NFL-Patriots Conspiracy?

[apawllo]

This seems kind of crazy, but I thought the article was worth posting since there's a pretty big game this week.

Conspiracy theorists can start lining up behind the grassy knoll. Those waiting to cash their tickets on the New England Patriots [team stats] finishing the regular season undefeated can do the same in the Las Vegas sports books.

One group thinks it has good reason to smell something fishy. The other knows it has good reason to start celebrating early.

It won’t be official until sometime late in the evening of Dec. 29, but start spreading the news. After an escape Monday night that would have made Houdini proud, the New England Patriots [team stats] will go 16-0 and become the first team to finish a season undefeated since the 1972 Miami Dolphins [team stats].

I’m not exactly stepping out on a ledge predicting that. After all, the Patriots are 12-0 and favored by nearly two touchdowns against Pittsburgh this weekend in one of their two toughest remaining games.

There’s another reason for the Patriots to win them all, one that will loom larger with each passing Sunday. That one has conspiracy types beginning to look under every rock to see if the fix could possibly be in.

Some members of the Baltimore Ravens think so. Hard to fault them after a bizarre series of plays turned what looked like certain victory into defeat and left them fuming at both the calls and the attitude of the referees.

"It’s hard to go out there and play the Patriots and the refs at the same time," cornerback Chris McAlister said. "They put the crown on top of them. They want them to win. They won."

Laughable as that might seem in a league which prides itself on an image that everything is always on the up-and-up, it may not be too far-fetched. Almost to a man, the Ravens seemed to think it was not just fate lined up against them in Monday night’s 27-24 loss.

Just the week before the Patriots seemed to get another break when a questionable touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the first half against the Eagles wasn’t even reviewed in the booth, a decision that left Philadelphia fans steaming.

Silly? Maybe, but the NFL has only itself to blame for the fact the perception even exists.

That’s because there is money to be made if the Patriots go undefeated, big money, and not just the kind handed over the counter at the sports books.

No, the league isn’t raiding its rainy day fund to take the Patriots to run the table, a bet that is increasingly popular in Vegas these days. But a lot is riding on whether the Patriots are unbeaten going into the Dec. 29 game against the New York Giants.

The NFL wants it to be must-see TV, but to see it you must watch the league’s own NFL Network. It’s one of eight games the league kept for itself this year, and one which some 70 million households won’t be able to see because of a bitter dispute the NFL is having with cable companies.

The more valuable the game, the more leverage the NFL figures it will have to force cable operators to carry the network on the lucrative basic cable tier. By far the most valuable game left this year will almost surely be the final game of the season between the Patriots and New York Giants.

Take away the historic angle and it becomes a meaningless game between two teams most likely resting their stars for the playoffs. Make it mean something big and the NFL has a golden opportunity to force the hands of the cable companies.

The stakes are huge. If the NFL signs up all the major cable companies, it could be looking at revenues perhaps as high as $1 billion a year just for the network itself.

So do the referees have instructions to make sure the Patriots [team stats] get the benefit of the doubt on crucial calls so they remain unbeaten? Hardly.

NFL officials have historically been unimpeachable, and not even the craziest of the conspiracy crazies have any evidence that there is a Tim Donaghy out there.

Then again, might they be subtly influenced by the rich intersection of history and money to bend just a little at just the right time? Possibly.

Sure seemed that way Monday night to a lot of casual viewers when the Patriots survived three apparent fourth-down stops by Baltimore on their final drive to score the game winner on a pass that could have been called either way.

Sure seemed that way to Ravens linebacker Bart Scott, who was penalized 30 yards himself for yelling at the referees and throwing a ref’s flag after the winning touchdown.

It was a brutal loss for the Ravens, who were hoping to salvage a dismal season by winning their biggest game of the year. They might be excused for reacting the way they did, though it’s not likely the NFL will excuse what they had to say.

Fines will be had, mouths will be zipped, and the Patriots will move on.

Source: Who wants the Patriots to win? The NFL, for one - BostonHerald.com

[chukno13]

i hope they lose to the steelers this weekend

[apawllo]

yeah, me too. the sad part is, i can see this actually being true. if the nfl is looking at a 1 billion dollar profit margin (or more) if they stay undefeated up until the last game i think this makes a whole lot of sense. the steelers seem to match up well against them though. i'm definitely going to have my eye on the refs this week.

[gambino95]

What would be interesting to see is if they did go into the Giants game undefeated,
and then lost their last remaining game on "questionable" calls that went against them.

Patriot haters would be happy, cuz it would seem like "the tables got turned," now
karma is biting the Pats in the ass. The New England Pat lovers would be like, "aww
gee, well, on to the playoffs and a super bowl." Realists would know, thats the most
blatant showing by the NFL and their inner Illuminati network. The NFL thought, "hey,
we get to kill 3 birds with 1 stone, why not do the shit?"

Help Vegas (which has
to be giving hella kickbacks to the league SOMEWHERE),

give a big :1frech30: to "Bill Belly-checks" (cuz he's paid FAAAAAAAAAAAT!) & his dream of being "Don Shula, 2008"...

...AND MAKE A BILLION DOLLARS?? FUCK WHY NOT!?!?

Sounds feisable... Maybe.... if you believe in Illuminati Networks.

I do, I have a few myself.

One's called RGF.

Just watch out for the Bisexual pedo's from New Orleans

[Str8FromTheD]

i forgot about that game being on nfl network.... oh well fuck u guys i have it already from the dallas green bay game so ima be watchin...u cheap as fuck if u cant pay less than 5 dollars a month for like 10 channels including nfl network

[LDOT]

Good read, it is a complex society has....if you are on top at anything & your not a fan of them, you will hate them.

If they were a nice team, people would say, they are soft.
If they were a mean team, people would say they have no respect.

All they can do is focus on themselves. I do not believe the NFL is aiding this b/c it is bad for business. The Superbowl will draw fans & ratings if the Patriots were unbeaten or beaten.

[MrShifty]

haterz

[Alak]

Wait so people were saying the refs were against the Patriots after the Colts game, but now they're saying it's the other way around???

[finley]

I don't buy it. Personally the only problem with the officiating of the Ravens game was that the timeout that was supposedly called shouldn't of been given since it wasn't the head coach, other then that the calls were solid. Not to mention, the NFL hasn't really been showing the Pats any slack, they caught them on the video taping scandal, and it can be said that their game with the Colts favored IND a little more.

The NFL is already extremely wealthy, a billion dollar profit surely would be nice for the league but I'm certain that they wouldn't want to jeopardize the leagues integrity if something like this were to surface, especially after the most recent scandal in the NBA. The reward of 1 billion dollars isn't worth the risk for the NFL, which is already a multi-billion dollar business.

[gambino95]

Originally Posted by finley

I don't buy it. Personally the only problem with the officiating of the Ravens game was that the timeout that was supposedly called shouldn't of been given since it wasn't the head coach, other then that the calls were solid. Not to mention, the NFL hasn't really been showing the Pats any slack, they caught them on the video taping scandal, and it can be said that their game with the Colts favored IND a little more.

The NFL is already extremely wealthy, a billion dollar profit surely would be nice for the league but I'm certain that they wouldn't want to jeopardize the leagues integrity if something like this were to surface, especially after the most recent scandal in the NBA. The reward of 1 billion dollars isn't worth the risk for the NFL, which is already a multi-billion dollar business.

Agreed.... which is why I said "blatant". Th NFL Illuminati will never show themselves, too much to lose.