Lots of times...the outcome of the game isn't changed.... it's bits of the game that also pay off.....like points. In human sports, it's much easier to get point consideration than losing a game, especially the big games.
So the guy told me that if I was ever at a dog or horse track.... just watch the board he said. On one or two of the races.... the odds will drop on an outsider just moments before the actual race. That's the big money being rolled onto a rigged payoff. He said that horse/dog will almost always finish in the money. But you'd have to be nearly at the ticket window and see the board changing to piggyback on top without the inside scoop to get the bet in on time.
It's rampant.
It is easy to have a kicker miss a few field goals (ask the Chargers - or the Colts last night) or have a big player liker Reggie Wayne miss a few catches / 1/2 ass his routes during the Superbowl. Not saying that is what happened - but it rouses suspicion while watching.
Fighting is the worst if you let it go to a decision. I have seen fights where someone loses by decision after outscoring on every compubox stat, and the other guy is beat so bad that he looks like the guy got hit with hammers.
Real Sports did a piece about tennis players losing minor tourneys to low / un-ranked players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP69ZRm9BXs
Basketball has refs not making calls against big market teams. Tim Donaghy (the ref that was sentence to 15 months in federal prison for gambling) blew the whistle on how he selected the games he bet on. Refs made / let calls go depending on the player, extended playoff series depending to help maximize revenue.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5914330n
On June 10, 2008, Donaghy's attorney filed a court document alleging, among other things, that Game 6 of the
2002 Western Conference Finals between the
Los Angeles Lakers and
Sacramento Kings was fixed by two referees. The letter states that Donaghy "learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew Referees A and F to be 'company men', always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series."
[40] The Lakers won Game 6, attempting 18 more
free throws than the Kings in the fourth quarter, and went on to win the
2002 NBA Finals. The teams were not named, but the Western Conference Finals was the only seven-game series that year.
[41] The document claimed that Donaghy told federal agents that to increase television ratings and ticket sales, "top executives of the NBA sought to manipulate games using referees".
[40] It also said that NBA officials would tell referees to not call
technical fouls on certain players, and states that a referee was privately reprimanded by the league for ejecting a star player in the first quarter of a January 2000 game.
[40] Stern denied the accusations, calling Donaghy a "singing, cooperating witness".
[41]
NCAA football. Watch the FL vs. AR game and tell me the refs did not deliver that game on a silver platter to the Gators. The Gators were ranked #1 undefeated and facing their first loss against the Razorbacks. The refs called 60+ yards in penalties against the Razorbacks on the final drive to gift the Gators a win. There was so much outraged over the officiating that the NCAA suspended the refs (althought I think the NCAA encourages this type of big school / big market favoritism that Donaghy alleges that the NBA activly participates in). This didn't give the Razorbacks the win they deserved - but I guess Karma got the last laugh when despite the SEC / NCAA's effort to massage outcomes the Gators lost the SEC Championship and had to settle for a Sugar Bowl despite being ranked #1 all season.
Horse racing is dirty as can be.
