So How Probable Is "Cheating" Referees In Sports

[hackey]

To become a referee in any professional sports league requires certain charateristics - such as training and conditioning, knowledge of the sport, quick judgement and interpretation of events and knowledge of the rules. All decision should be based on non-biased judgement.. or are they.

It is entirely possible and mathematics dictates that there are always a cross section of people in any sport, business, school etc. that are not entirely honest. Just human nature. This may also include referees as well as hockey players.

The NBA is in hot water because one of the referees got caught on potentially throwing games by making bad calls. He gets paid for slanting the games.

We all know referees in any sport are probably not paid very well, as compared to the players, they are often abused and the job is stressful and demanding .. so being open to bribes for altering the outcome of games for cash may be tempting.

It is entirely possible that referees in the 4 major sports leagues may of at one time or another been pulled onto the dark side, by unsavory individuals who are involved in the billion dollar industry of sports gambling. These referees are approached with cash brides or even blackmail... and it's entirely possible in the NHL.

How prevalent do you think this is.. and has it infiltrated the NHL? It would be naive not to think it hasn't. Or is this NBA incident an isolated case.

That NBA referee by the way is estimated to of made $200K in salary.. so money may of not been the motive.

Just an opinion and not based on facts.

 

[nckd]

No matter how much the ref was getting salary wise, if he was making substantial enough bets, money was no question a motive.

Look at Rick Tocchet -- I doubt he was really hurting for money, either.

 

[jkrdevil]

No matter how much the ref was getting salary wise, if he was making substantial enough bets, money was no question a motive.

Look at Rick Tocchet -- I doubt he was really hurting for money, either.

Wasn't Tocchet himself the bookie or at least was one of the people running the ring?

 

[HankTheTank]

hockey would be the hardest to manipulate without raising massive flags ... what can you do besides putting in a massive slant on penalty calls? that in and of itself may not affect the winner or over/under as goal scoring in itself is high variance ... plenty of times a team with 50 shots and 10 PP chances ends with 1 or 2 goals, other days they will score 5 on 20 shots.

soccer - a red card or penalty shot call most definitely heavily slant the game
b-ball - putting ppl in foul trouble will directly impact the score, as will putting teams into the bonus early in a quarter
football - ... harder but i suppose calling pass interference loosely in the end zone

 

[joe_shannon_1983*]

hockey would be the hardest to manipulate without raising massive flags ... what can you do besides putting in a massive slant on penalty calls? that in and of itself may not affect the winner or over/under as goal scoring in itself is high variance ... plenty of times a team with 50 shots and 10 PP chances ends with 1 or 2 goals, other days they will score 5 on 20 shots.

soccer - a red card or penalty shot call most definitely heavily slant the game
b-ball - putting ppl in foul trouble will directly impact the score, as will putting teams into the bonus early in a quarter
football - ... harder but i suppose calling pass interference loosely in the end zone

You forgot to mention baseball, which is probably the easiest sport for a referee/umpire to fix.

It would be quite easy for a baseball umpire to incorrectly call balls and strikes, and have nobody at all detect anything funny.

 

[joe_shannon_1983*]

No matter how much the ref was getting salary wise, if he was making substantial enough bets, money was no question a motive.

Look at Rick Tocchet -- I doubt he was really hurting for money, either.

Money might not be a motive if the gambling was due to an addiction.

 

[nckd]

Wasn't Tocchet himself the bookie or at least was one of the people running the ring?

Yeah. Though my limited experience with bookies suggests they like to gamble...

 

[Hasbro]

football - ... harder but i suppose calling pass interference loosely in the end zone

Even then I don't know that an official would have enough opportunity to influence the outcome to be a reliable bet. Especially with a large crew and instant replay to contend with.

 

[19nazzy]

Even then I don't know that an official would have enough opportunity to influence the outcome to be a reliable bet. Especially with a large crew and instant replay to contend with.

Well not necessarily. It has always been said that in football a penalty can be called on any play if the referee is looking hard enough. Can call lots of holding/interference penalties that gives the team they're trying to help first downs.

 

[Garbs]

hockey would be the hardest to manipulate without raising massive flags ... what can you do besides putting in a massive slant on penalty calls? that in and of itself may not affect the winner or over/under as goal scoring in itself is high variance ... plenty of times a team with 50 shots and 10 PP chances ends with 1 or 2 goals, other days they will score 5 on 20 shots.

soccer - a red card or penalty shot call most definitely heavily slant the game
b-ball - putting ppl in foul trouble will directly impact the score, as will putting teams into the bonus early in a quarter
football - ... harder but i suppose calling pass interference loosely in the end zone

I agree. Football and hockey would be the hardest to manipulate, and the easiest to detect.

 

[TheKingPin]

I agree. Football and hockey would be the hardest to manipulate, and the easiest to detect.

yea but there are a ton of phantom calls in hockey that nake you wonder and they always seem to come at the end of a game for the losing team. that may be because they are just working really hard and draing them but the point is that a call like that happens all the time and can and does change the game.

 

[Plager05]

You have to be like a goody goody type to be a referee. They do lots of extensive checks on criminal background, and you have to have some pretty solid references to get the job too. So you have to be a pretty reputable person. I think combining that along with the huge salary they already get (for a half year of work) and the penalties for cheating, that the incidence is pretty low.

Of course the NBA guy was an exception to all of this but I don't think the mob is as into hockey anyway.

It's also a lot harder to shave points and fix games in hockey, points aren't easy to come by like in basketball.

 

[jimotis]

anyone who watches hockey knows the games are rigged... dont even kid yourself.

 

[shakes]

You forgot to mention baseball, which is probably the easiest sport for a referee/umpire to fix.

It would be quite easy for a baseball umpire to incorrectly call balls and strikes, and have nobody at all detect anything funny.

Major league umps are graded, I believe, after every game. They wouldn't last too long if they kept failing. Plus they didn't get to where they were by being inconsistent and if their zone changed from game to game, alarm bells would surely be ringing.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

anyone who watches hockey knows the games are rigged... dont even kid yourself.

Flames fan?

 

[CorpseFX]

anyone who watches hockey knows the games are rigged... dont even kid yourself.

if hockey had free throws i might actually care about this kind of conspiracy, but since it doesnt - no power play is a sure thing.

 

[Fugu]

if hockey had free throws i might actually care about this kind of conspiracy, but since it doesnt - no power play is a sure thing.

Yeah, the better teams tend to average 20-25% overall. Probably slightly better on the 5-on-3 (unless it's the playoffs and then all bets are off). Ha ha.

 

[HankTheTank]

yea but there are a ton of phantom calls in hockey that nake you wonder and they always seem to come at the end of a game for the losing team. that may be because they are just working really hard and draing them but the point is that a call like that happens all the time and can and does change the game.

come on ... the best power plays click at ~20%. hockey is a low scoring game that isn't easily rigged like soccer (red cards and penalty shots)

 

[Ol' Jase]

Anyone know if Mick McGeough is a gamblin' man?

 

[puck57]

Wasn't Tocchet himself the bookie or at least was one of the people running the ring?

If you are bringing Tocchet into the discussion- remember some key things to his case.
There was never any evidence of gambling on hockey which is the main difference than the NBA scandal.
I don't have the exact article of what he pleaded to, but if I am not mistaken it was lesser charges than originally outlined against him.
Hopefully, after his formal sentencing which comes in August, he will speak more specifically about just what he did and did not do which is what I am waiting for.
I would not rule out some addiction problems with Tocchet as well.

 

[axecrew]

Actually while no PP is a sure thing....hockey would still be very easy to manipulate. Phantom penalty calls that would put a team at a man disadvantage. Have enough called against you and your PK guys get very tired and your main players(1st and 2nd line guys) see little to no ice time. All in all it would be easy. Especially since most calls are subjective to begin with.

 

[Resolute]

Flames fan?

Probably just someone who has seen Michael McGeough officiate.

Not that I am suggesting McGeough is crooked, I don't think he is intelligent enough to do it.

Personally, I think hockey is far easier to manipulate than people think. We look at officials like McGeough, Kozari and Fraser, and just shake our heads at how grossly incompetent they can be at times. What is our first reaction? To complain about that incompetence. The games are easier to rig than people think because we prefer to believe the officials are just stupid, rather than acting in a deliberate manner.

Even when an official makes a grossly, and obviously, incorrect call - ala Mick and the Oilers/Stars game, we just criticize the ref for blowing such an obvious call. Meanwhile, an unscrupulous official could be walking out of a game such as that with a lot more cash in their pocket.

 

[MrAlfie]

Anyone know if Mick McGeough is a gamblin' man?

first ref that came to my mind when this topic popped up....
theres something fishy about this guy..

 

[jimotis]

Flames fan?

if hockey had free throws i might actually care about this kind of conspiracy, but since it doesnt - no power play is a sure thing.

not a flames fan.

the bias that exist from franchise to franchise is greater than in any sport in pros. i dont think it is a subtle rigging in the conscience not an out and out this team is going to rig. calling it the same both ways and a the number of phantom calls that change the mo in favor of some of the more "respected" teams is obvious...

 

[Fourier]

Flames fan?

Great post. After a tough day this hit the spot.