The fix is in!

So, your team just missed that field goal and lost the game. Wait, they were supposed to win. All of a sudden an all pro QB throws three interceptions in one game. A star basketball player all of a sudden, can't make a shot. Wow, that referee or umpire is making horrible calls today. Coincidence? Nope. Here are a few incidents that may just prove that sometimes, sporting events have been fixed.

1. Superbowl III - Everyone remembers Joe Namath running off the field pointing to the sky. You also probably know how the Baltimore Colts were heavily favored in that game. They ended up turning the ball over 5 times. Bubba Smith, who played for the Colts came out publicly and said the game was set up for the Jets to win. It was fixed to have the AFL, beat the NFL and created the new Super Bowl era. Millions of advertising revenues and TV dollars were on the line. The game created the modern NFL.

2. In 1978 Mobsters connected with the Lucchese Crime Family, Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill organized a point shaving scheme with members of the Boston College basketball team.

3. The 2007 NBA betting scandal. NBA Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for betting on NBA games, in which he was refereeing.

4. Micheal Jordan- After he won three NBA Championships, he mysteriously retired. He was said to have owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to drug dealers, golfing associates and others in gambling debts. He was said to have been overheard talking to associates, about the lines on games. The problem was, he was the face of the NBA, so he was told to retire and get help, before he could come back.

5. College Football Players admitting to fumbling. Numerous players have admitted to fumbling, from schools like Northwestern in 1999 and a Toledo player admitted to taking thousands from a Detroit area gambler and $500 to fumble in a 2005 bowl game.

6. Dale Earnhart Jr. winning the next race after his father was killed.

7. The New Orleans Saints, winning the Super Bowl, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans.

These are just a few examples. Gambling on sports is big business. All players don't sign the multi-million dollar contracts. Just watch the ESPN 30 for 30 called Broke. Billions and billions are being wagered as I write this piece. Billions are on the line. There is a lot of money to be made by those in control. Why are there lines? The first thing you hear, when a game is announced is who the favorite is and by how much. Why is that? I wonder what the electric bill is for the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Have you ever seen that light on the top of the pyramid, that can be seen from space? Gambling is paying the bill. So, the next time you see that referee calling bogus penalties, remember, maybe, just maybe, one of the teams was "supposed" to win.

Get those needles ready!

Up until last year, I was........the first person that would have told you there was no way I would ever get a flu shot. I saw all of the people, who would get the shot, then come down with flu symptoms a few days later. Or, listen to the paranoia and conspiracies about being poisoned, or implanted with some sort of government tracking device. Well, last year with my wife being pregnant, our doctor advised me to get the shot, along with the T-DAP(tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) shot, to protect our child. I reluctantly got the shots. The evening I got the flu shot, I went home, had a nice dinner, with a few glasses of wine and I was fine. No symptoms. No side effects. No flu. Will the flu shot mess you up? Maybe. I'm fine, for now.

I'll probably get the flu shot again this year. The company that I work for, pays for it and for my family to get it, so it wouldn't cost me anything. Will I be poisoned? I hope not. Will I get some symptoms? I'll drink some more wine and take care of that. Maybe I'll be implanted with some sort of tracking device and "they" will know my every move. "They" can do that already. There are a lot of things out there that can poison me. Our water. The air. The chemicals in the foods we eat. Microwaves. The sun. Hair spray. Soap. Deodorant. Toothpaste. Cell phones. The electromagnetic fields of our televisions. None of these things are good for us. I just named a few. You might say vaccines are on the list too. Maybe. You can drive down the street tomorrow and someone could smash you. Whatever is in the Lord's will, is what is going to happen. We have to give in to medicine at some point. Maybe you won't.

I was blessed enough to grow up with both of my grandfathers. One got the flu shot every year. The other didn't. One, smoked and drank his whole life and got the flu shot every year. He lived to be 90. The other never smoked and never drank. He died at 86, from melanoma cancer. How did he get cancer and my other grandfather didn't? Only the good Lord knows. It wasn't from a flu shot. It could have been from any number of factors. You could die from the flu shot and you could die from the flu. Or, you can get the shot, or not and be fine. What will you do this year?


JP