What would it take to fix an NFL Game?

I've been thinking of all the bad calls I keep seeing as I spoke about in the Seahawks Penalty Streak article. I've read articles that say that it would be far to hard to do, like this article The NFL is fixed, says guy. But I don't agree with the author of that article. I don't think that you need to buy players off at all. I do think that all it would take is to buy the officials.

An NFL referee can make anywhere from 78k to 205k a year depending on junior or senior status. I know that to most of us that sounds like a lot of money, but it's pretty low for someone that needs to be in a satisfactory financial place stay clean and honest... to keep from being bought. And it's low compared to most other major sports too, especially if you're at the lower end of that pay scale. So, they are, in my opinion, in a place that they can be bought.

To sway games all a ref needs to do is to call more penalties on one team than the other. Make calls that overturn touchdowns. Calls that cause an unflavored team to turn over the ball. Calls that cost yardage. But that's not all... they can ignore penalties for the favored team too. Don't call things that would cause turn overs or pull back touchdowns. They do need to make calls, just don't do it at times that are crucial to keep people thinking that a fair game is being called. And it's not hard to make calls either. If you look hard enough, a penalty could be called on just about any play on either team.

We need to open our eyes... I'm sure you've seen questionable calls or calls that were just wrong. Where was the game at that point? Nearing the end, or at a pivotal point where a team was pulling too far ahead. Step back next time you see it happening and ask yourself why a bad call would makes sense for the NFL. Is it to keep the scores close so that it's not a blowout. Close games keep people in their seats and coming back, big spreads cause people to leave the stadiums, stop attending or to turn the channel. Maybe their trying to keep a team from winning so that they can fix who will be in the super bowl that year. Keep hope alive!

I'm also sure you've seen penalty calls that should have been made but werent. It seems odd that the're ignored doesn't it? I think we're being duped folks. We're sheep being led by a leash and we keep coming back for more.

A friend of mine had a comment on this theory I have. He said that he doesn't believe that the games are fixed. When I asked why his response was that it would ruin the game for him. He said that he sees my point, and sees it happening, but to believe it... that they are fixing games... it would keep him from enjoying the sport.

Any given Sunday, anyone can win... right! At least anyone that benefits the NFL's bottom line the most.