Monday, August 19, 2013

Don't Let the Cover-Up Crew Throw You Off Track

A word of warning to those of you who are new to the subject of game-fixing in college and professional sports. I'm constantly subjected to vicious personal attacks for making these allegations, and one reason why is that people are naturally reluctant to admit they've been deceived, especially about something that's important to them.

There's a natural tendency to recoil when confronted with unpleasant facts and to kick into denial mode. It's a well-known pyschological reaction known as cognitive dissonance. I reacted the same way myself until I learned the truth about this and many other unpleasant subjects, but I've discovered that lots of things in this world are not always as innocent, simple and straightforward as they appear. The question is, would you rather know the truth or would you rather continue to be deceived?

For those of you who are feeling a natural inclination to reject this information without giving it a fair chance, I would just make a simple request. Try looking at the evidence with an open mind and then decide for yourself whether it's something that merits closer scrutiny.

Ask yourself how many times you've been surprised in recent years when your favorite team played an uncharacteristically terrible game and caused you to feel disappointment and bewilderment. As a Michigan graduate and longtime fan of the Wolverines, I noticed a dramatic increase in that sort of experience in recent years, and that made me curious, so I started to watch the games from a more skeptical viewpoint, and that's how I arrived at my conclusions.

My motivation for bringing this issue to the attention of other people is the fact that I don't enjoy being deceived and I don't enjoy seeing other people being deceived. I hope that by making more people aware of the problem, the result will be a decrease in the incidence of game-fixing and a restoration of the integrity of college and professional sports.

The way things are now, some games have little more integrity than a professional wrestling match.

As a lifelong sports fan and armchair quarterback, I've enjoyed watching the games for many reasons, including the spirit of athletic competition and the strategy involved. Believing that both teams were giving it 100 percent is what made it interesting to me. But it's been a long time since I've felt that way, and I'd like to see the integrity of the games restored for my own sake, the sake of my fellow sports fans, and also for the players and coaches.

Another reason why I'm attacked so bitterly for suggesting not everything is on the level in the world of college and professional sports is that there are lots of  agents out there whose job is to help cover up the fact that there's an epidemic of game-fixing going on now.

In the past when I've posted comments about this subject on newspaper web sites, I've been called "delusional" and given such insulting and ridiculous advice as, "Take your meds."

LOL! I'm not delusional, and I'm not on medication of any kind. I'm a retired newspaper reporter and editor, and I started out as a sports writer, so I've had lots of experience covering college sports and I've learned a lot through the years.

But the cover-up artists rarely address any of the issues I raise. Their job is to discredit the messenger, and thereby, they hope, to discredit the message.

Don't let them throw you off track. I can back up my allegations with sound logical arguments, and since they aren't able to offer anything substantive in response, they usually resort to insulting me personally.

The fixing of college and professional sports has been going on ever since the games began, and it's much worse today than ever before. But don't take my word for it. There's lots more about game-fixing at http://thefixisin.net/