Evander Holyfield in boxing and Nate Carr in wrestling getting screwed out of Olympic Gold Medals by corrupt Olympic Judges/Officials/Refs (in both situations Olympic officials were pretty much shown to have been bribed as their actions & scoring were so diametrically opposite to obvious reality there is nothing else that could explain it).
OT: What is the most fixed sporting event you have ever watched??
- Thread starter simons96
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Thanks for the 'tube, and certainly Liston was hit, but the back story to what was then, and is now, a corrupt sport will forever linger. Here's a good take on the era and background of Sunny Liston.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/may/22/muhammad-ali-phantom-punch-sonny-liston-1965
Was it the game in 2005 vs. Michigan that was one of the big travesties. I think it was that game that had all of the horrible spots, them giving Michigan first downs without even measuring that looked like a yard short, etc. Also, what I've never seen in all my time watching football, the lineman spotting the ball for michigan and walking towards the center of the field with the ball while moving up the field a yard or two, like he was being blown by a stiff wind, giving Michigan the first down.
Yeah, it's very cool to read about the Poe brothers at Princeton, among other long-ago greats. If you could give the names of a few of the books and/or links you find particularly compelling, you'd be very popular on this board, I'm sure.
There was a WWF match in my hometown decades ago when my favorite tag team lost their title chance on some one-off technicality. I stopped watching after that point because I realized the results were heavily fixed based on media draw - which my hometown had none. It may seem dumb, I mean I know it's fixed, but realizing they were never going to let anything significant happen in a small town outlet was just like - why would anyone come to watch this?
Otherwise, there have probably been a few Penn State - Michigan games next down on the list.
I thought Jai-Alai had cleaned up their act in the US since the 70's, but I don't know much about the sport. Would like to hear/know more.
Otherwise, there have probably been a few Penn State - Michigan games next down on the list.
I thought Jai-Alai had cleaned up their act in the US since the 70's, but I don't know much about the sport. Would like to hear/know more.
Oh, and I don't know if "fixed" is the right term for it, but some UConn and Notre Dame women's basketball games vs various opponents back in the late 1990's / early 2000's. Some refs can get really lazy when they think one team should just win automatically.
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka vs Bob Backlund in the 1982 cage match in Madisn Square Garden...total fix.
Of course, this is merely a guess at this time. However, I am thinking that it will probably eventually prove to be this year's Kentucky Derby (and then the rest of the Triple Crown.) At the very least, I think the circumstances were fixed so that a slightly better than average horse could appear to be a superhorse.
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The 1972 Olympic gold medal basketball game between the U.S. and Soviet Russia.
It sounds on the surface like tin foil hat, but it's not.
There were no less than 8 game changing calls, all poor, all controversial, and all going in favor of Ohio State. A case can be made.
Cant believe nobody mentioned the Nebraska game a few years back. "You're lucky you're even playing." 2nd choice: Any game reffed by Witvoet..
Yes. It was also the game where they were given time back on the clock simply because Lloyd Carr asked. (PSU was winning with one second left.) The timekeeper made sure to give them one more chance, when at any other stadium, the game would have ended on the second to last play. There was also the infamous heel-toe catch, that has been ruled OOB at every time since at every level... that wasn't even replayed. There were also multiple penalties ignored on the kickoff to Breaston, granted Joe shouldn't have kicked to Breaston.
2002 was the game where Tony Johnsons caught the ball, both feet landing about a foot in bounds. It would have put PSU in range for a chip shot FG and the win. The referines called him out of bounds, giving Michigan a chance to win in OT. This blatantly terrible call was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the reason all of CFB has instant replay. You know a call is bad when it fundamentally changes the game.
I thought it was the 2002 Iowa game, when Paterno chased the ref across the field. Or maybe it was the OSU game that same year.
I'd be remiss if I didn't also include the 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals Game 6 between the lakers and the Kings, since it was at the heart of the Tin Donaghy scandal. Lakers shot 27 free throws in the 4th quarter to win 106-102.
As mentioned 1972 Olympic basketball game
the US players still refuse to accept their medals. that's how bad it was.
I was at that game. Everyone points to the Hartsock bounce catch on third-and-3 as the uber bad call but I thought two others were at least as bad.
PSU's previous drive had been halted on a non-call where Dustin Fox, who was hopelessly mismatched against Matt Kranchick all night, shoved Kranchick out of bounds at least a second before the ball arrived. The absolute killer, however, was a play on PSU's final drive after OSU had gone up 21-20 following the Hartsock travesty. PSU was out of timeouts, so pretty much every play was a sideline route to Kranchick or a WR. After making a catch, Kranchick was ridden out of bounds by AJ Hawk, yet the ref immediately signaled for the clock to keep running on the basis of Kranchick's forward progress having stopped before he went out of bounds. I have NEVER seen a call like that in any other game at any level. Even with losing most of what little time was left due to the in-bounds call, they did get a few more yards to just over midfield and Kimball attempted a 60 yarder on the final play of the game which looked like it had the distance but was just barely wide right.
That was outright theft, as PSU played by far their best game in an otherwise dismal season and still got monumentally hosed. I defy anyone who thinks there's no pro-OSU/Michigan bias in B10 officiating to watch the last six minutes of that game and continue to make that claim with a straight face. The 2014 OSU game isn't far behind.
Was at Pocono Downs a few years back, and a horse was a huge favorite. The race starts and the horse is leading by a third
of the track and ends up finishing last. Driver was pulling back on the reins the whole second lap. Fixed, the fans sure thought so,
as they threw anything available at the driver.
Well, I fully expect the 2015 PSU games vs. UMich and TheOSU to be added to the discussion in the coming months!
I thought it was the 2002 Iowa game, when Paterno chased the ref across the field. Or maybe it was the OSU game that same year.
It was the Iowa game first that season, then the Michigan game. The Iowa game was an isolated incident, the Michigan game showed a trend. I believe that if the Michigan travesty didn't happen after the Iowa BS, we wouldn't have gotten instant replay when we did.
No really bad calls in the OSU game, it was tough close game, OSU came out on top.
Last time I took my wife, Dave Palone one of the winingest drivers didn't win a race. BS.
Both Ali/Liston fights were fixed. I watched a show called mobsters on TV. The show was about mob boss Tommy Luchese, who got into the fight rackets. They came out and said that Ali/Liston 1 was fixed, Liston was a 7-1 favorite, and the mob made big bucks betting on Ali(Cassius Clay at the time).There were also questions about Ali/ Jimmy Young, and one of the Ali/Ken Norton fights was a total farce.
1) PSU vs Indiana basketball game @ Rec Hall in 1993
2) Michael Jordan's last game w/ the Bulls (game 6 of '98 Finals)
3) When Mike Tyson fought some guy on Fox right after he got out of prison (can't remember the guy)
4) Several games involving Duke in the last NCAA men's tournament (the Utah game comes to mind)
5) Multiple PSU football games vs Ohio State and Michigan (UM '02, OSU '03, UM '05, OSU '14)
6) I'm also not entirely convinced that Testaverde didn't throw the '87 Fiesta Bowl
2) Michael Jordan's last game w/ the Bulls (game 6 of '98 Finals)
3) When Mike Tyson fought some guy on Fox right after he got out of prison (can't remember the guy)
4) Several games involving Duke in the last NCAA men's tournament (the Utah game comes to mind)
5) Multiple PSU football games vs Ohio State and Michigan (UM '02, OSU '03, UM '05, OSU '14)
6) I'm also not entirely convinced that Testaverde didn't throw the '87 Fiesta Bowl
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