Crazy Sports Conspiracies

Sports conspiracies that are sure to blow your mind

[conspiracyzone]

Freestyle Post

The Michael Jordan gambling conspiracy

In 1993, Michael Jordan was in the midst of his prime already cementing himself as one of the greatest scorers of all time. Then one day he made a decision that would shock the whole world.

Jordan was 30 years old and people thought he had at least 10 more years ahead of him because how consistently well he had been playing. Over the summer after the Bulls had just won a championship, Jordan's father had unexpectedly passed away. Later on that summer, Jordan unexpectedly retired and shocked the world. Si.com says, "In a nationally-televised press conference held at the Bulls’ practice facility, Jordan stunned the basketball world by retiring. He felt there wasn’t anything else to prove.”

Jordan also had a bit of an addiction with gambling and this was widely known. Over the next few years people speculated that the NBA suspended Jordan for a few years for gambling and the NBA wanted to keep this a secret and make it seem like Jordan's decision. A reason for this is the NBA did not want to publicly punish Jordan because he was the "golden child" of the NBA. This would not only help Jordan's image, but also the NBA because Jordan was undeniably the most marketable athlete at the time.

During his time away from basketball, Jordan decided to try his hand in baseball and joined the Chicago White Sox where he was a very average baseball player. This is another reason for speculation because it is weird to some people why Jordan would retire from the game of basketball where he was the best player in the league, just to join another major sport league where he was just another average player. It just doesn't make sense. Two years later, Jordan announced that he would be returning to basketball, once again joining the Chicago Bulls and leading them to three more championships.

Although it is not confirmed that Jordan was suspended for gambling, there is much evidence that prove he was. I think this is a very interesting conspiracy and am very curious to know the truth behind this scandal.

[conspiracyzone]

Book and Documentary post

The first book I researched is called "The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR" by Brian Tuohy. This book is available online, or on Amazon for only about $17. In this book Tuohy discusses different sports conspiracy theories, including rigged games, biased officials, and player misconduct cover-ups. He also explores how sports conspiracies relate to social, cultural, and political concerns of power and corruption. The book provides thought provoking conspiracies about the world of sports, and in my opinion was a very interesting read. Throughout the book, Tuohy provides evidence to support his claims, drawing on a variety of sources, including court documents, media reports, and interviews with athletes, coaches, and other insiders.

There are many NFL conspiracy theories discussed in "The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR". One of the most prominent NFL conspiracies explored in the book is the allegation that the outcome of Super Bowl III was fixed in favor of the underdog New York Jets, who defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. According to the conspiracy theory, the NFL and the television networks that broadcast the game wanted to create a compelling storyline and boost ratings, and saw the Jets' victory as a way to do so. Some have suggested that the officials intentionally made bad calls that favored the Jets, or that the Colts were told to lose the game in order to help the league. Tuohy examines various pieces of evidence to support this theory, including the amount of money bet on the game and strange behavior by some of the key players and coaches. The author also exclaims that there is no definitive proof that the game was fixed, and many have disputed the claims made by Tuohy.

One popular documentary that I recently watched on Netflix and found interesting is "Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez." It is a great series and it is directed by Geno McDermott. The documentary explores the life and career of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted of murder in 2015 and committed suicide in prison in 2017. The different episodes explore the many controversies and allegations surrounding Hernandez, including his troubled childhood, drug use, and possible involvement in other crimes.

There are three very detailed episodes in this series and each of them dives deep into what went on inside the mind of Aaron Hernandez and the conspiracies surrounding him. The first episode covers the killing of Odin Lloyd, which was the case that Hernandez was convicted of first degree murder. Other major points of this episode are covering and interviewing close friends of Aaron throughout his life. The second episode heavily covers Aarons life as a rising football star at the University of Florida all the way up to the starting tight end of the New England Patriots. According to sportingnews.com, "Several people interviewed said Hernandez got away with a lot of issues at Florida. The documentary discusses his alleged involvement in an assault of a bartender, his potential role in a double shooting in Gainesville and his rampant drug use." The final episode focuses mainly on the trail, and the horrific aftermath. People and close friends around him started to become terrified of who Hernandez has become and were nervous to be around him due to his sudden personality change. Eventually Aaron was put away in jail where he would commit suicide. Even though Hernandez was only convicted of one murder, there are many theories that he committed many more unethical crimes.

Overall, I learned a lot about conspiracies in the sports world from these two pieces of work.

[aj-keller]

Freestyle

The picture above is of Sammy Sosa. Sosa played in the majors for eighteen years. He played for 4 different teams, but his best years were with the Chicago Cubs. He was one of the best hitters the game has ever seen. He had in his career almost 2500 hits and 609 home runs. He was very talented but also has gotten in trouble before. He is currently not in the hall of fame because he is believed to have been taking steroids. He is eligible to be voted in, but he has not yet been lucky enough.

This freestyle post is not about him being on steroids, it is about another incident that happened to Sammy. In 2003, Sammy was at the tail end of his career and his stats were plummeting. He wanted a way to get back on track. So according to sportscasting, he used an illegal bat. When he was with the Cubs, he was playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and in the first inning of that game, he grounded out. He also broke his bat in the process of grounding out. When the bat broke the umpire saw it and picked it up. He called the other umpires over and they discovered that the bat had a cork in it. He was ejected from the game and then suspended by the league. Sammy's excuse for this was that he picked up the wrong bat and that one was for the crowd during batting practice. A corked bat makes the bat lighter, so I believe he deserved to be ejected and suspended. I also think it is fine to use a corked bat during pregame practice because it gives the fans more chances to see a home run.

[conspiracyzone]

I recently did a Profile post on Sammy Sosa and his use of PED's. I did not get a chance to dive deep into his illegal bat use but it is very interesting to learn about. Even though Sammy Sosa is one of the greatest baseball players, both of these incidences tarnish his career and it makes you think what else he did in his career and how much he got away with.

[conspiracyzone]

Profile Post

Today we are going to dive deep into Barry Bonds and why he is known as the biggest cheater in MLB history. There are many conspiracies surrounding Barry Bonds but the biggest one is known as the BALCO scandal.

In his time, Barry Bonds was known as one of the most dominant players in the league. He was so good that many people questioned his skill and the league eventually was accused of using performance enhancing drugs. He was also indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath.

An example of a primary source for this scandal would be the court ruling that proved he was guilty of using steroids and lying under oath. Baseball Reference states, "Slugger Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader, was charged with five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from his 2003 testimony before a federal grand jury in the investigation of BALCO for supplying steroids to various top athletes in the San Francisco area. At the time, Bonds had testified that he had never knowingly taken steroids or received injections from anyone but a licensed physician. On April 13th, the jury found him guilty of obstruction of justice but failed to reach an agreement on the three remaining perjury charges. He was sentenced to two years' probation as a result."

A secondary source of this incident would be books on evidence of why Barry Bonds might be cheating. This is a secondary source because it is coming from an outside source that is speculating something that may not be true. ESPN states, "The book describes how Bonds allegedly turned to steroids after the 1998 season because he was jealous of Mark McGwire. Bonds hit 37 home runs in '98, when fans and media were captivated by McGwire's 70 home runs and his duel for the record with Sammy Sosa, who hit 66."

[conspiracyzone]

Primary Source Post

The primary source that I am choosing to research is the no call of the 2019 NFC Championship game between the Rams and the Saints. This is arguably one of the worst no calls by a referee in sports history for many reasons. For starters, this was the final play of the game and the refs were supposed to be in key position to make one of the biggest calls of their lives. Also, this was the game that decides what team makes it to the Super Bowl, so the refs were supposedly the "best of the best". As you can see in the video, Drew Brees was throwing a crucial pass to him teammate on 3rd and 10, and the defender obviously hits him before he touches the ball. This is one of the easiest calls for a ref to make, but they pretend they see nothing and call it incomplete. The Saints ended up losing, and after the game everyone on the team was furious that the referees blew their chance of going to the Super Bowl.

This is a great example of a primary source because this is realtime, and uncut footage of the refs blatantly missing the call and throwing the game in order for the fan favorite Rams to win. The video directly captures the reactions of the referees, players, and coaches during this crucial moment. It can be used to support or challenge arguments or theories related to the game and can provide insight on how the game was played.

[conspiracyzone]

Library Reflection

This was my first time in a library in over a year and I definitely learned a lot of useful information regarding my topic. The first option in the scavenger hunt I decided to try was the first option, which required me to browse the library and find a physical book that had an abundance of information on my topic. It took me a very while to find because it just had a bunch of letters and numbers that I had no idea what they meant. After doing some research and walking around the library for 20 minutes, I finally found my book titled, "Athletes who indulge in their dark side: sex, drugs, and cover ups". After scanning through thus book, I can already tell that I am going to be using this source for some of my other blog posts. Finding a physical book in person also was pretty cool to do and I can see myself doing this more in the future with book that I have a personal interest in.

My second task was to find a different book, but online only. On the Kutztown online article there were over 20 books that had much information on my topic. I chose one that I thought was interesting called "The fix is still in". I printed out some pages of the book that I thought were useful and saved them for later. This was much easier than finding a book in person because I am much more familiar with online book sources.

The last task I did was I watched a documentary about the power of politics in the NFL and it is called, "Behind the Shield". This was a very interesting watch because it gave me a different perspective inside the NFL that I have not seen before.

By doing all of these tasks in the library, it helped me gain much more insight of what the library really has to offer.

[conspiracyzone]

Freestyle Post

1985 NBA Draft Conspiracy

I'm going to start this blog off with one of my all time favorite conspiracies, the "rigged" 1985 NBA Draft Lottery. In this conspiracy, we're going to dive deep into why and how David Stern rigged the draft in order for the New York Knicks to select Patrick Ewing. In the early 1980's the NBA was losing several of their much needed viewers. They needed a change in their league real quick in order to regain the popularity they once had.

At this point in time, Patrick Ewing, who was a stellar basketball player for Georgetown at the time was a projected number one pick, and to many, the future of the NBA. During this time in the NBA, there were only a few top tier teams, and because of this the NBA was losing popularity because many thought it was getting boring. David Stern, who was the commissioner of the league at the time noticed this and many thought he would do anything in his power for more viewers and more money. There is a theory that David Stern wanted the New York Knicks to join the other top teams in the league by rigging the draft for the Knicks to acquire Patrick Ewing. The Knicks were one of the biggest market franchises in the league, so this would bring in much more money as well as more viewers.

How the NBA draft lottery worked at the time is the seven worst teams at the time all had an equal chance to gain the number one pick in the draft. Seven pieces of cardboard with each teams logo were placed in a big glass tumbler, and David stern would pick each one out at random, and that would be the order of the upcoming draft. As video evidence shows, Stern purposely creased the corner of the Knicks envelope, so it would be easy to differentiate, and thus pick out that envelope first. There is also another theory that Stern froze the Knicks envelope first, so that it would make it twice as easy to find.

Well what do ya know... The Knicks got the first pick in the draft and selected Patrick Ewing who would go on to be one of the best players in Knicks franchise history and completely turn their franchise around for the best.

[conspiracyzone]

Introduction

Sports have always been a source of fascination and excitement for fans around the world. From thrilling matches to breathtaking moments, sports have provided us with a sense of unity and camaraderie. However, over the years, there have been various conspiracy theories surrounding some of the biggest sporting events that have left fans scratching their heads. From rigged matches to biased referees, these theories have been the subject of much discussion and speculation. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at some of the most interesting and crazy sports conspiracy theories that have been circulating for years. Whether you believe in them or not, they are sure to spark your imagination and leave you with a newfound appreciation for the unpredictable world of sports. Some of the wild conspiracies I will be talking about in this blog will be the deflategate, the Patrick Ewing conspiracy, the Michael Jordan gambling conspiracy, the spygate, and many more. All of these conspiracies provide hard facts that it could be true, but also could be a coincidence. The deflategate for example, provided evidence that the footballs that Tom Brady was using during the game were tampered with to make it easier for him to throw. In the 2015 AFC Championship game vs the Indianapolis Colts, reports surfaced that the footballs that the Patriots were using were heavily deflated. Brady denied all of the rumors and to this day we do not know if he did it or not. According to the Gale In Context biography about Tom Brady, “As the NFL continued its investigation into Deflategate, it concluded that the footballs used during the AFC Championship were tampered with and that it was “more probable than not” Brady knew about the deflation”.