November 8, 2021: Act Like You Know

Hey, at least the Bears didn’t embarrass us on Monday night… that’s a positive development, a silver lining if you may. Yes, the embarrassment was hogged up by another group on this evening in Pittsburgh, and it wasn’t the Steelers. The zebras took over this game, and helped ensure that the Steelers won straight up in this MNF affair. People are acting all crazy about this, but, come on now… act like you know. Sure, this may have been a little too obvious, but this is nothing new. We shouldn’t be that surprised.

The officials in any sport could have a big impact on the outcome of a game. Whether it’s calling a couple ticky tack fouls early in the game on an important player, or squeezing the strike zone for one side or another, those “little things” can certainly help influence the outcome of the game. We lean on the whole “they’re not perfect” side of things, which is true, no doubt, but… there’s a difference between screwing up and blatantly making an incorrect call, which yes, does happen.

The NFL is no different, in fact, they are the most susceptible to these type of things happening. It’s one thing to favor the stars of the league aka Brady, and certain teams aka the Packers and the Steelers; oh wait, we’ve seen all three of them this year… think back to each of those games… We have our own problems; we don’t need calls going against us. There were examples in each of those games this season, but none more obvious than Monday night. The NFL is king; there is more money tied up in these games than any other sport. The bigger the game, the more money involved. And oh yeah, gambling has now been legalized across much of the country; it’s not going to get better, let me tell you.

I’ve always said the Super Bowl is the biggest fixed game of the year; I stand by that. Like I said, the bigger the game… On a week to week basis, it’s those national TV games, like MNF, where the action and attention is increased, thus, more likelihood of interference, kind of like what we saw happen in Pittsburgh. It sucks to be on the wrong side of things.. but wait, the Bears DID cover the spread?!?! This was a very good thing for me, but… I guess the guaranteed lead pipe lock play of the week was Steelers Money Line. Being one who gambles, and knows the spreads, and had money riding on these games in the past, you see it more and more; now that gambling has been deemed “OK” more and more people will be doing it. The more people that do it, the more money involved, the more of a chance we have more Tony (Is his last name Italian?) Corrente types out there.

But… this too will brush over; it always does. Whatever calls are “missed” over the years, it’s always forgotten… well almost, unless one has personally impacted your team or pocket, then you’ll remember; don’t have enough time to list them all here… feel free to remember your personal “bad beats”. I just think of the plays that are replayed, and are obviously one thing, and then after review, are determined NOT to be that obvious thing… the announcers just kind of laugh it off… oh, we’re wrong again… haha. It’s ridiculous, but… nobody cares… at least not enough for this type of stuff to keep happening, which seems to be growing to an all time pace this year…. or maybe it was just our dumb luck to have seen Brady and the Steelers in the same year, on top of our yearly Packer loving refs that we encounter. OK… let’s talk about the actual game now…