Before the NFC divisional playoff game between the L.
A. Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January
23, there was a decision made officially by executives
in the NFL commissioner’s office to have the
Buccaneers be awarded the trophy for Super Bowl LVI,
scheduled for February 13, 2022. The decision came
with plans to rig games so that the Buccaneers would
“win” every game on up and including to the Super
Bowl. This means that the involved coaches, players
and management would need to be “casually”
informed, including the most important part; the
conclusion. This would require subtle channels of
communication without the risk of leaking to the press
or the fans.
And so, there was a reason for the sudden surge of
bundles by the Rams in the final 25 minutes of the
game after having been leading 27 to 3. Unfortunately
for the Buccaneers, the field goal kicker was not
properly informed. Just before the end of the 4th
quarter, the score was tied at 27. The Rams’ oblivious
kicker gave it his best kick, scoring the winning field
goal for the Rams and thus, sabotaging the original
plan of having the Buccaneers receive the trophy of the
upcoming Super Bowl, which was the original plan of
NFL commissioner’s office, the Vegas line and all the
wagers placed. Yet, it was not the first time a plan to rig
a game has been made, but it is the first time in recent
memory that a plan to rig a professional football game
had gone wrong.
As nice as it is for fans to see exciting football or any
exciting team sport, it’s also nice for gamblers and
other money-wagers to see the plans of a rigged plan
come undone. As in the Rams/Buccaneers game, if
you are going to rig a game, the conclusion is the most
important part. However, the questions are this. Is
every player and coach informed of the plan to a
game? Are players who train so hard for the game
willing to throw a game for the sake of a fixed plan? Do
athletes ever speak out about throwing a game?
I have been a team sports fan all my life. As the times
have changed, I have come to notice how strange
things are happening with the turning of games, lots of
times in baseball, football and basketball. But
nowadays, there is so much betting on team sports that
it is influencing these games in bad ways.
It’s not only single games being rigged. Some teams
are throwing games, even whole seasons away in an
effort to get higher draft picks. Rigged games are
taking the incentive away from athletes who can get
paid so much just by throwing a game.
There was a time when sports were for the fans, but
now it’s for the gamblers. If gamblers aren’t good
enough to know their sports, executives running the
leagues are under pressure to rig sports games and
call it “entertainment”. Is MLB, the NFL or the NB on
route to becoming like the WWE? The WWE used to
be called the WWF before it was found to be fake
wrestling?
We need to do away with sports gambling, as it is ruing
many sports games which sports fans take seriously as
a sport. We also need to do away with overpaid
athletes, executives and coaches and it is altering their
behavior in countless ways (not all mentioned in this
passage).
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