Sports through the eyes of maniacs
Last night two of my brothers and a couple friends came over to play poker and watch the Pistons beat the Heat. My friends are both big Pistons fans. One of my brothers is a Heat fan; myself and my other brother, along with my wife, watched the game impartially.Before the game, the guys who are Pistons fans explained that there was a conspiracy afoot to put the Heat in the NBA Finals. The NBA would benefit greatly from having Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade on center stage, as opposed to the workmanlike group that is the Pistons. Additionally, they argued, the money made by the NBA and commissioner David Stern for a Heat-Spurs final would be immense.
First of all, I'm not naive enough to believe that there are no conspiracies in sports. I know people lie, cheat, rig games, etc. But games in the NBA would have to be rigged in one of the following ways:
1) The referees are paid to influence the outcome. The league (as my friends suggest), a team/owner or player(s), or an outside source would be the most likely culprits.
2) A player or players decide to throw the game. Issues like this come up from time to time mainly in college athletics.
3) A coach/manager (i.e. Pete Rose) plays to lose or not cover the spread.
Now, we can eliminate #2 and #3 right off the bat as far as last night and this series goes. No one has played to lose in the Heat-Pistons battles. So, is there any truth to the notion that David Stern and/or the NBA tried to keep the Pistons out of the Finals?
No.
What my pals fail to grasp is this: the NBA and Stern are doing just fine, thank you. As of 2003, the most recent data I could find without trying hard, Stern made $8 million dollars in annual salary.
Even if you think Stern is the biggest dumbass of all time (and if you do, you should look in the mirror first), it's pretty tough to think he's dumb enough to risk his personal fortune and his league's credibility by fixing games or influencing referees.
And make no mistake: if such a thing took place, was discovered, and made public, fans would run from the NBA like it was a building on fire.
Of course, to people like my friends (and others, make no mistake), none of this matters. They're just rabid, irrational, crazy fans that couldn't stand the thought of their team losing. I'll say this - it is kinda fun to watch games with them, though.
posted by Patrick @ 9:58 AM
5 Comments:
I'm to the point where watching a game with someone who's bias is as bad as what I witnessed last night (yeah, that's you Basil) has become more of a chore than anything else. Screaming for a foul when "your" team drives to the basket, yelling that it wasn't a foul when the other team does the exact same thing,, etc, etc..
It makes the game much more enjoyable when there can be playful trash talk without absurd homerism going on. For example, watching U of M with Charles. He understands the game and can admit when his team(s) do poorly or make mistakes. It's just easier to enjoy the game with people who watch with an open mind and eye.
Thunder says:
"I do not retract from my statements last night that I believe the NBA wanted a Heat vs Spurs match-up."
and then:
"I will object to the fact that you believe that I said the games were rigged and that Stern is fixing them."
So when you say, "...the NBA wanted a Heat vs. Spurs matchup," to whom are you referring? Who is "the NBA," if not Stern? You guys couldn't answer that question for me last night, and you didn't address it in your post (which I enjoyed).
By the way, although I didn't watch Game Five, I learned that Shaq and Wade both had two fouls in the first quarter. That's an odd way to give the Heat an unfair advantage, isn't it?
Thunder wrote: "They will look at this when its all done and see how close they were to putting the inferior team into the finals because of numerous injustices on the basketball court."
Numerous injustices? This sentence made me laugh, then I went to espn.com and checked the stats. Lets take a look see shall we?
Game 1 (Pistons won)
Det: 10-12 From the line, 12 personal fouls.
Mia: 5-10 from the line, 12 personal fouls.
Game 2 (Miami won)
Mia: 17-23 from the line, 23 personal fouls.
Det: 15-23 from the line, 26 personal fouls.
Game 3 (Miami won)
Mia: 38-54 from the line, 29 personal fouls.
Det: 28-43 from the line, 33 personal fouls.
Game 4 (Pistons won)
Det: 28-39 from the line, 28 personal fouls.
Mia: 29-39 from the line, 30 personal fouls.
Game 5 (Miami won, previously stated as "the absolute worst and quoting George Blaha (as biased as he may be) "If you want to grease the wheels for Shaq and Wade to go to the finals, this is how you do it.")
Mia: 13-23 from the line, 22 personal fouls.
Det: 13-20 from the line 23 personal fouls.
Game 6 (Pistons won)
Det: 12-19 from the line, 17 personal fouls.
Mia: 11-18 from the line, 20 personal fouls.
Game 7 (Pistons won)
Det: 11-15 from the line, 23 personal fouls.
Mia: 16-24 from the line, 22 personal fouls.
Totals
Detroit Pistons:
117-171 from the line, 68%
162 fouls over 7 games = 23 per game.
Miami Heat:
129-191 from the line, 67%
158 fouls over 7 games = 22 per game.
Amazing what looking at something measurable can do to an arguement huh?
Patrick, Patrick, Patrick...can you drop the sports and get back on a subject I can leave a half-way decent comment on?? I don't know squat about sports! Well...except that soccer players have really great legs! That's my sports comment for the day.
Steve: Well done; case closed.
WW: My deepest apologies and thanks for your patience. I hate sports too.
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