Sports are very strange in a way. Playing sports is the only way you can fight without getting thrown in jail. There are a lot of things that you can do in sports that you can't do outside of the arena. When someone crosses that line, you know that person has done something extremely wrong.
The FBI is investigating that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, including ones in which he officiated. Apparently Donaghy made calls during the game to effect the point spread of the games for him and his "mobster" friends.
Donaghy has a gambling issue in his life, but this is to far. To put into perspective on how devastating this is to the NBA, Scott Soshnick, a Bloomberg sports columnist said, "David Stern would rather have Shaquille O'Neal in the middle of a dog fighting scandal", referring to Micheal Vick. The law enforcement official said the bets involved thousands of dollars and were made on games during the 2005-'06 and 2006-'07 seasons.
''As we previously stated, we have been co-operating with the FBI in their investigation of allegations that a single NBA referee bet on NBA games that he officiated,'' commissioner David Stern said in a statement Friday afternoon.
''We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again.''
It is safe to say that right now, everyone agrees with David Stern.
1 comment:
That explains why I don't see 90% of the "fouls" called in the last 2 minutes of NBA games.
Post a Comment