very popular so would also highlight anything wrong.

In contrast the NFL has multiple people helping the referee, and some decisions can be referred - in the last 2 minutes it seems anything questionable is reviewed. Another good rule is any scoring played is automatically reviewed.

Thus my feeling, with so many other people involved, is that it is less likely for one individual to be deliberately biassed or bribed as the others would always sense something and override the bad decision.

Good point, CP.... I agree in principle that one individual would not be able to influence the game, but, collectively, multiple officials at the wink/nudge direction of the top NFL executive(s) could certainly influence the outcome.

This is a big deal for Roger and the NFL.... this is a smack in their face if NE wins. We shall see.....

There are shenanigans going on at the "team" level. Deflating balls, video surveillance, interfering with comm systems... (funny how the Patriots have been involved with all of these...).

However, I don't think the ref's are working "consciously" to give the Falcons a break. That being said, the officiating is far from perfect. Part of the coaches work is to develop relationships with the officials so that those officials will be inclined to make "balancing" calls to make up for the inevitable blown calls that occur over the course of the game. If they called everything they saw, there would be a penalty on every play. In fact, in the early rounds of the playoffs, I heard the announcers discussing that there was less "let them play" swallowed whistles in the playoffs this year due to a directive from the NFL head office in the interest of player safety.

The officiating can influence the score. Some calls, and non-calls, cannot be challenged. Refs have the ability to influence the stoppage of the clock, allowing rest and substitution. There seems to be a lot of discretion in spotting the ball after kicks, as well as what seems like an eternity before decisions on loose ball recoveries. If there was a rogue out there, it would not be easy to see while the game was going on, but the post mortem analysis after the game should bring any discrepancy to light.

I think you should expect consistent performance from the officials, so their influence on the sides will be negligible, but if there are a bunch of QB protection and Pass Interference calls, the total will be higher, as the Defense gives up penalties instead of getting sacks.

Quote: WatchMeWin

Good point, CP.... I agree in principle that one individual would not be able to influence the game, but, collectively, multiple officials at the wink/nudge direction of the top NFL executive(s) could certainly influence the outcome.

This is a big deal for Roger and the NFL.... this is a smack in their face if NE wins. We shall see.....

Devil's Advocate...

While they certainly have tons of oversight, a very good observation by Mr Patrick, this forum has taught me there is still a pretty damn good opportunity for influence.

Certainly you couldn't simply call a touchdown out of bounds, due to the myriad angles and mandatory replays. But I posit that you could absolutely hamstring a team based on the way you call. For instance, I call a very loose game. Much like my participation here, I generally try to "let the boys play", meaning I'll call all the egregious stuff but will let slide as many close calls as I can. Now, if one of the teams' strengths is physical play and intimidation, they would have an advantage in my games as they can really uncork that trait with less fear of punishment. But if a team of fancy fellas slips me a sixer of Blue Light, suddenly I'm Mr. By-the-Book, calling it literally by the manual. Now their physical dominance is not only neutered, but made a liability.

Just as a random example because I don't follow football, but say a team's strength is their receivers. They got the big strong types who use their physical presence to out muscle folks for the ball. All I need do is tighten up my calls on hand play. I can call it straight and true, even, being just as tough against their opponents. But with that tighter rule, it certainly hurts the team who relies on this aspect for their success, while their opponent who may be strong in the running game is affected not at all.

Completely fair, completely true, and undetectable. But still a manufactured influence.

Trust nothing.

You people are crazy there is nothing but integrity in football.

A quarterback making $20 million a year would never let the air out of a football.

The most renown coach in the NFL would never secretly videotape the other teams practice.

It's all just conspiracy because everybody hates New England.

Quote: Face

Devil's Advocate...

While they certainly have tons of oversight, a very good observation by Mr Patrick, this forum has taught me there is still a pretty damn good opportunity for influence.

Certainly you couldn't simply call a touchdown out of bounds, due to the myriad angles and mandatory replays. But I posit that you could absolutely hamstring a team based on the way you call. For instance, I call a very loose game. Much like my participation here, I generally try to "let the boys play", meaning I'll call all the egregious stuff but will let slide as many close calls as I can. Now, if one of the teams' strengths is physical play and intimidation, they would have an advantage in my games as they can really uncork that trait with less fear of punishment. But if a team of fancy fellas slips me a sixer of Blue Light, suddenly I'm Mr. By-the-Book, calling it literally by the manual. Now their physical dominance is not only neutered, but made a liability.

Just as a random example because I don't follow football, but say a team's strength is their receivers. They got the big strong types who use their physical presence to out muscle folks for the ball. All I need do is tighten up my calls on hand play. I can call it straight and true, even, being just as tough against their opponents. But with that tighter rule, it certainly hurts the team who relies on this aspect for their success, while their opponent who may be strong in the running game is affected not at all.

Completely fair, completely true, and undetectable. But still a manufactured influence.

Trust nothing.

Agree... Trust nothing and no one when big money and/or powerful egos are involved. ...and always look out for those fancy fellas slipping some mates a sixer of blue light!

Quote: WatchMeWin

We know that Roger Goodell has major beef with New England and Tom Brady. So, could it be possible for certain instructions to be handed down to the officials to ensure the outcome be in Roger's favor?

Patriots continuing their dynasty means more money to the league than a Falcons win. And that's what Goodell and the other 30 teams care about most. If the NFL and Goodell were going to pick their own Golden Child in this game it is just as likely to be New England, not Atlanta.

(If there is any influence like this in the NBA it is for the sole purpose of having a series go longer, not about caring who wins)

Tom Brady is a great quarterback. The game will be fair and square. Hulk Hogan isn't going to run out and body slam anybody, like the WWE. Tickets are $1000 less resale because Atlanta is there. They don't want them there, but they made it, against the best profit dreams. Water under the bridge, deflategate.

Ask Cam Newton what he thinks of the refs integrity.

How much cheating do you all have to see or read about in professional and collegiate sports for you all to wake up? Not just in pro sports but also in amateur sports. Just basically in life period. All of this stuff is just to pacify the masses so they don't have some crazy uprising to overthrow the state. Don't you know that even if you pay a guy really well and I mean really well... he is still gonna steal a little more for himself, right? I just don't understand how all of you well educated upstanding citizens think the system or life is some level playing ground. It is all one big farce or set up. We all have been lied to our whole lives from the get go. I never bought that racket about Santa Claus and I told my 7 year old friend about it. His mother had me in her room telling me that we have to lie about it cause its fun or something like that. This was the woman who took me to church every Sunday. I guess Jesus was standing behind her telling her that this lie was a good lie. Next they had me talk to the pastor who told me that having a Halloween Party in the basement of the church was a good thing and having everyone dress up as devils and goblins was to scare away the Evil and Demons. I was like 8 and I knew that was some BS.

Now you all want to tell me how there is no cheating because players and refs are making too much money to cheat.

I want to go to the next WoV meeting in Vegas and get friendly with all of you suckers :)

No, sir! Corruption charges! Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.

“Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the free-enterprise system.” ― Milton Friedman

It gets better after this passage in the short video.

Where in the world are you gonna find these angels to help organize society for us... I don't even trust you to do that!
― Milton Friedman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

Quote: DRich

You people are crazy there is nothing but integrity in football.

A quarterback making $20 million a year would never let the air out of a football...

Because he'll get the ball boy to do. Anyone smart gets a "fall guy."

A player or coach cheating to improve their chances of winning is risking relatively little.

Refs who make "make up calls," favor the famous players or home team, or who tend to let the team driving to tie up the game get away with more holds risk very little and are probably just giving us what we want.

If the NBA Commish actually asked the refs to let Lebron win, they'd be risking the integrity of the game in a broader sense. Like, if it ever came out, people would take the NBA less seriously for the next 25 years and they'd lose a lot of money. But I'm sure the refs are consciously and subconsciously influenced by what makes for the most appealing narrative, and what will get the best ratings.

If they cheat for gambling purposes, they are risking their careers, legacy and perhaps most importantly their freedom.