To all here. How much real point shaving and throwing games do you think goes on and in what sports? I have heard before from an author who says plenty goes on, and it ruins the games for him now unless he looks at them as pure throwaway escapism, not true contests of skill and determination.
That’s a good question. I have officiated on the professional and highest college level in two sports. What we are instructed on includes taking into consideration TV time slots, managing the game to be done in a time certain, and a lot of the feedback come from a lot of different sources and most recently from analytics.
So in football, a first down is always placed in a yard line. Unless inside the 10 when you will place the ball where it lies by spot. The reason is say there is a first down on the 37 1/2 with the next necessary line being the 47 1/2. Out the. All at the 38 so the nose of the ball is in the tick. Now if the nose of the ball is spotted at or near the 48 you don’t have to have a measurement.
Once in a while we will know the line was the 48 but the wing official spotted at the 47 and 3/4. (As the ball gets closer to the necessary line or line to gain, we officiate much more tightly) and we know that it isn’t a first down. The nose of the ball isn’t on the 48. But we also know that there is no way anyone would accept that judgment without seeing it for themselves with a chain.
If a guy runs for 9.75 yards on first and 10 in the middle of the field, I guarantee the ball will be spotted as a first down. Why? Because 2nd and inches from midfield will most likely be followed by a long throw for a free play. The majority of those passes are incomplete. That stops the clock. So my giving the first down the clock keeps running and at least 40 seconds came off the clock and it is running. Stopped clocks are the death of officials.
But if sends and 10 and the same 9.75 yard run. That ball will be spotted where it ended. Because now it’s only one play for a first down (unless the Offense is willing to play 4th down).
Lots of little things like that. Is it shaving? Don’t know. Is it wrong? I let the fans decide. But I can say I have never at the highest levels ever been told to eat a flag or not make a call or play favorites. It’s darn near impossible for us zebras to intend to skew a game. We just don’t think like thst. Most of the time I can’t even tell you the final score of the game I just did. But I sure know the foul count walking off the field.