A little football talk here. I watch the Denver Broncos, as it is hard not to be involved with them. This entire city’s attitude and self-esteem are heavily influenced by Bronco success and failure. So be it. It is fun.

When they are winning.

They have now, over the course of two seasons, won sixteen games in a row by one score. Last year the head coach, Sean Payton, noted a much smaller streak at that time, and said that they could easily be 7-7 instead of 9-3. He knew about luck and statistics.

Yesterday in his post-game press conference, where they won by means of the incredible interception by Devon Key (seen above), they did it again. He said after the game that at 16 consecutive once-score wins, a league record, it is now part of the team’s makeup, and that it is his players that are making it happen. No more good luck.

And I thought … the streak is over now. They’ll be lucky to pull out another one-score victory for the rest of this season. They had better get better at scoring to have a better buffer at game’s end. They are at 7-2 now. Think … 7-10?

It just doesn’t work like that. Sixteen straight wins of any kind means be a very high caliber team. But no NFL team has had un undefeated season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, 54 years ago (17-0).  In the NFL there are very good players on even the worst teams, so truly, any team can beat any other. Other factors, and coaching is a large part of it, determine who develops into a winner, and who a loser.

And, of course, some of those games are rigged. Last year when the Broncos pulled off an amazing fourth quarter comeback to beat the Giants 33-30, I thought … man, that score tells me something.

Continue reading “The streak ends …” →

I recently came across a sports person on the radio who said that there is a “conspiracy theory” about that claimed that the LA Dodgers had tanked the baseball National League championship series to allow the Milwaukee Brewers to go to the World Series.  The reasoning behind it is that there is going to be a baseball strike in December, and stadiums may be closed to any games for a long period thereafter. Behind that looming strike is a dysfunctional game behind which a few wealthy teams dominate the sport while the rest subsist – not in poverty- but in minor league status. They only exist to allow the wealthy teams competition during the regular season prior to the fall extravaganza. What better way to counter that argument than to have two small-market teams in the 2026 Series!

Indeed, I am told, 2015 was the last time that a small market teams made the World Series, the Kansas City Royals. I had to look that up. I do remember the 2016 World Series, where the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians, and I and others here have written quite a bit about scripted sports. To me, that series appeared to have been rigged.

Continue reading “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain” →

If you did not see the game last night between the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, oops, Philadelphia Eagles, skip ahead in this video to 3:07 to see what I am writing about.

The game followed a pattern seen throughout this NFL season of late-game comebacks and nail-biting finishes. In this game the Bills were down 13-0 when they scored in the 4th quarter, but missed the extra point! That’s the first time this year for their very reliable kicker, Matt Prater. They then got the ball back with very little time left, and scored again! They only needed to kick an extra point to tie the game and send it into overtime, which I view as the natural coaching decision. Instead they opted to go for a two-point conversion. OK, many things can justify that decision. On the two-point conversion, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen has a man not just open, but wide open so that he only need loft the ball to complete a pass and win the game. Instead, he muffs the throw, hitting the turf three yards ahead of the runner. It was not natural, and he’s too seasoned to have blown it.

Continue reading “Uh, duh …” →

Thanks to an insightful comment on my recent post titled “Immaculate Deception?” I am now providing a follow-up that puts the final nail in the coffin. The question mark in the title can officially be removed—the deception is undeniable. The evidence speaks for itself.

Patricia Rooney Mara is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a British Academy Film Award. Born into the Rooney (known for it’s connection to sports, owning the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL) and Mara (known for owning the New York Giants of the NFL) families.

Continue reading “Immaculate Deception Confirmed” →

I was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania, which meant that by default of where my parents copulated and conceived, “My Teams” were the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins. A recent interaction with Tyrone on my Rickey Henderson post brought back a particularly vivid and traumatic memory from when I was nine years old.

The memory revolves around a wild pitch thrown by a relief pitcher during the 1972 playoffs—a moment that cost the Pirates their chance at victory. To most, it might seem like just another heartbreaking sports moment, but to my 9-year-old self, it was monumental. I can still recall isolating myself and crying inconsolably, grappling with the crushing weight of disappointment for the first time. In hindsight, those moments teach us to handle life’s setbacks.

But today, with the clarity that comes from five decades of reflection, It’s obvious that it was all scripted. Yes—scripted for dramatic effect. Almost nothing we experience (in the media) is truly natural or organic. Let’s just consider this yet another piece of evidence that manipulation isn’t a new tactic—it’s something we’ve been subjected to for our entire lives.

The (1-minute) video picks up in the bottom of the 9th inning of the final game of the divisional playoffs. The winner would go to the World Series. When he throws the wild pitch, there were 2 outs and only a runner a third. He literally could have walked two more batters. Bob Moose was born 10/9/47 and “died” on 10/9/76 at the age of 29.

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I watched a lot of football these last nine days, and came away with that feeling that outcomes are predetermined.

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But first, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. I am not buying it. I chose the photo above because something about it says to me that it is lacking electricity. He is about to kiss the bridge of her nose, and she appears to be holding her head in such a way as to avoid making facial contact. They are in public, there’s lots of photos, and in some they are kissing. I could be all wet here, they could be hot and sweaty lovers. But with her showing up at all of his home games, and cameras flipping to her in the booth every time he does something good on the field, there seems to be an element of staging. (Just to stifle rumors otherwise, her long extended wrist and fingers say she is a woman, and not a tranny. She has a male-like face, but no Adam’s Apple.)

Continue reading “NFL: The National Fixedball League” →