Thank you, Tim Donaghy. Thank you.

For two years - perhaps more - you've been betting on games. You've lost money, and gotten yourself into trouble with your bookie and the mob. You've bet on games you officiated. And you've altered the outcomes of said games.*

*Since an indictment has not yet been made, I will ask readers to insert the word "allegedly" in every assertion made above.

For quite some time, we at Basketbawful have bemoaned the inconsistent - and sometimes absurd - officiating of NBA games. It has actually made it more difficult, over time, to watch this sport we love so dearly. We've joked, we've needled, we've made assertions that somebody is "on the take." And yet despite our most acrimonious accusations, in the back of our minds we always thought these officiating mishaps were honest, albeit incompetant, mistakes. There was that notion - naive perhaps - that the league, while grossly imperfect, was clean.

And now here comes Tim Donaghy, galloping in on a white horse to justify all of those assertions we made.

Thank you, Tim Donaghy.
Thank you for making us seem so smart.

The Repercussions

I do not feel, like the rest of the world, that this will destroy the league for years to come. In fact, I don't even think it will alter the perception of the league for very long at all. If anything, the black eye Donaghy has created will - let's hope - cause the league be more diligent in its oversight of officials, now that there is tangible proof that such crookedness can, and does, exist. It will be more difficult for other refs do something like Donaghy has done, now that a spotlight has been put on it.

People have short memories, NBA fans will love the sport regardless of this development, and they are too savvy to attach the behavior of one man to an entire group of unmotivated, middle aged, legally blind men. Donaghy is now a punch line of jokes and a tag line for NBA haters, but his behavior won't make one iota's worth of difference whether Joe Paycheck or John Rockerfeller are going to buy season tickets for their favorite team. If attendance is down next year, it will not be because Tim Donaghy is an idiot - but to attract eyeballs and fill newspaper columns, analysts will undoubtedly argue this notion.

That said, let's give some highly sarcastic props to a league where a dirty official, betting on his own games and altering their outcomes, WASN'T CAUGHT FOR YEARS. What does this say about the officiating in this league? It says that a man actually attempting to fix games fit right in with a league full of bumbling zebras who mess up althletic contests regularly without one bit of involvement by bookies or the Mob.

If that doesn't scream for the league to reevaluate the competance and methods of its officials, I don't know what does.

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11 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
good point and although i didn't have a chance to buy season tickets for the suns (sold out) i was offered (and was considering buying) another package that included some games, practices and other random stuff. i thought about it for a few days and BAM! i'm not a wwe fan. i'm not a fan of soap operas.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Apparently, Donaghy had some sort of anger problems. He's been arrested for stalking someone. He also almost put a guy in a mailtruck off the road for accidently knocking down one of Donaghy's garbage cans.

This has become weird. What a weird dude.

Blogger Evil Ted said...
You're in the minority, as well you should be. The Suns are going to be fun to watch this year.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet you'll be wanting those tickets a mere week or two after this blows over... I'll also bet Tim Donaghy would take that action, and give you good odds.

Blogger Evil Ted said...
Thanks for the info, Josh...albeit unconfirmed.

When you're connected to the Mob, you do stuff like that, I guess.

And considering Mr. Donaghy's connection to the Mob, let me just make clear that I respect Mr. Donaghy as a human being, and wish him the best with his upcoming legal entanglements.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
evil ted: it was in one of the many, many articles I've read up on the situation. If I find it again I'll post it here.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Just heard on ESPNews, Donaghy has to get protection due to the fact that he is receiving death threats. Wow...

Of all weeks to have no Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption for fucking NASCAR. You mean I have to get my daily sport opinions from Jim Rome for the whole week?!

Blogger Evil Ted said...
...AND Basketbawful, Josh!

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I meant on television. :P

I know where to go online (Here and Abbot's blog), but a week where Kornheiser, Wilbon, and Paige are replaced with Jim Rome, Skip Bayless, and any random sportswriter Bayless feels like arguing with is torture...my ears...

I'll never stop reading here. Any blogwriter that knows about Papa Shango and El Matador "Chico" Santana is a blog I must read. :P

Blogger Basketbawful said...
josh -- Jim Rome...how I hate him, the ****ing schmuck. Just for fun, here's a link to Rome being menaced by Jim Everette:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Jwcr_L7wM

And since you brought up Papa Shango, here's my favorite Papa Shango Moment: The curse that caused the Ultimate Warrior to vomit pea soup all over the place. (Lord Alfred Hayes calls it a "dreadful stomach attack"...good times.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9UxPx_YPHY

Anonymous Anonymous said...
No, the best moment ever was when Gene Okerlund was interviewing the nutjob and he just kept blabbering on about whatever and green slime was coming out of him. Somehow this meant Papa Shango was behind it. And why did McMahon never have these two battle it out? Can anyone say, money making main event, baby?!

Ok fine, I can't top the vomiting incident.

The best is the Bob Backlund story. Remember when Bob Backlund acted like a nutjob (Yeah..I know, he ALWAYS was a nutjob. I meant more than usual...), and beat Bret Hart for the title? Well...I heard the original idea for that was supposed to be that PAPA SHANGO was going to return, and had put a voodoo curse on Bob. Thankfully Bob was over without that idiot in the way, so they repackaged him as Kama: The Supreme Fighting Machine.

Blogger Walton's Wisdom said...
Ha, now that's funny.

I think you echo the sentiments of the majority of fans in terms of the inconsistency of NBA officiating. I know your post was made last summer, but this year's playoffs (without Donaghy) have been the most inconsistent in years.

To your point, I'd be interested to know if the NBA has been aware of this or other problems and has swept them under the rug in the attempt to preserve what's left of its reputation...