I did watch it. Not much in it surprised me. I heard many “artist” type references and “does this feel like a football game” and “Roger gives us 10 games he would like to see on Sunday night” type statements. They are sort of admitting their is a personal “bias” in the system. I didn’t see anything that makes me believe favoritism is taken out of the equation. IDK, maybe it’s a Coincidence that after Tampa signed brady they get a schedule where their bye week occurred late in the year to help them heal up before playoffs meanwhile the Saints get the same early bye they seem to year after year (that is a generalized statement).

Yes. I would call it a coincidence. It's hard for me to understand all of this "the league is out to get us" crap. Yes, the whole deal with the false claims concerning the so-called bounty affair was targeted toward the Saints, but for no reason other than our team happened to be the first that gave the league office the target. It could have just as easily been any of the other 31 teams. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time based upon the upcoming concussion claims against the league and happened to have a disgruntled ex-employee that made up stories to feed right into it. It was the perfect storm.

As for the scheduling, they of course want to have the highest interest games in prime slots. It is a business and the whole point is making money and getting exposure. None of that has anything to do with these ludicrous claims of manipulating outcomes.

There is a spectrum between “The league is out to get us” and demonstrated preference to/bias against certain teams. The answer is somewhere between. I think the league really wanted Brady to win a SB with Tampa. There was
just too much media to take advantage of there.

If they were really interested in an as equitable schedule as possible, every team (since there are 32) would get a Monday night game, a Thursday game and a Sunday night game. The 17th/final game (played week 18) everyone plays Sunday. The fact that they don’t do this indicates the league has an inherit bias for some teams over others. It is illogical to
deny that. Since a bias exists, the potential for that bias to be abused is very real. Just my opinion.

The league isn't concerned about a totally equitable schedule. Due to scheduling conflict that is virtually impossible. First and foremost they want to maximize viewership, as they should. It is an entertainment industry. That is the primary goal as it should be.

Every year certain teams are going to get a short end of the stick and there is no way around it. Part of their formula is to attempt to keep that from happening to the same teams the following year. As for Monday games, if you want to play on Mondays put together a winning franchise. The same goes for all primetime games.

What you are misconstruing is that there is something wrong with bias. The NFL isn't some sacred institution where everyone gets a participation trophy. It is a multi-billion dollar industry in the business of selling entertainment for dollars. They have a bias to get the most popular teams and players into the most visible timeslots.

However, given that is a subject of the gambling industry a different bias is involved. Any sort of manipulation of outcomes would be impossible to hide. Look at your example of the referees in the NBA. That came to light. If there is more than one person involved it will get exposed when gambling is involved. The gambling regulators of each individual state have dedicated staffs that do nothing but ferret out any signs of manipulation in all sports that they provide betting on. The NFL is the largest of those sports. If there was any hint of impropriety involving outcomes it would be front page news immediately. It has happened many times in the past in other sports. Point shaving, throwing games, etc. They always come to light. Someone ALWAYS lets it leak.

As for the league wanting Brady to win, that didn't help the league whatsoever. They know the public was sick of Brady and Tampa is not one of the best broadcast draws in the league. Besides, Brady didn't even sign with the Bucs until the schedule was almost two months into the generation process.

Most of what you say here backs up my points. You admit there is a bias. You say it is good for the sport I say it isn’t. When people point out that it exists you lump them in a “league is out to get us , tin foil hat, conspiracy theory”
group to diminish their ideas rather than addressing them. No one is saying the NFL is a shrine or holy. I don’t know where that is coming from. You act like like it is a “sin” to point out that it is open to outside/or inside manipulation.

As for the NBA, they did a questionable internal audit to determine he was the only ref involved. If you accept that as proof the NBA is clean from cheating/bias then you should re-think that tinfoil hat meme.

I trust Vegas to find the cheats far more so than the leagues themselves. They have everything to lose with manipulated games. The NFL knows they have far too much to lose, as well, if they ever got caught manipulating.

Occam's Razor. What the NFL has to lose by manipulating outcomes outweighs anything they would have to gain by millions of times over, therefore, the NFL is not manipulating outcomes.

Hardly anyone, outside of Saints fans, batted an eye when the PI no call kept the Saints from the SB. The league had no problem recovering from that black eye which easily could have been a fix to get the new LA team in the SB. They’ve already proved they can blatantly cheat a team and get away with it.

What?! That was the topic of the entire off-season! It was beat into the ground on sports talk radio with guests from all around the league declaring the Saints got screwed over and over and over again! A new rule (while having no teeth) was instigated over the uproar involving that play!

However, as badly as I was destroyed by that horrendous "no-call" I have never believed there was any premeditation or directive involved. I am convinced it was the fault of part-time officials that were scared stiff of making a call that would absolutely determine the outcome of the game. The game was over for sure had they made the call. One wanted to make the call but was talked out of it by the other close by official. They swallowed their whistles while most likely praying that it wouldn't come back to bite them. They were wrong. It was a total ****-up on all counts, but I have no belief at all it was because the "league" wanted a certain outcome.

The Saints were not cheated because the league wanted it. The Saints were screwed over because the league has continued to march out incompetent part-time officials in a $14 billion dollar annual revenue league.

What?! That was the topic of the entire off-season! It was beat into the ground on sports talk radio with guests from all around the league declaring the Saints got screwed over and over and over again! A new rule (while having no teeth) was instigated over the uproar involving that play!

However, as badly as I was destroyed by that horrendous "no-call" I have never believed there was any premeditation or directive involved. I am convinced it was the fault of part-time officials that were scared stiff of making a call that would absolutely determine the outcome of the game. The game was over for sure had they made the call. One wanted to make the call but was talked out of it by the other close by official. They swallowed their whistles while most likely praying that it wouldn't come back to bite them. They were wrong. It was a total ****-up on all counts, but I have no belief at all it was because the "league" wanted a certain outcome.

The Saints were not cheated because the league wanted it. The Saints were screwed over because the league has continued to march out incompetent part-time officials in a $14 billion dollar annual revenue league.

Impossible for die-hards to accept, but outside of #WhoDatNation, only die-hard NFL fans were aware of the non-PI, and basically shrug their shoulders of it...

It was not nearly covered as it would have been had it happened to one of the Golden Eight (G'nats, Pack, 49ers, Steelers, Eagles, Cowboys, Rams, Ravens)...