Oh! Oh Oh!
Okay, tell me that the NFL officials don’t fix games. In Houston, we have the Texans totally dominating the Buffalo Bills for the first half of the game. Sure, the Texan’s star receiver, who was on track to break the 2000 yard barrier for receiving in a season went down at the end of the first quarter, but they played the whole second quarter without him. Then, after making necessary adjustments, the Bills came back to tie the game and almost send it into overtime. The Texans didn’t commit a single penalty in the first half of the game, but were suddenly beset with mental mistakes leading to penalties in the second half, That resulted in Buffalo’s comeback.
Houston and Buffalo do have a history, with Buffalo pulling the biggest comeback on a Houston team in NFL playoff history, but this a different franchise in Houston. This team is coached by one of the most disciplined former players that team has ever known. The Houston coach was known for his discipline and quick thinking on the field when he played for that team and one other, and teams don’t suddenly start making mental mistakes after halftime when they make adjustments to what the other team is doing.
Houston won on a last-second field goal, and the line on the game was one point in favor of Houston. That meant that Buffalo was thought to be the better team, because home field advantage is considered to be a three-point advantage in the NFL. Remember, if the odds makers get it exactly right, bookies collect ten percent of the money bet on the game from both sides. Oh! Oh! Oh!
In other NFL games, almost all were right at the betting line. That sounds suspicious to me. Ten or fifteen years ago an NBA official was convicted of fixing games that he officiated, because he was so far in debt to his bookie. That did not surprise me, because NBA games seem to be scripted, the same thing happens in every game. One team gets way ahead in the first half, the other team comes back in the third quarter, and it’s a tight game in the last quarter. All the games are the same.
And MLB baseball are easy to fix, too, as long as a bookie can get in the ear of the home plate umpire calling balls and strikes. I think that game fixing happens on every level, including pee wee leagues.
I say that because my son was playing in a pee wee flag football league, and his coach wanted to throw the last game of the season to get a more favorable seeding in the playoffs, in a PEE WEE FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE!!
But, folks, that’s football Texas style. Every game means something to someone, even if it really doesn’t.
This has been Joe Groan, with one man’s (correct) opinion.
(ring)
d.: Oh, hi, Cal.E. I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone earlier, but I was listening to my favorite radio personality on satellite radio, Joe Groan.
C.: I thought he wasn’t on the air anymore.
d.: He is, just not in Houston. That's why I listened to him on my satellite radio. I used to listen to him all day long when I was driving around Houston in a work truck doing a different job. He makes a lot of sense, if you ask me.
C.: What was Joe groaning about today?
d.: About how all sports games are fixed, even in pee wee leagues. I agree with him, even though I just now learned how to tune my satellite radio to the station that carries his show. It brought back old memories of when I wasn't working at The Kennel. Back then I was younger, healthier, lighter, and had better hearing. I was also faster, stronger, was in better shape. I was also lighter on my feet, could think more quickly and remember more things well….
What were we talking about again?
C.: How you shouldn’t bet on sports because all the games are fixed.
d.: Oh yes, gambling is bad, so don’t do it.
C.: This has been a public service announcement from Cal.E’s Korner.
Comments