Conspiracy theory, and Roger Goodell is in on it

On the Kirk & Callahan show on WEEI Radio this morning, guest host Trenni Kusnierek told the listeners that Super Bowl LI was already fixed. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would tell head referee Chad Cheffers and his crew that the New England Patriots like to hold their opponents, and commit offensive interference all the time. Their job was to call penalties on the Patriots' at appropriate junctures during the contest allowing the Atlanta Falcons a pre planned victory.

Super Bowl LI head referee, Chad Cheffers - As a college student, Cheffers became interested in officiating through his father, and decided to work intramural sports to make additional income. Enjoying the experience of student sports, he sought assistance from his father to officiate high school football games to begin a career. Starting in 1980, he worked several high school playoff games, and two high school championship games. By 1995, Cheffers began officiating in the Pac-10 where he worked for five seasons before being hired by the NFL.

Cheffers worked as a side judge before being promoted to referee (crew chief) beginning with the 2008 NFL season. In his promotion to referee, NFL officiating director Mike Pereira said of Cheffers, "Carl has been extremely successful on the field. He is very knowledgeable of the rules, a good rules guy. Strong presence.

His lone occupation is: NFL referee.

111.9 million viewers watched Super Bowl L. $132 million was waged through 50 sports books legally in Las Vegas. Using the gaming association's estimate, the Super Bowl bets legally placed at Nevada's casinos amount to a mere 2.8% of the total wagered nationwide. Americans spent at least $4.2 billion betting on Super Bowl L, the American Gaming Assn., a casino trade group, estimated. CBS-TV set the base rate for a 30-second advertisement at $5,000,000, a record high price for a Super Bowl ad.

Yesterday on ”MAD DOG Unleashed” show on Sirius Radio with Chris Russo, the annual Super Bowl contest was in play. A contestant needs to answer four NFL questions correctly, and they will win two tickets to Super Bowl L1, including hotel and airfare. Chris will ask the contestant what his favorite team is, and start off with a relatively easy question. The fan said his team was the Baltimore Ravens. " Who played in Super Bowl XLVII?"

After two minutes of dead air, the caller stated that he did not know the answer and he was eliminated from competition. His Baltimore Ravens had defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31 just four years ago.

From Trenni Kusnierek, imagine how uncomfortable Roger Goodell is going to feel handing the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots after they win? It will be unbearable when Tom Brady turns his back on the commissioner. That will be payback for the four game Deflategate suspension that Tom had to serve. This act of defiance will preserve Tom's legacy.

Roger can be just like that contestant who couldn't remember the Super Bowl winner from four years ago. He only has to please the 32 billionaire owners. At $35 million a year, who the hell cares about legacies?


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Peyton Place is in the Back Bay

Leo Durocher witnessed a great deal of social, political, and international change, some of which he helped bring about. Durocher played an important supporting role in the integration of major-league baseball. His frank assessment of African American baseball talent remains a simple, if coarse, endorsement of the American belief in meritocracy. He stood in the third-base coach’s box for one of baseball’s most memorable home runs, Bobby Thomson’s 1951 “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” off Ralph Branca. He led the New York Giants to a surprising World Series victory in 1954.

Durocher found success in both playing and managing, winning World Series titles while playing shortstop for the 1928 Yankees and 1934 Cardinals. Durocher’s time with the Yankees was volcanic. He quickly made enemies with his incessant yapping, extravagant living, and antagonizing Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Ruth nicknamed Durocher the “All-American Out” for his diminutive batting average.

Along the way Durocher kept company with movie stars, entertainers, and an entire retinue of shady underworld characters. He had legal difficulties, four divorces, and fights with fans, jilted women, and angered husbands, fathers, and boyfriends. He married Ruby Hartley in 1930 and fathered a child. The marriage quickly fell apart, and the couple divorced in 1934. Durocher quickly remarried, this time to Grace Dozier, a prominent St. Louis businesswoman and fashion designer who paid off Leo’s substantial debts.

The next fiasco was Leo's third marriage to actress, Laraine Day. The Utah-born Day was already married to Ray Hendricks. Day divorced Hendricks in Mexico in 1946, then married Durocher the next day. Durocher and Day, who still had a year to wait before her California divorce from Hendricks was final, had to plead before a judge so she could avoid conviction for bigamy.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Albert B. “Happy” Chandler suspended Durocher from baseball for the 1947 season. Chandler claimed that Durocher had once again associated with known gamblers. His real reason may have been because a local Catholic priest declared that attending Dodgers games was a venial sin.

According to Roman Catholicism, a venial sin (meaning "forgivable" sin) is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell as an unrepented mortal sin would.

Supported by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, the Brooklyn Diocese had presented Brooklyn Dodgers' General Manager Branch Rickey with the ultimatum: fire Durocher for his moral turpitude or face a boycott.

Durocher’s suspension solved the boycott issue.

Comcast SportsNet New England reporter Jessica Moran resigned from the network after seven years on the job, she confirmed to the Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan Friday. Shanahan cited rumors that alleged a relationship between Moran and Red Sox manager John Farrell was at the center of her sudden departure.

Farrell declined comment on the rumors, and all Moran revealed was that it was in her “personal and professional interest” to leave CSN. Farrell missed the second half of 2015 battling cancer. With the disease in remission, he was hoping to return to the dugout as manager. The Red Sox 2016 media guide also listed Farrell as single, which “raised questions.”

The extracurricular activity by Boston Red Sox personnel is nothing new. There were rumors that manager Terry Francona was involved with NESN’s Hazel Mae. Franconia was replaced in 2011 by Bobby Valentine who lasted one season before giving way to John Farrell. Heidi Watney, a NESN sideline reporter, was rumored to have had relationships with just-divorced catcher Jason Varitek and infielder Nick Green. Watney denied it vehemently, and Varitek remarried somebody else in 2011.

Leo Durocher was forced to sit out the 1947 season because he was caught in the cross-hairs of a squabble between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. The Yankees were secretly trying to lure Durocher away from the Dodgers. The Commissioner sided with the Yankees. The charge against Durocher for associating with gamblers quieted the masses.

Following two last place finishes, Red Sox manager John Farrell's job was in jeopardy. It appears to be only a matter of time before he will be replaced by last year's interim manager, Torey Lovullo. The headline will read that "John Farrell is stepping down due to health reasons."

Leo Durocher’s posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame occurred in 1994. The selection was attributed to his 2,008 victories in 24 seasons of managing. He was best remembered for his famous quote, "nice guys finish last."

The quote by Leo Durocher was used in 1946 to needle the last place New York Giants. It fits John Farrell "to a tee."

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy