Kelly the Dog Posted November 25, 2015 Posted November 25, 2015 Two very good posts on the topic. I remember a play while watching with a friend that was a huge Jordan fan, Jordan rose up took the shot, missed it, the other team got the rebound, then the foul was called. Only then did I get him to admit to "Jordan Rules" The Patriots* are a very good team and extremely well coached. That is what makes the stretching of the rules and preferential treatment all the more obnoxious. They don't NEED it to be good. Them getting it pushes them into the spectacular stratosphere. Then hearing about how great they are gets obnoxious quick. The NBA was never more popular than it was when Jordan played. The NFL has never been more popular than it is now. These teams and the league are run by very smart people. As I have posted each time in this thread. It isn't about being rigged. It is about the stretching of the rules on their own accord (outside of league approval) and then the league slapping them on the hand that has caused me to not care as much. Not some grand conspiracy. The punishment has not fit the crime. No wins stripped, no championships stripped, no long lasting detriment, all for the benefit of the league. I totally get it and the masses are eating it up. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Little fuzzy on the facts but wasn't this the same game they called PI in the end zone on a hail mary and the team walked off before the pat? Not that I think Gruden was or wasn't referencing that game but I remember the end of that game being a big deal. If it was the same game I could see it sticking in a football junkie's brain. Yes, that was the same game. The Bills and Wade refused to come on the field for the extra point because of the PI. fwiw, "Jordan Rules" was a defensive strategy, but that term was later sometimes co-opted to describe the rules that only applied to Jordan like we were both talking about.
section122 Posted November 25, 2015 Posted November 25, 2015 Yes, that was the same game. The Bills and Wade refused to come on the field for the extra point because of the PI. fwiw, "Jordan Rules" was a defensive strategy, but that term was later sometimes co-opted to describe the rules that only applied to Jordan like we were both talking about. Ah yes that right it was the Pistons strategy.
WotAGuy Posted November 25, 2015 Posted November 25, 2015 With respect to the Patriots receiving favorable treatment from the refs and league, I recall the same outrage during the 1970s when the Bills lost 20 straight to the Dolphins. There were many critical penalties that went against the Bills and some were pretty rare - like Pat Toomay getting an unsportsmanlike conduct for pushing a ref out of the way to make a tackle. If we had TBD back then, there would have been very similar threads about the Dolphins. We just could not beat them - because they had Shula, Griese and they were an overall better organization - by far.
RevWarRifleman Posted November 25, 2015 Posted November 25, 2015 My tipping point is 12 - 15% for average service, 20% for very good service.
Leroi Posted November 25, 2015 Posted November 25, 2015 The key is to look at this as entertainment. Think of it as dramatic theater rather than a competitive sport. I still enjoy it and will continue. But to get emotional attached is not the correct approach. Have fun with it. If it stresses you out; it is not a healthy activity. Imo
Freddie's Dead Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 When the headset went out on the final drive, that did it for me. Although the NFL did a nice job of planting stories blaming the Bills for headset failures, giving the Cheats all the cover they needed.
That's No Moon Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 Rather than watching the WWE shitshow that the NFL has turned itself into I'm taking my kids to a college hockey game on Sunday at 1:00pm. A couple years ago that would have been unfathomable.
Boatdrinks Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 You assume a private business has any obligation whatsoever to be "fair" to the consumers. Free agency is what did it for me. That was the day the NFL started dying a slow death. It was a private business instituting mandatory asset reallocation for the purpose of controlling the product to make even more money. Free agency was inevitable, as it was being fought through the court system by the players. The owners of this private business were against it. The more amazing thing is that it didn't happen sooner. The business side managed to stave it off even after strikes in '82 and '87. Free agency already existed in other sports and the draft is probably illegal, so that was being threatened as well. It was the labor that forced the issue, not the business. Although it's hardly been a slow death unless increasing the revenue by billions is equated with the business dying.
Dr.Sack Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 I don't buy into the conspiracy. That's not to say that I don't believe that a few zebras could have possibly been bought off through the years. What I do buy is Belichick & Ernie Adams have a contigency plan for every scenario. When the Bills beat the Pats in 2011 Belichick lobbied hard for Fred's game clinching catch to be called a touchdown. When the officials said no, Belichick went ballistic. What happened next shows the Pats level of gamesmenship. With victory guaranteed and the Bills in kneel down mode, Wilfork tried to bludgeon Fitz by dribbiling his head into the turf. The Cheats claimed thet were trying to cause a fumble on the kneel dow. Everyone knows they were trying to cause a retaliatory strike from a Bill. Thankfully the ensuing melee resulted in no Bills penalty which would have put the field goal in jeopardy.
DC Tom Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 The key is to look at this as entertainment. Think of it as dramatic theater rather than a competitive sport. I still enjoy it and will continue. But to get emotional attached is not the correct approach. Have fun with it. If it stresses you out; it is not a healthy activity. Imo And that's why I turned the game off Monday night, and have no interest in watching football any more. It's simply not entertaining to me when the officiating is SO uneven that it directly impacts play. It's not entertaining to watch a defensive lineman grab a QB and not know what to do next (because anything he does next is a penalty). Or to watch the refs huddle and decide how to bend the rules to screw both teams over when THEY !@#$ up. Or to watch a receiver catch the ball in the end zone, then have to wait for the officials decide if he actually caught it, with one or both hands, got both feet in bounds, take an indeterminate number of steps to establish himself as a runner, and didn't improperly spike the ball before they decide to do a booth review before I can know if it's a touchdown. It's simply no longer football. It's nitpicky refereeing. It's basically a three-hour long courtroom drama with seven black-and-white striped lawyers. I may as well watch a Law & Order marathon instead, which is at least better scripted.
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 The NFL is becoming a joke it seems they want one dynasty and will do everything they can to make it last. Sure they fined them and took away draft picks but until they remove Kraft from committees and everything else this WWF like league will continue. i am about at the point to say screw it I can make better use of my time than watching this stuff.
CodeMonkey Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 (edited) The NFL is becoming a joke it seems they want one dynasty and will do everything they can to make it last. Sure they fined them and took away draft picks but until they remove Kraft from committees and everything else this WWF like league will continue. i am about at the point to say screw it I can make better use of my time than watching this stuff. What we have done the past few seasons is record the games, strip out the commercials, and watch as a family while we eat dinner. We get through the game in less than 90 minutes (we skip halftime manually as well) and have the afternoon free to do other things. It works out really well for us! That's why I would prefer every Bills game to be at 1:00. The other time slots and days don't work out nearly as well. Edited November 26, 2015 by CodeMonkey
WotAGuy Posted November 27, 2015 Posted November 27, 2015 What we have done the past few seasons is record the games, strip out the commercials, and watch as a family while we eat dinner. We get through the game in less than 90 minutes (we skip halftime manually as well) and have the afternoon free to do other things. It works out really well for us! That's why I would prefer every Bills game to be at 1:00. The other time slots and days don't work out nearly as well. I cannot have a full stomach when watching a Bills game. At best, indigestion - at worst, a mess to clean up. It's simply no longer football. It's nitpicky refereeing. It's basically a three-hour long courtroom drama with seven black-and-white striped lawyers. I may as well watch a Law & Order marathon instead, which is at least better scripted. This ^^^ It seems every big/sensational play has a flag. It's more a lousy reality show than sporting event.
Reks Ryan Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 I was at the "Just Give it to em" game. I've watched a lot of football games and don't remember seeing a PI called on a complete jump ball last second Hail Mary, before or since that game. After those 2 horrible calls on patriots* last drive, walking out of the stadium , one of my friends just kept saying, "but it's not fair that wasn't right." Must have said it 25 times in disbelief. Watching NE games in almost 20 years since then, all NFL fans have said the same thing numerous times. Don't know if it's a conspiracy, but it's definitely not right. From the tone of Gruden's voice, he knew exactly what he was saying, Remember, he was on the other end of one of the all time screw jobs in playoff history on the Brady sack fumble.
CodeMonkey Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) I cannot have a full stomach when watching a Bills game. At best, indigestion - at worst, a mess to clean up. . We don't take it nearly that seriously. It's just football after all, entertainment. Edited November 28, 2015 by CodeMonkey
Steve Billieve Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 what the heck is it with people lately going off the deep end and thinking the NFL is rigged? rigged by who? Kraft? Goodell? Are all owners "in on it"? the notion is ridiculous. Rewarded by who???? The NFL is a business, you're right. And that business consists of 32 owners. So are the other 31 owners in on the patriots "cheating"? How do the Jaguars benefit from this "cheating"? And why the Pats? Why wouldn't the Titans owner want the Dallas cowboys to "cheat" and win the super bowl? After all, the Dallas market is bigger than NE. Why don't the owners just fix it so the NY Jets win it every single season. Or you know what, what about Goodell making the Bears win it every year. You guys see ghosts. It's sad. Since Goodell has been in office, the patriots have won ONE super bowl in 9 years. With Tagliabu in office, the Patriots won THREE super bowls (in three out of four years in early/mid 2000s). Was Tagliabu "in on it" too? Critical thinking in this country has been flushed down the toilet along with a lot of other things. I'm glad you said it so I didn't have to. Humans are humans and they will let their bias out, and many will cheat but a league wide conspiracy theory is ludicrous.
Mister Defense Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 Give me a break: the facts that the Bills never beat the Patriots, and that they have not been in the playoffs in almost two decades, has zero, and I mean that literally, to do with the officiating. The Patriots are run like the Bills of the late 80s and early 90s so they win and win and win and win... (If Kelly had taken care of himself physically the way that Brady has that great streak would have likely continued well into the 90s.) The Patriots are a great organization that does almost everything right, while the Bills are not, have not. These threads, and related conspiracy theories, are the definition of sour grapes; absurd, ridiculous...
yungmack Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 I was 11 when i watched that game, and i remember it pretty clearly. We didn't line up for the extra point we were so pissed off.And Pete Carroll took the opportunity to run it in for 2 points. Hated him ever since. Oh, and that wasn't even the worst call against the Bills in that game. An historical note: Ralph was so pissed that he changed his intractable opposition to instant replay after that which is why we have it now.
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 These threads, and related conspiracy theories, are the definition of sour grapes; absurd, ridiculous... .....but less painful than admitting that your beloved team/organization sucks.
BmarvB Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 It will end when we start whipping their natural
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