Did the refs purposefully keep the game close? Your opinion.

[loafoftatupu]

I don't think it is rigged in any way, but I do think that officials make choices to call the penalties at times to keep the game interesting.

That Carpenter call, I have seen that not called so many times that I couldn't begin to count. That head bob was happening by both centers even after the call for most of the game.

We know why the Hawks don't have home games on prime time and I believe that the Niners and Hawks both have seen a ton of influence from a great number of penalties this season.

The Hawks dominated that game, it was not nearly as close as the 10 points would indicate from a performance perspective.

 

[frosted21]

:roll: Forty whiners, right?

 

[Cartire]

Its not coming from the league. The league stands to lose nothing in blowouts. Its the networks.

Why would the refs care about what the networks want? They're paid by the league, not the networks. Unless you're implying there's bribery going on, and that my friend is even further fetched than a league/ref collusion.

And what do head officials do after the NFL?? Work for the networks. I said it before, Ill say it again. Bribes dont happen by exchanging money. They happen by future contracts and special favors. You cant ever catch anything illegal with that.

Watch Tripplette have a job after this.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I don't think it is rigged in any way, but I do think that officials make choices to call the penalties at times to keep the game interesting. .

Would this be rigging the game? Making calls that shouldn't be made to keep the game close?

There's no way NFL refs would jeopardize their 200k per year gigs to do something that has no bearing on their jobs, just to keep games interesting.

Unless again, you're claiming there's collusion to do so by the league.

 

[HawkFan72]

I don't think the refs did it on purpose. I think Jeff Triplette is just terrible.

This is how his games are every week.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Its not coming from the league. The league stands to lose nothing in blowouts. Its the networks.

Why would the refs care about what the networks want? They're paid by the league, not the networks. Unless you're implying there's bribery going on, and that my friend is even further fetched than a league/ref collusion.

And what do head officials do after the NFL?? Work for the networks. I said it before, Ill say it again. Bribes dont happen by exchanging money. They happen by future contracts and special favors. You cant ever catch anything illegal with that.

Watch Tripplette have a job after this.

How many post ref NFL jobs are there for the networks? Like 5? That doesn't account for the other 100 refs and officials.

Sorry man, I just can't go down this rabbit hole. I can buy incompetence, I can buy dudes just had a bad night, I can even buy sometimes refs make up calls for other bad calls...........but not head ref favoritism for the possibility of future jobs.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

All the talk this weekend has been about how the TNF blow outs are effecting the NFL's bottom line financially. They sold the TNF rights for several hundred million but their goal is to get over 1 billion for the next contract. No way that happens if all people see is is blow out after blow out in "Primetime Games."

It's a little disturbing that the NFL and the networks seem intent on making a bigger investment in these high risk/reward single-game prime-time matchups. While they try to predict interesting enough games to then collect on their investment via ratings, which determines ad revenue, it's a crap shoot. The trick is, as they up the stakes and bet big then sometimes lose (Wilson v RG3 that never materializes), what to do? A growing reputation of lopsided, uninteresting games in these prized time slots is bad news for the networks and the NFL, as ultimately it is their product.

I understand not taking it to the next level, so I'm not claiming collusion or conspiracy. Still, when millions and maybe billions of dollars are on the line, you can be sure that a lot of people in powerful positions are paying attention and tasked with maximizing and preserving that revenue source. The SNF flexing option has been a solid effort to legitimately offer the best product in a highlighted slot, and to a lesser degree the rare 2-game TNF does the same thing. But MNF and TNF for the most part are stuck with teams decided upon months ahead of time. These marquee matchups rely on close, interesting games and when they don't get that the product suffers and becomes just another show to skip over for the casual fan. The money watchers definitely don't want that.

 

[NorCalSeahawk]

Just bad officiating, it happens all the time. It just so happens the Seahawks still won the game despite all the bad calls and bad mistakes that were their own fault (I'm looking at you offensive line and you Tom Cable).

It would just be nice if the refs were consistent in their calls for every game, sometimes they are, sometimes not, it's just to bad those bad ref crews keep getting games, but that seems to be NFL justice, they get to pick and choose their own disciple, you see how that's worked out over the last few years.

 

[TXHawk]

Sorry but this is exactly the type of tin foil crap you see from 9/11 Truthers and other conspiracy theorists. Never any direct evidence, you always have to read between the lines and infer things going on behind the scenes. Also lots of cliches like "follow the money" without really providing any evidence of where the money goes. The mere fact that there is large sums involved is evidence enough for them that their MUST be something nefarious going on.

The Whiners Nutzone is notorious for this conspiracy crap. A lot of them are convinced the fix was in on the NFCCG game because of a couple of marginal calls. Lets not be like them.

I understand your stance to take the high ground here. But its naive to think this sort of stuff doesnt happen. The first thing you mention is that we need tin-foil hats. You've already dismissed the claims because there isnt concrete evidence. I still think OJ committed the crimes, but the evidences wasnt "clear enough". You're not going to get a signed affidavit from someone doing something wrong. So no matter if its happening or not, you will never know.

So I get why its easy to take the high ground approach. But its hard to watch last nights games and hear all the talk about networks losing money to blowouts, and not start to put 2 and 2 together. Money does talk. Whether you want to believe that or not.

Using the OJ case is a terrible analogy. There was a ton of physical evidence in that case. OJ basically left a trail of blood from the crime scene to his car to his bedroom. The reason he got off wasn't because the evidence wasn't clear enough, it was because his lawyers cynically played to the jury's distrust of the LAPD to make the evidence irrelevant. On the other hand you have provided no evidence whatsoever for your case, clear or otherwise. None. It's all "read between the lines" mumbo jumbo that's the staple of conspiracy theories.

The networks aren't losing any money by broadcasting Seahawks games. On the contrary, the Hawks have been getting huge ratings this year. They've become one of the league's marquee teams...maybe THE marquee team in the league right now. You can't turn on the TV these days without seeing Russell Wilson or Richard Sherman or some Seahawks related commercial. I can just about guarantee you that the Cowboys-Seahawks game will be the highest rated one next Sunday. They've become the new love them or hate them team with heroes (Wilson) and villains (Sherman) people love to root for and against.

If you think that network executives would risk scandal, imprisonment, and the potential loss of multi-billion dollar contracts for a slight ratings bump by bribing NFL officials to manipulate games then you need to bring something more to the discussion than the vague conspiracy crap you've been peddling so far.

 

[Hawks46]

I don't think it was a league decision to "keep the game close." I do believe there are some dirty refs, for sure.

Triplette is usually pretty good and we have a winning record with him.

It's not a conspiracy against the Hawks, but there was way too much blatantly bad calls against us, while there was way too much blatant calls not called againt them.

The NFL needed a close primetime game. There have been something like the last 32 games decided by more than 10 points in primetime, if I remember the announcers correctly.

We haven't beaten the Skins in regular season since 2001, and usually don't play as well in EST. This seemed like a good place to put the Hawks, yet the SKins looked pretty bad last week. You bet they tried to keep it close.

 

[Treghc]

Were there bad calls in the game? Sure.

Were these bad calls intentional in order to try and keep the game close? Highly doubt it.

The refs just looked incompetent to me. The Seattle o-line looked even more incompetent. We still won by 10.

 

[marymoorhawk]

It did kind of feel that way. Enough to joke about it.

But given Triplette's long history of incredible officiating incompetence, I think it's just more likely that Seattle suffered at the hands of a terrible officiating crew.

This. That was an embarrassment for the league (not all the calls, some were justified, but the 2 made up calls and the blatant misses on facemasks, etc).

It wasn't "planned" but it was gross incompetence.

 

[TAB420]

I've said this in another tread. I do believe the officials do what they can to keep it close, especially prime time games. Remember the NFL has a entertainment license, and rating, are a huge part of that business.

 

[Cartire]

Its not coming from the league. The league stands to lose nothing in blowouts. Its the networks.

Why would the refs care about what the networks want? They're paid by the league, not the networks. Unless you're implying there's bribery going on, and that my friend is even further fetched than a league/ref collusion.

And what do head officials do after the NFL?? Work for the networks. I said it before, Ill say it again. Bribes dont happen by exchanging money. They happen by future contracts and special favors. You cant ever catch anything illegal with that.

Watch Tripplette have a job after this.

How many post ref NFL jobs are there for the networks? Like 5? That doesn't account for the other 100 refs and officials.

Sorry man, I just can't go down this rabbit hole. I can buy incompetence, I can buy dudes just had a bad night, I can even buy sometimes refs make up calls for other bad calls...........but not head ref favoritism for the possibility of future jobs.

Far more jobs, and really it comes down the the head guy, which there are 16 crews. Its not just the on tv persona. They work as consultants and insiders. Youre thinking of just the Mike Pierra jobs. There are way more jobs then that.

 

[Cartire]

The networks aren't losing any money by broadcasting Seahawks games. On the contrary, the Hawks have been getting huge ratings this year. They've become one of the league's marquee teams...maybe THE marquee team in the league right now. You can't turn on the TV these days without seeing Russell Wilson or Richard Sherman or some Seahawks related commercial. I can just about guarantee you that the Cowboys-Seahawks game will be the highest rated one next Sunday. They've become the new love them or hate them team with heroes (Wilson) and villains (Sherman) people love to root for and against.

If you think that network executives would risk scandal, imprisonment, and the potential loss of multi-billion dollar contracts for a slight ratings bump by bribing NFL officials to manipulate games then you need to bring something more to the discussion than the vague conspiracy crap you've been peddling so far.

End of game ratings count. Those ads pay far less once the numbers come out for the end of game ratings. Weve been marquee for the general game itself. But networks do lose potential money as more people change the channel.

 

[Vpk0718]

If they wanted to keep it close, they would have called the blatantly obvious offensive holding on Wilson's big third down conversion to Lynch on our final drive.

They're just incompetent.

 

[Cartire]

If they wanted to keep it close, they would have called the blatantly obvious offensive holding on Wilson's big third down conversion to Lynch on our final drive.

They're just incompetent.

Except on the exact same play, there was a blatantly obvious holding on Harvin as well. And I also think since were going under the assumption that they were keeping the game close, by that time in the 4th qtr, it didnt matter anymore. Did no one else notice how the officials lightened up halfway through the 4th qtr. IT waws never about fixing the game, it was keeping it close to keep viewers in the game. At that point there were only a few minutes left, so it no longer mattered.

 

[Rocket]

I do not believe the NFL is so crooked that they would instruct officials to fix games to make them closer or favor another team. .

Its not coming from the league. The league stands to lose nothing in blowouts. Its the networks.

It's more likely that IF there is fixing then the fixing is coming from further away. Not the league, nor the networks.
Organized Crime™ is a more credible source. They also have a track record on the subject, watch ESPN tonight. It HAS happened before, sports betting has been a mechanism for criminal profit.

 

[Cartire]

I do not believe the NFL is so crooked that they would instruct officials to fix games to make them closer or favor another team. .

Its not coming from the league. The league stands to lose nothing in blowouts. Its the networks.

It's more likely that IF there is fixing then the fixing is coming from further away. Not the league, nor the networks.
Organized Crime™ is a more credible source. They also have a track record on the subject, watch ESPN tonight. It HAS happened before, sports betting has been a mechanism for criminal profit.

Of course there is always that as well.

 

[Rocket]

OTOH, ad revenue for the NFL is down...

Ask why before you ask who and how.