I think ever since the news first broke of the possibility of an official, nevermind it being NBA, but just an official gambling and possibly altering the game with his presence has cracked the credibility of all major sport leagues.
Once the news got out that Tim Donaghy was gambling on basketball games, many players, general managers, owners and fans wondered, what games did he alter for his own benefit. All parties involved felt jaded that the result of the games, some of which were very important, were not in the hands of the coaches nor the players but in the hands of one official. One official that could make a key call here, a henius foul call there, and only making these calls for personal benefit.
This morning Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in Federal prision. I know he won’t ever have a job as an NBA official again, and he has to go to jail, and he provided a lot of information which may lead to more scandal, which is what no one is hoping for. The NBA already is on thin ice with their credibility toward the manner, and depending on what is found out from the information leaked by Donaghy, the NBA could and would lose a lot of credibility and a lot of money.
This whole case, had it happened in any other league, it would do the same damaging blow to its credibility. Some people think this may only be the tip of the iceberg, and it may very well be, but how do the leagues and the organziations and the governing bodies regulate this sort of thing. How is it possible to find out one of your leagues officials is gambling on the games he is officiating?
There was an official, his name slips my mind right now, but he received phone calls more often than his (Donaghy) bookie and most calls were immediately before or after a game, or before or after placing a bet. That is severe circumstansail evidence, and it is much better to have physical proof, but with that type of phone record, it is very hard to believe that Donaghy acted alone in this gambling matter.
I think that as a whole it would be a lot easier to have referees orchestrate this in the NBA than any other league. When you call a foul in the NBA it immediately results in points scored (assuming the team you called the foul on is at or over the limit). Another factor that makes it easier is there are only three guys officiating an NBA game, so they can conspire more easily and if one of them makes a call, it is going to have a much larger effect on the grand scale of things.
In baseball it would be easy for the home plate umpire to manipulate the strike zone a little bit, even though the balls and strikes are often reviewed by someone at the major league office, but even if the strike zone in manipulated, it doesn’t immediately result in any runs. Same with hockey, both of these sports have small officiating crews, but if a penalty or a safe call is ruled only for the purpose of the ref trying to win money and it not being a legitamite call it does not automatically translate into points on the board.
In basketball it is much easier for the refs to change the game. I know some people weren’t suprised by the fact that Tim Donaghy was altering games. It had been an expectation of some fans and media alike, games were being altered by calls the refs made that they should not. But there was no proof, it was just a quick blip on the radar. Basketball ‘experts’ figured in the back of their mind that it wouldn’t be hard for a ref to alter a game. They always insinuated it when there was a large discrepancy of free throws shot between the winning and losing teams, but until Donaghy was caught, no one was really accusitory of this occurance.
The NFL would make it nearly impossible for one ref of seven or eight to singlehandedly change a game. There are replays, and so many referees watching only a small fraction of the big picture. Sure you could throw a flag and get a touchdown called back, or call a key pass interference penalty when the other team is driving late in the game trying to kick a game winning field goal. But then again, no matter what call they make in the NFL, it doesn’t put points on the board like it does in the NBA.
Fifteen months in a federal prision, three years of supervised release in which he much seek treatment for mental issues and gambling issues. I guess I don’t know if that was fair, too much or too little, but he may just be the tip of the iceberg in not only the NBA, but all professional sports as far as people, players and coaches doing what they can to alter the outcome of games.
