Talked to a disgusted Cubs fan yesterday and heard a strange story. Cub fans have been chewing on a story that suggests that gamblers may have gotten to Cub stars Soriano,Ramirez,and Zambrano , by threatening their families, to tank the last 2 years playoff games. A great amount of money was bet against the Cubs in both years. Being the the families do not live in the USA,there would be little that could be done to protect those people or go after the gamblers. The fan I talked with was dead serious.I know it sounds crazy,but what the hell. Has anyone heard of this story?

 I haven't heard that, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to hear that gambling is effecting baseball games.

Does anyone know where/how to calculate the amount of money bet on other teams vs. the amount of money bet on the Cubs?

It wouldn't surprise me if that was true since extortion and kidnapping is big business in that part of the world.

 Wasn't there another star in recent years who had his mother kidnapped during the season?

Or am I misremembering my facts?

radio silence:

 Wasn't there another star in recent years who had his mother kidnapped during the season?

Or am I misremembering my facts?

So now the Cubs arent just the lovable losers there getting threaned to lose? I doubt it. I think its just another exuse there looking for. Theres other guys on that team that didnt preform well.

And we faked the moon landing, and Oswald didn't kill JFK and Bush took down the twin towers.

Wow.

brew62:

And we faked the moon landing, and Oswald didn't kill JFK and Bush took down the twin towers.

Wow.

Exactly.

It couldn't possbily have been because the players choked, right?

They must have gotten to Zambrano around the All-Star break because he sucked for the second half (yes, I know he threw a no hitter, but he still posted an ERA close to 6.00).

brew62:

And we faked the moon landing, and Oswald didn't kill JFK and Bush took down the twin towers.

Wow.

You forgot Elvis is still alive!

brew62:

And we faked the moon landing, and Oswald didn't kill JFK and Bush took down the twin towers.

Wow.

 well i guess when the lights went out on the UNLV, Wisconsin game a few years ago that was not suspisious either.   if you remember the bookies didnt have to tpay out because the gane was not finished.

quicksdraw:

 well i guess when the lights went out on the UNLV, Wisconsin game a few years ago that was not suspisious either.   if you remember the bookies didnt have to tpay out because the gane was not finished.

I hate how people so quickly dismiss stuff like this.   That is something that is surely plausible. 

Certainly the people who are so quick to dismiss this are not thinking "No way, organized crime would never do something like that.  Threatening families? Impossible!" I mean, it's not like organized crime has ever attempted to interfere with sports before, especially not anytime recently! :)

I don't find this to be very likely, but it's a possibility and should be investigated if any credibility can be derived at all.

MrQuestions:

quicksdraw:

 well i guess when the lights went out on the UNLV, Wisconsin game a few years ago that was not suspisious either.   if you remember the bookies didnt have to tpay out because the gane was not finished.

 

I hate how people so quickly dismiss stuff like this.   That is something that is surely plausible. 

Certainly the people who are so quick to dismiss this are not thinking "No way, organized crime would never do something like that.  Threatening families? Impossible!" I mean, it's not like organized crime has ever attempted to interfere with sports before, especially not anytime recently! :)

It's being dismissed because there's no credibility behind the report. "I was talking to a friend and he was SURE this happened."

Yeah, ok.

Don't you think at least ONE person in the media would have reported this by now?

It's bull.

brewguru:

It's being dismissed because there's no credibility behind the report. "I was talking to a friend and he was SURE this happened."

Yeah, ok.

Don't you think at least ONE person in the media would have reported this by now?

It's bull.

I never said it was credible, I just said it was plausible.  Please realize that refuting the story with no evidence is no different than claiming it happened with no evidence.

It's probably completely fabricated, but you don't know that and neither do I so let's not act like we do.