Kontradiction
On my retirement tour.
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Because there's fixing and there's fixing.
I do not believe there is fixing in the "do whatever it takes to make sure NE loses" sense. For one thing, that'd likely be too obvious and the consequences to the NFL if it were ever discovered would be disastrous.
I do believe there is fixing in the "make NE play into a permanent headwind" sense. The idea is to hurt NE's chances without anything being on record that could bring the house of cards down. So it all has to be done by innuendo, winks, and nudges and so is far less efficient than a "true" fix. So NE still has a chance to win -- it'll just be harder than it'd be if everything was on the up-and-up. And that's why it is still worth watching -- (1) there's still uncertainty in the outcome, and (2) wanting to see if NE can overcome the NFL's thumb on the scales as well as the opponent on the field.
The funny thing is that I can see something like that being possible but, to me, it's still not worth it at that point to follow the sport. A fix is a fix in the end and I wouldn't want to watch any league where, every single game, a thought is in the back of my mind that the league wants to see my team lose in the end. It just wouldn't be worth it to me. I think the refs have been universally bad this year. Just last night, Calais Campbell was standing straight up signaling for timeout right in front of a zebra who, in spite of looking near his direction and only having one job (line judge), missed it. That same play, Bradford fired a touchdown pass. Are we to believe they're trying to screw the Cardinals as well? Odell Beckham should have been ejected yesterday for a blatant helmet to helmet hit on Josh Norman right in front of an official. Instead, they called offsetting penalties and kept Beckham in the game. Was the league trying to screw the Panthers because, you know, parity? I can keep going if you wish. Those are just examples of refs being equally as poor to other teams just YESTERDAY.
The posts that I'm specifically referring to were like the posts yesterday in the game thread where some crybaby was whining about the blown call after the White catch and run saying something to the effect of "crooked ****ing refs" almost as if it was designed to blow a big play dead. These people aren't talking about the same kind of "fixing" you are. They're saying the game is outright fixed. That's why I ask. If you really think the sport is fixed - stop watching. Otherwise, you're just pumping in ratings to the NFL when the outcome, according to you, is already determined.