What the Theorists Say:  Tiger has gotten bigger in recent years, hard for a golfer to do, so he must be taking steroids. What a coincidence that Tiger would hide away just when the PGA Tour begins randomly testing golfers for performance enhancing drugs!

 

In an effort to avoid being suspended and put his illustrious career in doubt, Tiger is faking an ACL injury. He sold the world on this fake injury with forced grimaces and groans at the highly-watched U.S. Open. He is now resting this 2008 season to allow the steroids to pass through his body.

 

Besides, why else wouldn’t he have shown up on the public radar since the U.S. Open? Wouldn’t he want to do some kind of charity work or even some TV announcing to keep busy? And, why didn’t he show up at the AT&T National, the PGA tournament that he hosts just outside Washington, DC?

 

My Verdict: Give me a break. This has got to be the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.

 

Tiger wasn’t declared the fittest guy in America by Men’s Fitness magazine by accident. He is one of the most dedicated fitness gurus alive, pounding out a steady workout regimen.

 

Believe it or not folks, golf is a sport.

 

If you’re just Joe Six Pack who hacks the ball around on weekends, you’d never know it. But, anyone who plays the game at a high level will tell you the havoc that swinging a club hundreds of thousands of times has on your joints and muscles.

 

Tiger has carefully calculated his swing to get the maximum use of every muscle in his body. Due to his unorthodox swing style, styled to gain power in a quick burst, his ACL definitely suffers a great amount of strain.

 

And Tiger hasn’t shown up on TV because he wants some rest! It’s tough to be in the spotlight 24/7. Tiger is probably enjoying some much needed downtime.

 

This rumor was probably started by testosterone-packed bloggers who hate golf and like to create controversy.

 

5) The NBA rigged the 1985 Draft Lottery to ensure that Patrick Ewing landed in New York City

 

The Theory: With the NBA’s popularity sulking in the Big Apple, the league sees an opportunity to revive the New York Knicks by guaranteeing them the NCAA’s brightest star—Patrick Ewing of Georgetown.

 

So, the NBA fixes the draft lottery to ensure that David Stern will choose the envelope with the Knicks’ logo first.

 

What the Theorists Say:   Below is the Zapruder film of the 1985 Draft Lottery:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TgJE7C5wiU

 

Notice how at 5:30, David Stern pulls out the first envelope, which just happens to have a bent corner? That of course is the Knicks’ envelope, and how ironic that it got chosen first!

 

Watch Stern’s hand. It goes in the hopper, and toward the bent envelope. In, and toward the bent envelope. In, and toward the bent envelope.

 

The envelope could have easily been creased by an NBA official before the drawing as a signal for Stern to select that team first.

 

Others say that the Knicks’ envelope was placed in a freezer before the drawing, making it easy for Stern to locate the desired card (which would feel cold to the touch) without looking.

 

My Verdict: While the frozen envelope theory is somewhat plausible, the bent corner theory is ridiculous. Any envelope could have gotten bent when the assistant began to violently spin that hopper. And, I seriously doubt that NBA officials would make a distinct crease when they knew that CBS television cameras would be zooming in as tight as possible on the hopper.

 

More likely than not, the Knicks got lucky.

 

Conclusion

 

Yes, some age-old sports conspiracies really did turn out to be true. NBA officials did help to fix games. MLB did turn a blind eye to steroid use. Bobby Thompson was tipped off by a sign stealer when he hit the Shot Heard ‘Round the World.

 

But, most sports conspiracy theories are started by bored bloggers who want to gain attention for themselves, or grumpy fans who want another excuse for why their team lost.

So, if someone tells you that Michael Phelps is really a cyborg created by the Bush administration to raise the world's opinion of America, remember not to believe everything you hear.

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