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I hold the best conspiracies are far less "far-reaching".
For your consideration, I give you Al Riveron.
1) Against the Texans, Al Riveron let stand a TD by Brandin Cooks where he toe-tapped a catch in the end-zone, but bobbled the ball as he went to the ground. From the reverse angle you can see the ball come away from his body and "float" until he hits the ground where he crumples into it and traps it against his facemask and body. Riveron, believed Cooks did NOT lose control of the ball, nor did he fail to survive the ground. Even though it is clear that the ball is loose as Cooks hits the ground and it's only when his body falls on top of it that he truly fully retains control. This catch, late against the Texans led to a P*ts last second win.
2) In probably the most egregious and painfully obvious case of biased officiating in recent memory (until last weekend) Al Riveron overturned a TD by the Jets in a game where the Jets trailed 20 to 24. A Jets TE makes a reception, rumbles toward the end-zone and is tackled by two P*ts defenders as he tumbles over the goal line. A TouchDown is called and seemingly nothing weird can happen. Well, You don't know Al Riveron. Riveron decided, inexplicably. Truly inexplicably that the TE may have loosened his grip as he crossed the goal line, even though he had clear and obvious possession as he went to the ground and the ball never once touched the ground. Riveron determined that since the PLAYER went out of bounds through the endzone and since he may or may not have had clear possession, the only reasonable thing to do was to give the P*ts a touchback and give them possession at the 20. That of course was the most obviously WRONG call he could have made. He could have awarded the Touchdown. He could have given the Jets the ball at the one. Instead, he flat out jumps the shark and goes all in for the P*ts, rational minds be damned. The P*ts hold on and win the game.
3) In the highest rated game of the season, Jesse James receives a pass from Roethlisberger, falls to a knee short of the end-zone and lunges forward. As he does so the ball spins in his hands due to the positioning of his elbows. His right hand appears to be beneath and beside the ball, but it isn't entirely clear. What is clear is that the ball did spin in his hand before he hit the ground. The Referees call a touchdown in the most thrilling game of the year and this touchdown will almost certainly spell doom for the P*ts. Unless, of course All Riveron has 3 to 5 minutes to look at every conceivable angle of film in order to come up with "conclusive" evidence that the ball hit the ground and that James did not have control of it. This is more difficult for him given his earlier ruling in the season favoring Brandin Cooks, but ultimately, given the importance of this game, the ruling MUST be made and it is. The fact that a photograph surfaces later showing James' hand quite conclusively UNDER the ball does not escape the attention of those paying attention. Apparently in his search for "conclusive" evidence, Riveron missed that shot.
Also missed was the blatant pass interference on a pass two plays later when Roethlisberger threw toward a slanting Eli Rogers in the end-zone. Rogers was pulled backward and down by a P*ts defender who used his grip on the receivers jersey to leverage himself into position to tip the ball. The back judge was in position to see this clearly, yet did not throw a flag. To do so would have prolonged the game and given the Steelers another opportunity to either move into Overtime, or outright win the game. Something the NLF could not allow as the P*ts could not survive the #3 seed. A #1 seed and a home game against one of their difficult matchups in the Ravens or Jaguars or even Steelers is bad enough. But to attempt to wade through those defensive powerhouses with the 3 seed would be impossible.
#4 in order to ensure that the Patriots retain their #1 seed and not have to face a loaded Jaguar team or have to potentially travel once more to Pittsburgh, Riveron had to once more step in and quash the burgeoning momentum of the upstart Buffalo Bills who were threatening to go in to halftime with a LEAD of all things. As we have clearly come to understand Riveron does NOT need conclusive evidence, he merely needs a somewhat reasonable excuse. (Not even that in the case of the Jets game.) In this case he ruled that Kelvin Benjamin had momentarily lost control of the ball while his "toe dragged". Of course he had no conclusive evidence of this. The film of the dragging toes and the film of the ball momentarily out of Kelvin's complete control are not synched such that you can determine that they occur at the same time. But Riveron merely needs to be able to justify to himself that they could have happened at the same time in order to overturn Benjamin's TD and leave the P*ts with yet ANOTHER (Their 4th) gift ruling from him.
For those of you paying attention, all of this requires no conspiracy, merely Al Riveron interpreting the rules as he wishes and making final calls on reviewable plays within the last 2 minutes of a half. As well as all Scoring plays. Something he is allowed to do for every game, mind you.
It should also interest you to note that a Texans receiver stretched out to score a TD against Pittsburgh last week. As he reached out for a TD, he lost control of the football and it fumbled harmlessly (so it would seem) out of bounds past the pylon. Now, the Al Riveron from the Jets Game would call that a Touchback. The Texans player clearly lost control of the ball and it fumbled out of bounds out of the end-zone. The question of WHERE the player lost control and WHERE he is down is key. Had this game been against the P*ts, history tells us convincingly that would have been a touchback. With the Texans and Steelers, the ball was down at the 1 or 2 (As it should have been.) Since Riveron had no stake in that game, he didn't need to make any "Unca Al" calls for it.
#5 If any of you were watching the Rams vs the Titans last weekend you were given a glimpse into what happens when the league quietly wants **** to go one way. The Titans, mediocrity in the flesh, managed to even up the Rams at 20-20. That in itself was mind-shattering entertainment. But then the Titans did something crazy. They hustled up to perform an onside kick. The Rams weren't prepared. They weren't moving quickly enough but the referees had set the ball and whistled it in play. The Titans kicked and recovered an onside ball. But! a flag flew.
It seemed, the Rams head coach had called a time out. Except that if you looked at the broadcast, you could see the Rams coach emphatically saying "What he Hell?" and clearly indicating he had done no such thing. Mularkey (Great name) of the Titans noticed this too. The referees calmly explained the situation to the Rams head coach who quickly changed his tune and got with the program. "Yep. called a timeout!" But Mularkey was having no such mularkey. He raised holy hell. Pointed to the replays, demanded that the refs tell him which ref had gotten the signal and explain it to him in small words. Of course they couldn't as a timeout hadn't really been called.
So... The refs huddled and muddled and mulled it over. Then they came back and said "There was no timeout called. The Rams are NOT charged with a timeout. The ball was NOT in play. We will re-kick."
In short, Hey, Titans, we're gonna **** you in the *** with a hot poker. The Rams are pretty much ready for you now. The ball was certainly in play when the set it, blew the whistle and circled their arms... But when the Titans recovered and there was a honest to God slim as **** chance that they might upset the Rams, suddenly, that **** wasn't in play.
Now why? You ask. Why would the league give a ****?
The Rams were terrible last year. They're having a good old fashioned resurgence. Makes for great television. The Rams are ALSO trying to build a fan base in God and NFL forsaken L.A. AND they're tying to build and finance a billion dollar stadium, hopefully to cater to those newly won over fans. But the ******, can't win a game to save their souls Rams aren't going to win too many fans are they? And then that beautiful, just waiting to be plucked L.A. marked will once again wither and die on the vine. And then they'll be stuck with those animals in Oakland or God forgive us for mentioning it, San Diego. No, L.A. NEEDS a winner. At least a team that makes some noise in the playoffs. Ya. That's good for Television. That's good for the owners. That's good for L.A.
So, WTF, The Titans are already a bit sucky this year. So they get ****** on an onside-kick. Greater Good baby! The owners will get their TV money. The fans will get their spectacle. They may even get some hope now and then that their team might just have a magical season. Problem is, the NFL is becoming a bit too heavy handed with the "magic". It's looking more and more like cheap parlor tricks. And Unca Al is off script and working way too hard to protect a bloated and blighted paper champion. And the shield? Well, the Rog doesn't talk too much about the shield anymore.
For your consideration, I give you Al Riveron.
1) Against the Texans, Al Riveron let stand a TD by Brandin Cooks where he toe-tapped a catch in the end-zone, but bobbled the ball as he went to the ground. From the reverse angle you can see the ball come away from his body and "float" until he hits the ground where he crumples into it and traps it against his facemask and body. Riveron, believed Cooks did NOT lose control of the ball, nor did he fail to survive the ground. Even though it is clear that the ball is loose as Cooks hits the ground and it's only when his body falls on top of it that he truly fully retains control. This catch, late against the Texans led to a P*ts last second win.
2) In probably the most egregious and painfully obvious case of biased officiating in recent memory (until last weekend) Al Riveron overturned a TD by the Jets in a game where the Jets trailed 20 to 24. A Jets TE makes a reception, rumbles toward the end-zone and is tackled by two P*ts defenders as he tumbles over the goal line. A TouchDown is called and seemingly nothing weird can happen. Well, You don't know Al Riveron. Riveron decided, inexplicably. Truly inexplicably that the TE may have loosened his grip as he crossed the goal line, even though he had clear and obvious possession as he went to the ground and the ball never once touched the ground. Riveron determined that since the PLAYER went out of bounds through the endzone and since he may or may not have had clear possession, the only reasonable thing to do was to give the P*ts a touchback and give them possession at the 20. That of course was the most obviously WRONG call he could have made. He could have awarded the Touchdown. He could have given the Jets the ball at the one. Instead, he flat out jumps the shark and goes all in for the P*ts, rational minds be damned. The P*ts hold on and win the game.
3) In the highest rated game of the season, Jesse James receives a pass from Roethlisberger, falls to a knee short of the end-zone and lunges forward. As he does so the ball spins in his hands due to the positioning of his elbows. His right hand appears to be beneath and beside the ball, but it isn't entirely clear. What is clear is that the ball did spin in his hand before he hit the ground. The Referees call a touchdown in the most thrilling game of the year and this touchdown will almost certainly spell doom for the P*ts. Unless, of course All Riveron has 3 to 5 minutes to look at every conceivable angle of film in order to come up with "conclusive" evidence that the ball hit the ground and that James did not have control of it. This is more difficult for him given his earlier ruling in the season favoring Brandin Cooks, but ultimately, given the importance of this game, the ruling MUST be made and it is. The fact that a photograph surfaces later showing James' hand quite conclusively UNDER the ball does not escape the attention of those paying attention. Apparently in his search for "conclusive" evidence, Riveron missed that shot.
Also missed was the blatant pass interference on a pass two plays later when Roethlisberger threw toward a slanting Eli Rogers in the end-zone. Rogers was pulled backward and down by a P*ts defender who used his grip on the receivers jersey to leverage himself into position to tip the ball. The back judge was in position to see this clearly, yet did not throw a flag. To do so would have prolonged the game and given the Steelers another opportunity to either move into Overtime, or outright win the game. Something the NLF could not allow as the P*ts could not survive the #3 seed. A #1 seed and a home game against one of their difficult matchups in the Ravens or Jaguars or even Steelers is bad enough. But to attempt to wade through those defensive powerhouses with the 3 seed would be impossible.
#4 in order to ensure that the Patriots retain their #1 seed and not have to face a loaded Jaguar team or have to potentially travel once more to Pittsburgh, Riveron had to once more step in and quash the burgeoning momentum of the upstart Buffalo Bills who were threatening to go in to halftime with a LEAD of all things. As we have clearly come to understand Riveron does NOT need conclusive evidence, he merely needs a somewhat reasonable excuse. (Not even that in the case of the Jets game.) In this case he ruled that Kelvin Benjamin had momentarily lost control of the ball while his "toe dragged". Of course he had no conclusive evidence of this. The film of the dragging toes and the film of the ball momentarily out of Kelvin's complete control are not synched such that you can determine that they occur at the same time. But Riveron merely needs to be able to justify to himself that they could have happened at the same time in order to overturn Benjamin's TD and leave the P*ts with yet ANOTHER (Their 4th) gift ruling from him.
For those of you paying attention, all of this requires no conspiracy, merely Al Riveron interpreting the rules as he wishes and making final calls on reviewable plays within the last 2 minutes of a half. As well as all Scoring plays. Something he is allowed to do for every game, mind you.
It should also interest you to note that a Texans receiver stretched out to score a TD against Pittsburgh last week. As he reached out for a TD, he lost control of the football and it fumbled harmlessly (so it would seem) out of bounds past the pylon. Now, the Al Riveron from the Jets Game would call that a Touchback. The Texans player clearly lost control of the ball and it fumbled out of bounds out of the end-zone. The question of WHERE the player lost control and WHERE he is down is key. Had this game been against the P*ts, history tells us convincingly that would have been a touchback. With the Texans and Steelers, the ball was down at the 1 or 2 (As it should have been.) Since Riveron had no stake in that game, he didn't need to make any "Unca Al" calls for it.
#5 If any of you were watching the Rams vs the Titans last weekend you were given a glimpse into what happens when the league quietly wants **** to go one way. The Titans, mediocrity in the flesh, managed to even up the Rams at 20-20. That in itself was mind-shattering entertainment. But then the Titans did something crazy. They hustled up to perform an onside kick. The Rams weren't prepared. They weren't moving quickly enough but the referees had set the ball and whistled it in play. The Titans kicked and recovered an onside ball. But! a flag flew.
It seemed, the Rams head coach had called a time out. Except that if you looked at the broadcast, you could see the Rams coach emphatically saying "What he Hell?" and clearly indicating he had done no such thing. Mularkey (Great name) of the Titans noticed this too. The referees calmly explained the situation to the Rams head coach who quickly changed his tune and got with the program. "Yep. called a timeout!" But Mularkey was having no such mularkey. He raised holy hell. Pointed to the replays, demanded that the refs tell him which ref had gotten the signal and explain it to him in small words. Of course they couldn't as a timeout hadn't really been called.
So... The refs huddled and muddled and mulled it over. Then they came back and said "There was no timeout called. The Rams are NOT charged with a timeout. The ball was NOT in play. We will re-kick."
In short, Hey, Titans, we're gonna **** you in the *** with a hot poker. The Rams are pretty much ready for you now. The ball was certainly in play when the set it, blew the whistle and circled their arms... But when the Titans recovered and there was a honest to God slim as **** chance that they might upset the Rams, suddenly, that **** wasn't in play.
Now why? You ask. Why would the league give a ****?
The Rams were terrible last year. They're having a good old fashioned resurgence. Makes for great television. The Rams are ALSO trying to build a fan base in God and NFL forsaken L.A. AND they're tying to build and finance a billion dollar stadium, hopefully to cater to those newly won over fans. But the ******, can't win a game to save their souls Rams aren't going to win too many fans are they? And then that beautiful, just waiting to be plucked L.A. marked will once again wither and die on the vine. And then they'll be stuck with those animals in Oakland or God forgive us for mentioning it, San Diego. No, L.A. NEEDS a winner. At least a team that makes some noise in the playoffs. Ya. That's good for Television. That's good for the owners. That's good for L.A.
So, WTF, The Titans are already a bit sucky this year. So they get ****** on an onside-kick. Greater Good baby! The owners will get their TV money. The fans will get their spectacle. They may even get some hope now and then that their team might just have a magical season. Problem is, the NFL is becoming a bit too heavy handed with the "magic". It's looking more and more like cheap parlor tricks. And Unca Al is off script and working way too hard to protect a bloated and blighted paper champion. And the shield? Well, the Rog doesn't talk too much about the shield anymore.
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