This news went live as I was listening to Verno's show this afternoon, but I didn't get around to looking into it until just now. Apparently Tim Donaghy is attempting to lessen his sentence by spreading the blame around the league. Yes, we all saw this coming, but the story is almost too "what I've been saying for years" to be true:
Okay, that one's too easy. If that kind of thing hasn't been going on for years, what league have I been watching all this time? It gets better, though:
Oh, this is just too good. Just seeing those words in print is a small market team fan's wet dream.
Look, I love basketball, and in particular I love the NBA. I want all these allegations to be definitively, beyond-all-doubt proven false and laid to rest forever. But I'm not that naive. I'm sorry, but I'm just not stupid enough to pretend that NBA officiating is not only bad and getting worse (thank you, Stu Jackson), but that it's pretty clearly agenda-driven.
Is Tim Donaghy the first ref to step out of David Stern's shadow and tell the truth, or is he just flailing wildly to get out of jail? We may never know the answer to that, but to quote Jack Donaghy: "My cousin Tim fixes NBA games..."
Without identifying anyone or naming teams, Tim Donaghy also claimed the NBA routinely encouraged refs to ring up bogus fouls to manipulate results but discouraged them from calling technical fouls on star players to keep them in games and protect ticket sales and television ratings.
Okay, that one's too easy. If that kind of thing hasn't been going on for years, what league have I been watching all this time? It gets better, though:
"If the NBA wanted a team to succeed, league officials would inform referees that opposing players were getting away with violations," the letter said. "Referees then would call fouls on certain players, frequently resulting in victory for the opposing team."
Oh, this is just too good. Just seeing those words in print is a small market team fan's wet dream.
Look, I love basketball, and in particular I love the NBA. I want all these allegations to be definitively, beyond-all-doubt proven false and laid to rest forever. But I'm not that naive. I'm sorry, but I'm just not stupid enough to pretend that NBA officiating is not only bad and getting worse (thank you, Stu Jackson), but that it's pretty clearly agenda-driven.
Is Tim Donaghy the first ref to step out of David Stern's shadow and tell the truth, or is he just flailing wildly to get out of jail? We may never know the answer to that, but to quote Jack Donaghy: "My cousin Tim fixes NBA games..."
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