The Fix Is In

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Back about 25 years ago I worked for a company that was based out of Brooklyn. Some of the guys on the crew were Jersey Shore-like Italian guys with the gold chains and the bada-bing, bada-boom lingo.

Everyone's named ended in a vowel.

During that summer I went to a 4th of July party sponsored by John Gotti. I may have wrote about it before.

I was scared out of my mind at that party.

There was a guy in the crew who handled all of our bets on the football games. The Bills were on the verge of being good and I remembered betting ten bucks or so, in a friendly bet with him.

"Da' Bills ain't beating da' Bengals," he said. "It's set: Bengals versus 49ers in the bowl. 49ers will win but not cover."

"Whatever," I said.

And we bet.

The Bills lost. The 49ers won the Super Bowl two weeks later. They scored on their last drive to pull it out.

They didn't cover the spread.

I remember asking bada-bing how he could be so sure.

"Lots of money is bet on football," he said. "You think it ain't orchestrated?"

I think of that a lot. I remember my Dad saying that a guy he knew had some inside knowledge. I wonder about a billion dollars hanging out there. My uncles all believe it's fixed.

Ever see how many games are decided by a half-point?

Ever wonder about how the lines are set?

Ever see a week when all the underdogs win?

Ever see a penalty flag get tossed for holding after a play results in a touchdown?

It's an uncomfortable subject.

I just know that a lot of people put a lot of money on the Giants to win when they started the season 6 and 6. Vegas was giving tremendous odds.

If the Giants win Vegas is going to pay out a lot of money.

Take the Pats and the over.

Just saying.

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