People, I am a believer that most people and businesses want to do things right. I'm not big on conspiracy theories. I hold out hope that right is always good. If you watched the Steelers host the Chargers on Sunday and had a bet on the game, you know it ended 11-10 Steelers -- and the Steelers were favored by 4.5 points. The Steelers scored a legal touchdown by Troy Polamalu on the games’ last play that would have covered the spread. The naked eye could see that there was nothing that should have prevented the TD from counting. Did I mention there was supposedly a $65-million swing to the sports books, which means that those who bet on the Steelers were screwed over and probably do believe that gambling results affect the game. I don't blame them.
Marc Lawrence thinks the media has it all wrong and he points out why, with his reactions. "It is certainly illuminating to see influential media people reporting as fact stuff that is simply made up. And that makes you wonder what else we see reported in these venues is simply just tossed out there with no concern as to its accuracy and validity." Read Marc's complete breakdown of the controversy here.
Allegedly, between 64-70 percent of the money bet was on Pittsburgh to cover. The officials had replay, which they didn't need to make that elementary call. The announcers were convinced it was a touchdown and both teams’ players knew it was a touchdown. The only people who missed the call were those in charge of the game, the officials. Now how can a group on the field and in the booth miss that call? Was it just too cold out for them to see it right? Was there flight going to leave them in Pittsburgh? Did they need to be at their other jobs early the next morning, so their mind was on a sales force instead of the hobby of refereeing an NFL game?
The officials have acknowledged they messed up. So are they or the NFL going to pay the money the bettors so rightfully earned? I do not bet, but I would be pissed and outraged as well. It is one thing for a player to miss a tackle and cost a team a TD and, in turn, a bettor losing money on the spread. It is entirely inexcusable to miss a play that could have been controlled and fixed. This is a major black eye for the NFL and an empty wallet for Steelers bettors. “I'm sorry,” is not enough in this case.
Sid Rosenberg's Spectactablog notes: "While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fines his players and suspends others, the outcomes of his games are being decided incorrectly by his officials." Read more about Sid's thoughts on the controversy here.
In light of what happened with the betting scandal in the NBA, why should we now just assume that the NFL is clean? That every man has integrity and character? Hell, we can catch a man cheat on camera at a casino, but we can't get a replay or video right on a football field? Pathetic!
It also may not be conspiracy. When something like this happens,with all the money involved, with a brutal economy and big-time sports becoming a bigger business, how can we say someone isn't on the take or on the fix?
I still choose to err on the side of the NFL's integrity. Unfortunately, there are desperate men out there and maybe -- just maybe – Sunday’s Chargers-Steelers debacle forced certain people to take desperate measures. Sad that we’ll even consider this, but we must.
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