The Memo

Ishkur · February 6th, 2006, 06:34 PM

Did you get The Memo? Although not for public consumption, most of us can read it without any trouble. We can see its affects, and thus discern its contents, for ourselves.

I read The Memo during the first drive of the Superbowl. The Memo that, though not a physical memo that could be delivered...
Full Article

Mike · February 7th, 2006, 05:19 AM

Ish this is by far a great article and the way that you wrote it was just outstanding

Listen though, why did you use other sports when you were stating your facts? Was that to show that not only football was or had problems here, or was it because you do not know about the game and past history to be able to quote or use past references (not that that is bad at all)

I am going to refer from making any statements about the 1st touchdown that the Steelers scored, its already in the steelers forum

But again, great read dude

Ishkur · February 7th, 2006, 05:41 AM

Oh, I could've gone on forever.......I could've gone through, sequentially, the last ten Superbowls, but the article was getting long and I wanted to wrap things up and finish my point by showing it being a phenomenon of modern professional sports business. I may write a followup/sequel article showing more of The Memo's influence and how it works....marketing the concept of the "Nation" sports market (ie: Raider Nation, Red Sox Nation, etc...), why the Yankees will never miss a post season ever again and why MLB is just fine by that, and other obvious business bias in sports, governed by Memos.

Gunnerman · February 7th, 2006, 07:10 AM

So are you saying the fix was in or not??? If you got a "memo" then produce it I say, otherwise this is all idle speculation. Was it the referees fault that the Seahawks squandered their opportunities in the first period? No. Was it the referees fault that Mike Holmgren and Matt Hasselbeck went prompt stupid with their clock mis-management at the ends of both halves? No. The Seahawks did not produce when the time came for them to produce the goods. Blaming the referees, hidden memos, corporate america and capitalism is just plain silly.

As far as the touchdown goes that Big Ben scored, I believe all the ball has to do is break the plane of the goal line. Any part of the ball, not the whole ball, any part. The call on the field was a touchdown and the video evidence was there to back up that call. So your "memo" falls to pieces there.

So you say your whole blathering is not sour grapes, I say it is, go get a hanky.

Rusty27 · February 7th, 2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunnerman

So are you saying the fix was in or not??? If you got a "memo" then produce it I say, otherwise this is all idle speculation.

So you say your whole blathering is not sour grapes, I say it is, go get a hanky.

I have to agree with you (concerning Ish's NFL comments at least) on this one Gunner.
The 2004 SCF comments were laughable to say the least.

Gunnerman · February 7th, 2006, 08:01 AM

Whilst I did not see a great deal of the 2004 SCF Rusty, what I did see though proved that the Lightning were the better club and deserving Champions. Did that help hockey in the Tampa I suppose it did. I dunno you would be a better judge of that than I could be. But, I am sure a Flames win would not have had as much an impact in the growth of hockey in the Calgary region as a Tampa win did in the Tampa area.

Now, as far as economic impact here in Pittsburgh, it is huge. I know because I was there yesterday with all the others in our feeding frenzy over Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and hats, which I purchased for daughter Gunny, the nephews and brother-in-law.

Greg_Wyshynski · February 7th, 2006, 08:03 AM

Ish, as always you've managed to entertain and provoke. But I have some bones to pick with your logic:

* The NHL "wanted" Tampa to win the Cup, but it didn't "want" San Jose -- an American franchise in a non-hockey market -- to defeat Calgary in the WCF to face Tampa in the SCF? Does the memo only apply to the finals? And if the memo calls for what's best for the NHL and its financial wellbeing, how the hell did my Devils skate away with three Cups that should have gone to Detroit, Dallas and Giguere?

* Why did "the memo" allow a team with four Super Bowl titles to defeat a team with none? Wouldn't it be in the NFL's best interest to establish an NFC championship franchise to act as a foil for Michael Vick, McNabb, Eli Manning, the Cowboys, the Bears and the Redskins? The financial windfall of having a Super Bowl champion on TV against those teams would appear to be more beneficial than a few thousand T-shirts sold to Steelers fan.

Yeah, Ish, turning Hasselbeck and Alexander into mega stars wouldn't be in the NFL's best interest, would it? A Seattle Super Bowl wouldn't sell too many jerseys...

* I'm willing to buy that Roethlisberger's touchdown wasn't a touchdown. I'm not willing to buy that the pass interference in the end zone on the Seattle WR wasn't a penalty, because he clearly had his hands on the DB. And that drive-killing holding call no one could find? Yeah, geez, wow, what a shock; it's not like that doesn't happen in every single NFL game from the preseason on.

Did the memo say anything about Seattle giving up its short-yardage passing game after the first quarter? Did it mention anything about Seahawks WRs dropping easy passes, or running out of bounds before establishing possession? Did it demand that Holmgren get outcoached at every turn, including that daft field-goal attempt that should have been a punt inside the 10-yard line? Did it mandate that the Seattle defense part like the Red Sea for Willie Parker's historic touchdown run? Did it say anything about biting on that half-back option pass?

Look, I'm all for conspiracy theories, and this is one of them, despite your protests. I think the Sabres were screwed. I think the Rams still had 0:02 seconds on the clock when the Patriots ran on the field to celebrate Brady's first Super Bowl. I think Patrick Ewing should have never been drafted by the Knicks.

But if the NFL was going to mandate that the Super Bowl be a close game with the Steelers winning, wouldn't it also mandate that the game be, you know, exciting?

BtownJay · February 7th, 2006, 08:03 AM

I'll admit, I could only make it through the first 7 paragraphs before I had to throw it in the garbage. (i printed the post for easier reading). But those first 7 paragraphs had to be the worst thing I have read to date here at the good ol Rant.

I said it before and i'll say it again. You are RETARDED if you don't think what Jackson did was offensive pass interference. Was it a big push off, no. Was it against the rules of the league, YES. "Incidental contact"? lol, I hate when i accidentally extend my arms into the chest of other people. The fact is he extended his arms and stopped the Steeler defender just long enough to get wide open.

I thought the two weeks before the Super Bowl of neverending analysis was annoying to sit through. Now I see the neverending whining after the game is even worse.

EDIT - WELL SAID GREG!

Gunnerman · February 7th, 2006, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg_Wyshynski

Ish, as always you've managed to entertain and provoke.

I was neither entertained nor provoked.

Greg_Wyshynski · February 7th, 2006, 08:12 AM

C'mon, be fair...you weren't entertained by this:

Quote:

Conversely, Seattle was branded as the team that shouldn't be there. "The Hartford Whalers of the NFL" they cried. The team with no remarkable history of excellence except for maybe Steve Largent; the backwoods pacific northwest coffee-drinking town full of yuppie Microsoft nerds and romantic comedies with no recognizable fanbase, since Seattle is the farthest NFL city from football's epicenter.

Or maybe I was entertained because I was wondering how Ish would describe Vancouver...

Gunnerman · February 7th, 2006, 08:14 AM

If the Seattle Seahawks were the Hartford Whalers of the NFL wouldn't that make them the Carolina Panthers?

Ishkur · February 7th, 2006, 08:28 AM

Some people need to go back and read the fucking article again before they fly off the handle in the thread.

I'll just repeat the finer points, in bold:

The Memo does not pick victors. It only picks sides.

In other words: It does not choose who wins. It only chooses who it WANTS to win.

The Memo was all for The Patriots winning, but there's not much it can do when they turn over the ball five times.

Who writes The Memo? The largest money market in the contest aka the population base upon which the outcome could generate the most possible revenue from. The League and the officials are simply the messengers.

From a larger perspective, what The Memo is predicating is that the rest of the big sports leagues are finally taking cues from professional wrestling on how to best orchestrate their championships for maximum entertainment value and earnings potential.

Rusty27 · February 7th, 2006, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg_Wyshynski

* The NHL "wanted" Tampa to win the Cup, but it didn't "want" San Jose -- an American franchise in a non-hockey market -- to defeat Calgary in the WCF to face Tampa in the SCF? Does the memo only apply to the finals? And if the memo calls for what's best for the NHL and its financial wellbeing, how the hell did my Devils skate away with three Cups that should have gone to Detroit, Dallas and Giguere?

* Why did "the memo" allow a team with four Super Bowl titles to defeat a team with none? Wouldn't it be in the NFL's best interest to establish an NFC championship franchise to act as a foil for Michael Vick, McNabb, Eli Manning, the Cowboys, the Bears and the Redskins? The financial windfall of having a Super Bowl champion on TV against those teams would appear to be more beneficial than a few thousand T-shirts sold to Steelers fan.

Well said Greg

Rusty27 · February 7th, 2006, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ishkur

Some people need to go back and read the fucking article again before they fly off the handle in the thread.

I'll just repeat the finer points, in bold:

The Memo does not pick victors. It only picks sides.

In other words: It does not choose who wins. It only chooses who it WANTS to win.

Who writes The Memo? The largest money market in the contest aka the population base upon which the outcome could generate the most possible revenue from. The League and the officials are simply the messengers.

Uh,yeah,and all the officials just blindly go along with the memo like Stepford Wives.None have any moral issues and none ever leak out after the fact that they were told to favor one team over the other.The best officials in the league are all on the take. Again,laughable.

February 6th, 2006, 06:34 PM	#1
Ishkur Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438	The Memo Did you get The Memo? Although not for public consumption, most of us can read it without any trouble. We can see its affects, and thus discern its contents, for ourselves. I read The Memo during the first drive of the Superbowl. The Memo that, though not a physical memo that could be delivered... Full Article

February 7th, 2006, 05:19 AM	#2
Mike Join Date: 07-08-2002 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 10,791	Ish this is by far a great article and the way that you wrote it was just outstanding Listen though, why did you use other sports when you were stating your facts? Was that to show that not only football was or had problems here, or was it because you do not know about the game and past history to be able to quote or use past references (not that that is bad at all) I am going to refer from making any statements about the 1st touchdown that the Steelers scored, its already in the steelers forum But again, great read dude

February 7th, 2006, 05:41 AM	#3
Ishkur Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438	Oh, I could've gone on forever.......I could've gone through, sequentially, the last ten Superbowls, but the article was getting long and I wanted to wrap things up and finish my point by showing it being a phenomenon of modern professional sports business. I may write a followup/sequel article showing more of The Memo's influence and how it works....marketing the concept of the "Nation" sports market (ie: Raider Nation, Red Sox Nation, etc...), why the Yankees will never miss a post season ever again and why MLB is just fine by that, and other obvious business bias in sports, governed by Memos.

February 7th, 2006, 07:10 AM	#4
Gunnerman Join Date: 04-01-2004 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,519	So are you saying the fix was in or not??? If you got a "memo" then produce it I say, otherwise this is all idle speculation. Was it the referees fault that the Seahawks squandered their opportunities in the first period? No. Was it the referees fault that Mike Holmgren and Matt Hasselbeck went prompt stupid with their clock mis-management at the ends of both halves? No. The Seahawks did not produce when the time came for them to produce the goods. Blaming the referees, hidden memos, corporate america and capitalism is just plain silly. As far as the touchdown goes that Big Ben scored, I believe all the ball has to do is break the plane of the goal line. Any part of the ball, not the whole ball, any part. The call on the field was a touchdown and the video evidence was there to back up that call. So your "memo" falls to pieces there. So you say your whole blathering is not sour grapes, I say it is, go get a hanky.

February 7th, 2006, 08:01 AM	#6
Gunnerman Join Date: 04-01-2004 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,519	Whilst I did not see a great deal of the 2004 SCF Rusty, what I did see though proved that the Lightning were the better club and deserving Champions. Did that help hockey in the Tampa I suppose it did. I dunno you would be a better judge of that than I could be. But, I am sure a Flames win would not have had as much an impact in the growth of hockey in the Calgary region as a Tampa win did in the Tampa area. Now, as far as economic impact here in Pittsburgh, it is huge. I know because I was there yesterday with all the others in our feeding frenzy over Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and hats, which I purchased for daughter Gunny, the nephews and brother-in-law.

February 7th, 2006, 08:03 AM	#7
Greg_Wyshynski Join Date: 06-04-2004 Location: Washington, D.C. Posts: 223	Ish, as always you've managed to entertain and provoke. But I have some bones to pick with your logic: * The NHL "wanted" Tampa to win the Cup, but it didn't "want" San Jose -- an American franchise in a non-hockey market -- to defeat Calgary in the WCF to face Tampa in the SCF? Does the memo only apply to the finals? And if the memo calls for what's best for the NHL and its financial wellbeing, how the hell did my Devils skate away with three Cups that should have gone to Detroit, Dallas and Giguere? * Why did "the memo" allow a team with four Super Bowl titles to defeat a team with none? Wouldn't it be in the NFL's best interest to establish an NFC championship franchise to act as a foil for Michael Vick, McNabb, Eli Manning, the Cowboys, the Bears and the Redskins? The financial windfall of having a Super Bowl champion on TV against those teams would appear to be more beneficial than a few thousand T-shirts sold to Steelers fan. Yeah, Ish, turning Hasselbeck and Alexander into mega stars wouldn't be in the NFL's best interest, would it? A Seattle Super Bowl wouldn't sell too many jerseys... * I'm willing to buy that Roethlisberger's touchdown wasn't a touchdown. I'm not willing to buy that the pass interference in the end zone on the Seattle WR wasn't a penalty, because he clearly had his hands on the DB. And that drive-killing holding call no one could find? Yeah, geez, wow, what a shock; it's not like that doesn't happen in every single NFL game from the preseason on. Did the memo say anything about Seattle giving up its short-yardage passing game after the first quarter? Did it mention anything about Seahawks WRs dropping easy passes, or running out of bounds before establishing possession? Did it demand that Holmgren get outcoached at every turn, including that daft field-goal attempt that should have been a punt inside the 10-yard line? Did it mandate that the Seattle defense part like the Red Sea for Willie Parker's historic touchdown run? Did it say anything about biting on that half-back option pass? Look, I'm all for conspiracy theories, and this is one of them, despite your protests. I think the Sabres were screwed. I think the Rams still had 0:02 seconds on the clock when the Patriots ran on the field to celebrate Brady's first Super Bowl. I think Patrick Ewing should have never been drafted by the Knicks. But if the NFL was going to mandate that the Super Bowl be a close game with the Steelers winning, wouldn't it also mandate that the game be, you know, exciting?

February 7th, 2006, 08:03 AM	#8
BtownJay Join Date: 07-14-2004 Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27,926	I'll admit, I could only make it through the first 7 paragraphs before I had to throw it in the garbage. (i printed the post for easier reading). But those first 7 paragraphs had to be the worst thing I have read to date here at the good ol Rant. I said it before and i'll say it again. You are RETARDED if you don't think what Jackson did was offensive pass interference. Was it a big push off, no. Was it against the rules of the league, YES. "Incidental contact"? lol, I hate when i accidentally extend my arms into the chest of other people. The fact is he extended his arms and stopped the Steeler defender just long enough to get wide open. I thought the two weeks before the Super Bowl of neverending analysis was annoying to sit through. Now I see the neverending whining after the game is even worse. EDIT - WELL SAID GREG!

February 7th, 2006, 08:14 AM	#11
Gunnerman Join Date: 04-01-2004 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,519	If the Seattle Seahawks were the Hartford Whalers of the NFL wouldn't that make them the Carolina Panthers?

February 7th, 2006, 08:28 AM	#12
Ishkur Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438	Some people need to go back and read the fucking article again before they fly off the handle in the thread. I'll just repeat the finer points, in bold: The Memo does not pick victors. It only picks sides. In other words: It does not choose who wins. It only chooses who it WANTS to win. The Memo was all for The Patriots winning, but there's not much it can do when they turn over the ball five times. Who writes The Memo? The largest money market in the contest aka the population base upon which the outcome could generate the most possible revenue from. The League and the officials are simply the messengers. From a larger perspective, what The Memo is predicating is that the rest of the big sports leagues are finally taking cues from professional wrestling on how to best orchestrate their championships for maximum entertainment value and earnings potential.