Sports-Related Conspiracy Theories

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Some of the recent posts about various things being rigged has gotten me thinking. I love a good conspiracy theory, and I'd like to know how much you all do, too. I think this thread should be a place to hash those out. I'll start:

Joe Paterno decided to kill himself rather than face the public for his proximity to Sandusky and the kiddie porn dungeon that became the Penn St facilities.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

And as soon as all that offense shifted into bad press and attention (with fans/media starting to doubt the credibility of the sport and its numbers), offense went right back down again seemingly in response.

And the players slimmed right down, too.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

And the players slimmed right down, too.

You're again confusing me for somebody that thinks steroids weren't a factor (or that their usage hasn't declined from where it was 15-20 years ago). But I can also point to many users during the same time period (or even now...look at Ryan Braun) who weren't bulked up like McGwire/Bonds at all, it's hardly definitive proof of anything.

[Jerm]

Steroids are played out lol...much better sports conspiracies out there....

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

You're again confusing me for somebody that thinks steroids weren't a factor (or that their usage hasn't declined from where it was 15-20 years ago). But I can also point to many users during the same time period (or even now...look at Ryan Braun) who weren't bulked up like McGwire/Bonds at all, it's hardly definitive proof of anything.

If professional athletes put on 15-20 pounds of muscle mass in an offseason then lose that as soon as stricter testing is implemented, AND their offensive production lapses, the transitive property is pretty clear.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

If professional athletes put on 15-20 pounds of muscle mass in an offseason then lose that as soon as stricter testing is implemented, AND their offensive production lapses, the transitive property is pretty clear.

I'm still not sure how any of this proves steroids weren't common in baseball at the time we're talking about. Because Mark McGwire wasn't working out and taking the same drugs in 1988 that he was in 1998?

[TimBone]

Well this thread started out interesting.

[Rams Fan]

The Royals made the POs in Selig's last season as commissioner so he can claim that all 30 MLB teams have made the POs under his tenure. Additionally, the WC play in game was created just for this occasion.

JK

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

I'm still not sure how any of this proves steroids weren't common in baseball at the time we're talking about. Because Mark McGwire wasn't working out and taking the same drugs in 1988 that he was in 1998?

Admissions of the players, sudden, unsustainable spikes in HR rate (that would have stayed elevated if it were merely the ball, since that stayed constant, as did park sizes once they shrunk)? Guys with massive builds out of nowhere, growing heads, F=ma...

[KC_Connection]

Former major league pitcher Tom House used steroids during his career and said performance-enhancing drugs were widespread in baseball in the 1960s and 1970s, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

House, perhaps best known for catching Hank Aaron's 715th home run ball in 1974 in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen, said he and several teammates used amphetamines, and that he tried human growth hormone and "whatever steroid" he could find in order to keep up with the competition.

"I pretty much popped everything cold turkey," House said. "We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses. That was the '60s, when nobody knew. The good thing is, we know now. There's a lot more research and understanding."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2052364

Am I supposed to believe this kind of attitude somehow changed in the 80s and 90s? That pro athletes suddenly wouldn't stop doing anything and everything to better themselves and stay in the sport (especially when it wasn't even against the rules and there was no testing system)? Let's not exhibit the same willful ignorance that MLB did for years, Hamas.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Admissions of the players,.

Plenty of players have admitted steroid use was common in baseball long before 1994.

sudden, unsustainable spikes in HR rate (that would have stayed elevated if it were merely the ball, since that stayed constant, as did park sizes once they shrunk)?

Steroid use plus all of those other factors at once (juiced baseballs, ballpark size, expansion, etc.) would certainly explain that better than just steroid use (which had been an epidemic in the sport long before that time).

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Yes, but the argument is that bat speed is widely generated by muscle strength. I don't think it always is. It helps somewhat and granted that somewhat in split seconds is a big advantage. It still doesn't for me answer the question of why the spike then. Should we assume that before Sosa and McGuire and bonds, nobody was juicing?

I do disagree about baseballs. I think they can be juiced or unjuiced pretty easily. The way Selig turned a complete blind eye to steroids, wouldn't surprise me at all if baseball manipulated baseballs to keep home run counts down to prove that steroid testing was working.

If it were due to a juiced ball, all players would be affected equally. There's a reason that all of the guys who were breaking records were juicers. Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, A-Rod, Giambi...all juicing.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Jerm

Other underrated ones that I find interesting...

- Michael Phelps "win" in the 100m butterfly at the 2008 Olympics
- Jordan being poisoned deliberately via pizza the night before the Flu Game
- The NFL's master cover up of Spygate and said evidence

There's plenty more...they're all so interesting....

Jordan was hungover. Maybe it was alcohol poisoning, but he did it to himself.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

If it were due to a juiced ball, all players would be affected equally. There's a reason that all of the guys who were breaking records were juicers. Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, A-Rod, Giambi...all juicing.

It can be argued it was because those guys were the best among their peers anyway (and were that much better with steroids aiding their numbers). Steroids aren't going to turn a scrub into a star.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

It can be argued it was because those guys were the best among their peers anyway (and were that much better with steroids aiding their numbers). Steroids aren't going to turn a scrub into a star.

Sosa was the among the best? Really?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Plenty of players have admitted steroid use was common in baseball long before 1994.


Steroid use plus all of those other factors at once (juiced baseballs, ballpark size, expansion, etc.) would certainly explain that better than just steroid use (which had been an epidemic in the sport long before that time).

Maybe the product improved and doctors got better at administering it.