Mods can freely insult now?

You are either a construct or something else, sad sad individual.

I did some checking into the question of whether it’s possible for the NFL to legally fix its own games. Turns out there are only two federal laws which have any bearing on this question. The first relates to the furore that was created in the wake of the “Quiz Show” fixing scandal. It states that it is illegal to fix any competition which is classed as an “intellectual contest”. The NFL clearly is not.

The second relates to gambling and sports bribery. It says that it is illegal to offer players money in order to fix games.

Let’s say the NFL sees a story developing (say the impending retirement of Peyton Manning) and wishes to get him to the Superbowl for one last (and very profitable) hurrah. At the start of the season it tells its officials to aggressively protect him in the pocket.

[iNo one is being bribed here. This is purely an employer-to-employee directive.[/i

Anyone who watches the NFL knows that it’s possible to call a holding penalty on just about every play (much in the same way as the corner in football). Bearing this in mind let’s consider the year Green Bay narrowly missed out on a perfect season, eventually going 15-1. In ELEVEN of those games the Green Bay offensive line were never penalised once. Now, I'm not saying this isn't possible in a sport totally free from corruption. But it's precisely what you might expect to see if the NFL were telling its officials to go easy on Green Bay.

Part of the problem (and this is something we are seeing in ALL sports) is the blurring of definitions. It’s now increasingly difficult to know what is and what is not a holding penalty, a grounded ball, an offside etc. etc. Which makes it very easy for referees to make calls which are completely counter-intuitive and yet no-one bats so much as an eyelid.

We've ALL seen this kind of thing … a player clearly has his foot in touch and yet for some reason the referee rules the play valid. Of course, this could just be a mistake on his part. But it's easy to see why many people are becoming increasingly suspicious about professional sport.

And whilst I said it's now difficult to bribe players because of the huge sums of money they are earning. There are plenty of other ways to get at them. Given the prevalence of steroids and recreational drugs (not to mention - gambling, domestic abuse charges etc.) it would be very easy to use good old fashioned blackmail. Think about the number of players who have filed for bankruptcy despite colossal career earnings. Wouldn't these people be incredibly susceptible to ... [iencouragement?[/i

I mentioned the Ernie Els six-putt from less than TWO FEET on the FIRST HOLE of the FIRST DAY at the US Masters. Isn't this EXACTLY the kind of thing you'd expect from a sportsman who is being less than honest?

It would be pretty much the last thing I would expect. Just off the top of my head
1. Is there even a smidgeon of evidence connecting that putting with betting activities?
2. It is ludicrous to think that you could make any money (or even get a bet on) "Ernie Els 6-putting on the first green".
3. The episode was so cringeingly bad, only an utter mad cretin would use that as a method of cheating. It had to be real. Els could easily have dropped half a dozen strokes over the course of the round without anybody even suspecting a thing.
4. In this case, if he was for some bizarre reason intent on six-putting - why the fsck would he start the process by a near-perfect chip to within 3 feet of the hole? I mean, why not get onto the most difficult spot on the edge of the green and bugger it up a tad more believably from there?
5. Els is a bit of a legend and I'd assume an extremely wealthy man, I find it hard to see what would persuade him to do such a thing. So no, it would be the last thing I would expect from a sportsman being "less than honest".

In the case of Els, I suspect he has been struggling with the dreaded "yips", and that this episode was maybe the best (or worst) example in golf to date. I think it is extremely likely to be connected with the game having banned the so-called "anchor putter" which Els had taken to using (exhibit 1 !) and so he found himself wanting the ground to swallow him up, putting as if he was using a mop or something. It was quite hard to watch for me, as he seems like a really nice guy, and I don't believe he did it on purpose, not for a second.

But as almost everybody knows, you are led to believe a wide range of nonsense. I suggest that you cross the people who lead you to believe such things off your list of credible sources.

Or ... was he nobbled? By the world secret order?

As someone who has worked on the IT side for one of the UK's biggest betting companies (and seen every kind of bet possible cycling through the system) I can state categorically that the above is false.

Highly-unusual events such as the Els six-putt are PRECISELY the kind of thing which interest internal security. And that's from the horse's mouth.

Delusional fantasy world, who did you work for, if you're that sure then surely no problem in saying?

Scary Innit

Nonsense. You can't "categorically state" anything of the sort, and it is actually spot on.

If anything, you CONFIRM (sorry for borrowing your SHOUTING technique) what I said. If you can't understand it, that's because OF COURSE internal security would be "interested" in an occurrence like a six-putt - IF ANY BETTING HAD TAKEN PLACE ON IT WITH THAT BOOKMAKER. If they hadn't taken any bets on it, THEY COULDN'T GIVE A FLYING FOOK.

And it is PRECISELY BECAUSE - if they HAD taken bets and stood to lose money - security would be looking at it very closely.

If you really did work as suggested, then you'd know that the FIRST question is whether a bookie would take such a bet in the first place. You don't sound as if you have any clue how that works TBH

There would be no advertised betting on E.Els 6-putting at the first. It is waaaaaay too obscure a bet for any bookie to offer.

So, some punter would have to ASK FOR A PRICE. He would be asked how much he wanted to bet, and may (or may not) be given odds. Other than a "fun" bet, I really don't see anyone ever getting a proper bet on something like that. No pro punter is so stupid as to put significant money on something so outrageously ridiculous, so a fraudster attempting to do so would get short shrift.

I would doubt many, if any, bets on something as stupid as that have ever been taken in the history of sports betting but if one was, it would be a pretty rare if not unique event, and certainly no bet would be taken to lose a significant amount of money on a novelty bet like that. And as a scam medium, how ridiculous! It would be literally begging for an investigation if such a bizarre bet actually won.

Let alone won so much money that it was a worthwhile exercise both for the fraudulent punter, and for Ernie Els to prostitute himself, while making a very public twa=#FFFFFF[size=5.[/sizet of himself, all at the same time.

And as I said, where is the evidence that there were any strange betting patterns on the incident? Or indeed any betting at all?

I think you conspiracy detector has blown a fuse and gone into meltdown here, while simultaneously casting grossly unfair aspersions on Els, who comes across as a very mild mannered and nice guy, and so far as I know, has no form for even a speeding ticket.

good post, i follow racing alot and even had a share in one not long ago.

notice alot that horses get punted around 5-10mins before the off giving the bookies less time to react and not letting the cat out of the bag i.e well handicapped, race fit from gallops or been going very well at home..they then go on and win! but horses are not machines and nothing is a dead cert

Good grief! You really are struggling. What does it matter who I worked for?

Not that I'm all that fussed about admitting that I used to work at BETFRED's head office in Warrington.

Technically speaking I was self-employed providing SQL database support for their branches up and down the country. Which means I saw every kind of bet imaginable as well as some which defied imagination.

Like all of the major betting offices they have their own internal security team (with a police liaison usually present at all times). Those guys were ALWAYS busy because corruption and betting go together like hand and glove.

Whilst I wasn't privy to their investigations (you'd need field artillery to get into the high-security unit) discussions with those guys over the kinds of things they are interested in were a common lunchtime activity. Which is why I KNOW every betting office up and down the land would have been investigating betting patterns in the wake of Els' six-putt.

So whilst you and half of this thread might believe in coincidences I can assure you that the big bookies are far more cynical. Indeed, I suspect most people would be shocked at the EXTENT of their cynicism. The truth is ever since the arrival of spread-betting, bet-to-lose etc. etc. corruption has gone through the roof.

Is that it? Or do you want me to draw you a floor plan including Fred Done's (spacious) office? That's if he's still even there. It was six or seven years ago.

What on earth are you babbling about? Surely you don't need me to explain the difference between acts which could be interpreted as suspicious and genuinely crooked play?

I really have no idea whether Els deliberately tanked the hole or not. Nor do I have any evidence of bets relating to Els. Which isn't surprising given that I'm talking about what interests the bookies.

I mean, maybe you think they are completely disinterested observers but I (along with anyone who bothers to pay attention) know that they scrutinise ALL sports down the micro-level.

Don't tell me that a high-profile former winner of the Masters six-putting the opening hole won't have them scurrying to find suspicious patterns when they routinely do the same for any old football nobody kicking the ball into touch within the first ten seconds of a game.

Do yourself a favour and scuttle back to the kiddies pool with your armbands.