Food For Thought
 

Gary Cavaletto - the name that will live forever in Saints infamy.

He used to play minor league baseball. If fact, before he washed out he managed 3 years in the minor leagues.

Playing for...

The Atlanta Braves minor league system.

If ever there was a man motivated NOT to throw that flag for either of a multitude of infractions the whole world saw, it'd be this thug.

Re: Food For Thought
 

You’re reaching.

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And when he can't sleep, he counts sheep! Another term for sheep is lamb and lamb rhymes with Ram!!!! What more do you need???

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He'll get a book deal and some reality show. We glorify POS people in society today for some reason.

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I think the opposite. He’ll likely face scrutiny and ridicule for years. Does anyone remember Bill Buckner for winning a batting title in 1980?

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Nope. I am simply providing more context to the question yet to be answered, which is "how on earth did a professional referee miss such an obvious call?"

So far, the only reasonable explanation is incompetence which, considering the guy has been doing it all his life isn't likely.

So what then? At this point, the fact that this guy has ties to Atlanta is as likely the reason as his being incompetent, in fact even MORE likely since all reasonable people know incompetence isn't the reason.

You have a better theory? I'm listening.

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All he has to do is blame it on the NFL. State he was instructed not to call PI in that scenario or he would be fired.

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I respect your opinions, man, but I just can't get on board with this particular theory. I already stated the reason why, in the other thread where you mentioned this.

He had a three year stint in the Braves minor league system, and it was back in the 70's. He doesn't live there now, and he wasn't born there. He's from the same area where he currently resides. And it isn't Atlanta that the Saints were facing. It's just the city where the Super Bowl is played.

That's not nearly enough, in my opinion, for someone to go to such a drastic length to throw the game. I think it's far more likely that he either had money riding on the outcome from a bet, or the league wanted L.A. in the Super Bowl, because they put an awful lot of eggs in the L.A. market basket.

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He really pissed you off...…didn't he? Yep, me too! :argue:

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Trying to connect 1970's baseball with a play no one could have predicted he'd be in a position to impact....It's a reach.

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I look at it a different way. All four of these refs with ties to the greater L.A. area knew what a win by the Rams would mean to their community ... and I'm not talking about the same type of importance to fans as what Saints' success means to us as fans. I'm talking about marketing exposure. They have to all want this new resident of their area to be successful.

It isn't that they were avoiding a call that would have almost assuredly gave the Saints a win, it is that they didn't want to be known as that L.A. area resident that caused the Rams to lose. The community in which they live would never forgive them for making that call, whether it was valid or not. Their wives would be hassled at the gym. The children would be ridiculed at school.

I believe it was fear that kept that flag in their waistlines. It was a position in which they should have never been placed by the league. The league screwed the pooch on the naming of these officials to the game.

Now the question remains ... was this intentional or not?

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These guys would forever be vilified in their communities. It is obtuse to think otherwise. They already were for the 2 RG season games. A SB denial would have been 100 fold.

They got what they wanted. They will not be vilified in their local community. Was it worth it? To me, no. Who wants their name connected to the worst NFL non call of all time and their integrity wiped out. Once a ref has no more integrity they are worthless unless it's the WWE or something which is where they all need to go.

NFL is partly to blame for putting them in a pressure cooker. They just need to come clean and admit changes need to be made. I can live with that eventually. We are all human. Correct it and move on but just stop with the denial of that is not what happened. We know what happened.

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Well, I can't discount that as a possibility, but the call was so obvious that I don't know why they would have been vilified. A close, but justified call, I can see some irrational fans blaming the loss on the refs, anyway. But this call HAD to be made.

I agree that the league shouldn't have put them in that situation, but not just for the reason you mentioned. It's more that there shouldn't have been any possible bias with the officiating crew. Instead, they had not one, but FOUR L.A. guys officiating. This was clearly the wrong crew to send.

My argument to any possible fears the refs might have had is that if they felt there was pressure not to affect the outcome AGAINST the Rams, then that's something they would most certainly have thought of going INTO the game, and they should have requested to switch assignments with the AFC crew that day. But they choose to go forward with it. So if they can't officiate with integrity, I don't pity their plight.

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We (sports fans in general) can't alter the outcome but we can continue to criticize the NFL for it's dishonest treatment, incompetent officiating & the failure to respond/answer to reasonable outrage that has followed.

Anyone remember when the league took a ref OFF the New Orleans game a few years ago because he was from the area? ... So the fact that they allowed 4 guys from LA California & surrounding areas officiate a NFCCG means that the league wanted em there.

I don't think this was a mistake.

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But they claimed it was an oversight.

:clown:

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Whatever it was it was intentional with no room for anything else that I do know. I do not know the reason but that is what happened. Deliberate observation of a clear mugging and disregard for the infraction(s). It ruined the game. It ruins all games of any sport.

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People don’t worry bout ole Gary Cavaletto. His family has the biggest avocado farm and shipping company in California ole Gary don’t have to worry about losing anything but we can help him don’t buy cal raised cavaletto brand avocados