PFT duscusses NFL being fixed

[jcdavey]

Privately, we've heard from a prominent national media figure who had this to say: "If Dungy and Fisher had some sort of 'arrangement' in a one-possession game with another team's playoff chances on the line, this makes 'Spygate' look like 'Romper Room.' This whole thing stinks to holy hell and I'm sure Dungy, Fisher and the league would love for it to continue to be a non-story. But this is a huge story. What arrangement? When was it arranged? Why was it arranged? Whose idea was it? Who was in on it?"

Still, it's highly unlikely that the league will push this one. What good comes out of it? At a time when more and more people are expressing to us a belief that the game is fixed, evidence that two head coaches essentially engineered the outcome of a key contest would not be good for business.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

 

[maverick4]

This is a WAY bigger story than sideline video, imo.

 

[BelichickFan]

Before I type this - I find it unlikely this happened. However it is completely realistic :

Fisher and Polian are both on the Competition Committee. Fisher calls Polian and says "Bill, we need to beat you to make the playoffs. Play your scrubs. Let us in. Next vote you ask for my vote on the Competition Committee, you've got it".

Probably didn't happen. But not a stretch at all. There's a serious possibility of impropriety IMO. NFL teams shouldn't be deciding which others make the playoffs.

 

[psychoPat]

Quote:
Still, it's highly unlikely that the league will push this one. What good comes out of it? At a time when more and more people are expressing to us a belief that the game is fixed, evidence that two head coaches essentially engineered the outcome of a key contest would not be good for business.

So ... why don't THE LEAGUE
(i said, THE LEAGUE, Roger)
stop tryin to fix the friggin games?

(They only try to fix A FEW of them, that's true
... but those are the few that really count.)

 

[PatriotsReign]

Before I type this - I find it unlikely this happened. However it is completely realistic :

Fisher and Polian are both on the Competition Committee. Fisher calls Polian and says "Bill, we need to beat you to make the playoffs. Play your scrubs. Let us in. Next vote you ask for my vote on the Competition Committee, you've got it".

Probably didn't happen. But not a stretch at all. There's a serious possibility of impropriety IMO. NFL teams shouldn't be deciding which others make the playoffs.

It deserves the full attention of the league. Maybe MakeWayHomer will get in on this one and fight for righteousness the way he loves to with spygate.

 

[angelaf]

Yeah, you should read the comments on PFT's beta site. I'm telling ya, if it was the Patriots, there wouldn't be one "What's the big deal?" comment.

http://beta.profootballtalk.com/2008/01/07/fisher-denies-deal-with-dungy/

 

[Wildo7]

It deserves the full attention of the league. Maybe MakeWayHomer will get in on this one and fight for righteousness the way he loves to with spygate.

agreed. I nominate him for head of the MakeMyWayHomer investigation report. Unless he saves his moral indignation only for his own team

 

[jcdavey]

i think the biggest head scratcher is the one the commentator brought up at the end

why didn't indy burn their final timeout?

the pbp guy was stupified by it...which has to make one wonder if something was fishy

where there's smoke there's fire

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

not really a huge deal imo
bigger deal than spygate? probably yes
still doesnt make it a big deal

 

[Joker]

as I've been saying for YEARS....it's all coming from Poliastopheles, the Archdemon of the NFL

 

[ALP]

its pathetic, colts, titans, GB, ANYONE can do something idiotic, and REALLY against the rules, but it DOESNT MATTER, unless its NE who did it....


and its pathetic, right now there should prob be only about 20 first round picks if the league was fair, but ohhh no....just screw teh pats over....hows 16-0 working for u idiots...

man i hope we go 19-0......and then do it again next yr, let the whiners cry, and let them hate NE like they hate their in laws, ive had enough with the NFL too....if the pats moved to another league, thats wut i would watch

 

[Chuck.U.Farley]

If the league was really fixed wouldn't the pats have lost by now by word of goodell no? ok then maybe goodell is on the pats side. Do you see how silly this sounds and i have heard some pats fans saying belichick tanked a miami game a year or so ago. The colts played there 3rd stringers they usually do if there playoff spot is locked up. Im not saying it couldn't have happened but it is highly unlikely especially with all the injuries this season. I would have rested mine also the injury bug was terrible this year to the colts. If this were the nba i would buy into it but as of now its rumor mill b.s.

 

[PatriotsReign]

not really a huge deal imo
bigger deal than spygate? probably yes
still doesnt make it a big deal

Good point Patsy! It probably IS a bigger deal than spygate, but thats not saying much since spygate wasn't a big deal.

 

[pwes]

If the league was really fixed wouldn't the pats have lost by now by word of goodell no? ok then maybe goodell is on the pats side. Do you see how silly this sounds and i have heard some pats fans saying belichick tanked a miami game a year or so ago. The colts played there 3rd stringers they usually do if there playoff spot is locked up. Im not saying it couldn't have happened but it is highly unlikely especially with all the injuries this season. I would have rested mine also the injury bug was terrible this year to the colts. If this were the nba i would buy into it but as of now its rumor mill b.s.

The difference between Belichick tanking a game and Dungy tanking a game is that Belichick didn't have an agreement with the other coach that he would. They didn't talk about letting Miami win unlike Dungy and Fisher agreeing to let the Titans win the game.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

And by the way, if you saw the officiating in the Indy game? Yeah, the league did try to give away the game. For a while there it was like Rollerball or something:

"Offensive Pass Interference, number 81, for trying to catch the ball despite being anally raped on the play"

PFnV

 

[RhodyPatriot]

This is all so shocking.

St.Tony is a dirty boy?

I am shocked!

He's so righteous and pure.

But it's not like direct interference of the game is anything new for the Colts. That amplified crowd noise in St. Tony's Chapel is designed to affect the visiting teams ability to run their offense aka intended to directly affect the outcome of the game
Get the feeling BB has known all along what a phony media creation St. Tony is and per usual Belichick refuses to play the media's Dungy ass kissing game.

 

[Pats726]

I am shocked.....

 

[Buchanty]

No big deal, but it is annoying. Credit to the Browns fans for resisting the urge to whine and cry about it. As I said on another thread the benefit to the colts is that they dont have to face the Jags, which was a possibility if the Browns had beaten the Bolts on Sunday (and given how badly the Chargers played I can think of at least 3 other teams that could have beaten them who didnt make the playoffs - Eagles, Vikes, and Buffalo).

What all fans should be clamoring for is fair representation in the two committees as well as regular rotation of representation. The AFC South is currently over represented and has been for most of a decade. 4 years should be sufficient for any GM or coach to get their crack of the whip.

 

[Gwedd]

Fellers,

Here's the important thing: The NFL needs to address this issue in one way or another. The claims of collusion between Dungy & Fisher have been voiced in several venues and to ignore the situation is not going to help matters.

In point of fact, the folks who ARE rightly upset are the Brown's fans, because they at least had a chance, however slim, of making the playoffs. This agreement, if it actually occured, between Dungy and Fisher is tantamount to stealing that wild card spot from Cleveland. More than that, it means that the Browns slim chance didn't even exist. The Browns had NO chance of getting that final spot.

The NFL needs to take these accusation seriously, and that right now.

Respects,

 

[FrontSeven]

Anybody who ever thought the NFL was the Boy Scouts needs to get a head-fix before they lose all their money making poor financial decisions.

There is collusion every time one coach sees the other coach pull starters and follows suit. It's unspoken, but it's human nature, and it's all done to benefit one's own team. Take that away and it's the Boy Scouts.

This is not a big story, just like "Spygate" wasn't. Somebody is inflating into something bigger than what it is. It's a nothing story.

The day that somebody throws a game is the day I say that ain't right. That's where I draw the line. Throwing a game has nothing to do with resting starters for the playoffs. If you can't see that coming in advance then you are a Boy Scout.

The comments from Cleveland fans, and their supporters, were comical if not so sadly out of touch with reality. Since when does one team owe the fans of another team anything? That is so ludicrous that it makes me laugh. "You have to play to win" is a sadly naive statement to make in the big business world of the billionaire's club named the NFL. No you don't have to play to win. You can play hard with non-starters, choosing to not give your team its best chance to win, and that is not throwing a game. That is smart football.

The problem for Cleveland was that their fans wanted something that they came close to deserving, but didn't actually deserve, and that hurts. It stings. It's a huge disappointment. But that doesn't change Indy's right to sit starters any time it feels that it's in their team's best interests.