[ARROW2]

Originally Posted by suzzer99

I don't know man. It sure bugged me that a) bring in "all-star" refs, b) literally every single big call went against us for the first half - many of them ticky tack. The second half seemed a lot more equitable to me.

If there was some riggage it would seem to be to the effect of "The only thing we don't want is a Chiefs blowout." So once they got us playing from behind they backed off the ticky-tack penalties on every play.

Again, I really hope this isn't true. But man. The NFL knows they have first and foremost an entertainment product, they know LA fans are fickle and they DESPERATELY want to keep them engaged.

Didn't Tim Donaghy come out and say that refs Stern brought in for the Lakers/Kings game six were explicitly called in to rig the game? The refs called a foul on the Kings on almost every play, and almost everyone, even sober pundits, thinks that game was legitimately rigged. Donaghy said they didn't even have to communicate the riggage - as they refs knew what the league wanted when they brought them in for just that game. So the "all star" refs are really just "Goodell's boys" and they know they'll continue to be rewarded if they play ball (as the NBA guys were "Stern's boys" in Donaghy's terms).

Sure feels like that. Except not as blatant. They didn't need the Rams to win, just wanted to make sure we didn't jump out to a big lead and not blow them out.

Again - I sure hope this isn't really true.

But I also remember "holding Dave Szott" as like the worst sports-fandom play of my life, and start to wonder. Golden Boy Marino, Miami big market, still in Shula glow. No one's ever seen a replay of that hold.

This.