As much as i'd like to believe games are fixed, and believe I've seen just as much weird shit as the rest of you, I find it hard to believe that many are. Just my opinion, but if someone really wanted to fix a game, they would do it so we (the public) would never notice. They wouldn't have holding calls to nullify a game winning touchdown, or make so many obvious bad calls in the biggest game of the year when everybody is watching, it would be done on games involving numbers that don't matter to the outcome (a total for the game, or a team only wins by 10 when giving 15, etc.). I'm sure this ref isn't the only ref or player to have the mob or syndicate into them, but to say all games are rigged or vast majority are is a bit much IMO.
I can tell you from experience that I doubt very much that any baseball umpire would throw a game. They spend 10-12 years in the minors before getting to the big leagues, and then most of them don't get a job in MLB. And you make 10K-15K a year in the minors for all those years. MLB umpires start out at about 100K, get tenured, and get huge annual increases each year, along with lots of vacation time. They top out at about 300K and stay in 5 star hotels. Professional umpires are some the most conscientous people you could ever meet. And the ones making it to MLB have paid their dues and have a dream job. Even a corrupt person would have to conclude that it's a bad risk and terrible business decision to fix a game. Not saying it couldn't happen, because it did in the NBA. But I don't think it's a widespread thing in any sport, especially baseball. I have umpired at a high level, and I know 4 people that have umpired MLB games. I doubt very much that any of them have ever even known what the line was before going out to work the game. They may have never looked at a line in their life, and aren't conscious daily that people actually bet on these games. That's not part of the culture of most people.
If you are repling to my post i suggest you reread it didn't say all or many
said many key games and yes the calls are obvious...do you need to be reminded in the 2005 AFC championship game , Manning was picked by Pittsburgh's Hawaiian safety who's name i dare not try to spell. The safety fell after picjing the ball. got up, ran, and fumbled. Instant reply over turned it in one of the most blatant bs calls ever seen.I'm not even referring to "mobs" or "syndicates". Does the words sponsers mean anything? or "$500000 per minute" per commercial? if we're watching sponsers happy if not they're not.Do you think por sports has any different rules for tv than other programs? EVery single week i'm scratching my head over games i have absolutely no vested interest with reply in place.
All of which are available to millions of viewers. games in which the announcers even say "what is he talking about" week after week after week.Hope I have clarified that position.
This is a forum for sharing opinions and Respect yours. However looking at the time of your post maybe you were tired. betting lines are readily available in newspapers in the sport section."ANYONE" in a major sport that does not know that people bet on games??? Are you freaking kidding or what? Any ump or ref that ever said that would have to be completely brain dead or a big freaking liar.For you to say the don't now really makes me question anyhthing else you say. The leagues specifically send people around to all officals and players every single season specifically warning them about the hazzards of gambling and what to do if you are approached. So they better fucking know!!!!!!!Most Football officals are great guys and i have to say I have never met one that wasn't. Most baseball umpires are cocky control freak scum bags(does the name Joe West come to mind) although there are several who are great guys.maybe it's all the years of being booed and hearing "Kill the Ump"
in addition, maybe the umps make a few bucks. what they don't have relatives that need the dough? or personal problems like the rest of us?
enron execs didn't make enough? tyco execs? wall street? the list can go on forever of guys and gals (Martha Stewart?) who made plenty and need more.
What about the ump who got banished for making Sosa and McGwuire sign shit for him and then he resold to memorabilia collectors and dealers.Please the greed never stops. Hope that explains my opinion.Feel free to differ...fyi home teams giving 2.5, 6.5 or 9.5 are indeed often sucker bets. If no one was betting why would you need sucker lines?
Baseball lines are not in newspapers. And the average person, if told "the Cardinals are minus 135," would look at you funny and have no idea WTF that means. I didn't say that they didn't know that betting existed on the games. What I said was that most of them don't pay attention to it or think about it. They don't work a game, and then afterwards think "wow, some people won money on that game and some people lost money." Or "Gee, I wonder what the gamblers think about that call I made?" It's just not part of the culture to think about the gambling aspect. The average baseball fan has never even thought about placing a bet on a baseball game.
What "scum bag" umpires have you met? I will say that as an umpire, you have to be a little bit cocky to survive. You can't be intimidated by the stars of the game. If it's A-Rod or Pujols up to bat, you ring his ass up just like anybody else if the pitch is a strike. And fuck them if they don't like it. You have to have that attitude, or you'll get eaten alive. But you can have that attitude on the inside and still be courteous on the outside, and most of them are. There are some terrible umpires still in the game, but the young umpires are outstanding. It' a lot tougher to make it now than it was when Joe West and Bruce Froemming came into the game.
Sure, umpires have problems just like the rest of the world. But you have to be so good, you have to pay your dues for a lot of years, and then you have to get a huge break to get on as a MLB umpire. And minor league baseball is a tough life for those 10-12 years. Most of them have pride and integrity that could never be breached. But even if you are a corrupt person, it's a terrible business decision to risk tens of millions of dollars in future wages and pension benefits. Could it happen? Yes. Likely? No.
"Baseball lines are not in newspapers"
Really????? every single morning my paper has not only the lines of hockey football, exhition football, arena football, canadian football, baseball (not runlines) college football and basketball only, basketball and wnba.
Obviously during the respective seasons. Not sure where you live but I'm in NY. During football season it's the first thing i look for every monday or tuesday depending on pro or college.
i'm sure the same can be said in chicago. Perhaps you live in a small town.
Out of curiosity, those 10-12 yrs of making peanuts in the minors...no debts build up? i mean 10-15 k? My 19 yr old makes double that working at the mall and she still has to hit daddy up for money. Shit that wouldn't cover my wive's bills for hair and shoe products.
Really????? every single morning my paper has not only the lines of hockey football, exhition football, arena football, canadian football, baseball (not runlines) college football and basketball only, basketball and wnba.
Obviously during the respective seasons. Not sure where you live but I'm in NY. During football season it's the first thing i look for every monday or tuesday depending on pro or college.
i'm sure the same can be said in chicago. Perhaps you live in a small town.
Out of curiosity, those 10-12 yrs of making peanuts in the minors...no debts build up? i mean 10-15 k? My 19 yr old makes double that working at the mall and she still has to hit daddy up for money. Shit that wouldn't cover my wive's bills for hair and shoe products.
The system is a joke. Meals and hotel are taken care of during the season, but the salaries are so low, you have to work as a waiter or substitute teacher in the offseason just to get by. And the sad thing is, most umpires work all those years and then get released, because there is not a job for them in MLB.
The only lines in the paper around here are basketball and football. I live in a town of just over 100K.
I HEAR YA ILLINI .. SO YOU CAN SEE WHY THEY MAY BE A LITTLE BITTER OR ATLEAST HAVE A CHIP AND MAYBE EVEN FEEL THEY ARE "OWED SOMETHING".. YOU SEEM LIKE MAYBE YOU'VE HAD UMPIRING INSPIRATIONS YOURSELF. I DID IT DURING HIGH SCHOOL. MY PAPER BOY WAS THE CATCHER ON ONE TEAM. I RANG HIM UP AND THE FIRST PITCH THE NEXT INNING HE DROPPED HIS GLOVE WHEN THE BALL CAME IN.
BELIEVE ME NO TIP THAT WEEK.
EVEN YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THROUGH OUT THE YRS THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REALLY ERRATIC STRIKE ZONES WITHIN GAMES.
THANKS FOR ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE:toast:
BELIEVE ME NO TIP THAT WEEK.
EVEN YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THROUGH OUT THE YRS THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REALLY ERRATIC STRIKE ZONES WITHIN GAMES.
THANKS FOR ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE:toast:
I went to professional umpiring school and didn't make the cut. I was going to go back for a second year, and likely would have made it, but decided it wasn't worth it. I graduated college and got a job and worked college ball on the side. I made it to Div 1, then I hung up the spikes temporarily, and haven't picked them up again. I may get back into it, I may not. But I kept in touch with some guys in the minors, and some of them have worked MLB games during vacation weeks of the regular guys. The system just sucks. If they would pay 40K, which would be so easy for them to do, then people like me would work in the minors for that slim chance of making the show. It's just not feasible, though. It's a pipe dream, and you have to get very lucky way down the road to get in.
Believe me, the umpiring over the next 30 years is going to keep getting better and better. They just need to pay more, and then they would have the most qualified pool of candidates. I'll always wonder what would have happened if I'd gone back to school. There's a chance I threw away a career in MLB. But it just wasn't worth the gamble.
Believe me, the umpiring over the next 30 years is going to keep getting better and better. They just need to pay more, and then they would have the most qualified pool of candidates. I'll always wonder what would have happened if I'd gone back to school. There's a chance I threw away a career in MLB. But it just wasn't worth the gamble.
sorry i disgaree with you on this one. Its human nature to want more money, to say these guys are just happy with their 300k is plain wrong.
On top of that what about all the college refs who dont make near that kind of money? I suppose theya re happy with their paychecks.
Sorry Illini but nobody is happy with their paychecks, we all always want more.
Martha stewart has 1 or 2 billion, yet she risked her entire empire to make another 200k cheating on the stock market. Thats the greed factor that caused that, she just wants it all.
My opinion is the majority of refs in all sports are doing this on type of stuff on a daily basis.
This ref got caught by accident or else he would be doing it again come basketball season.
