NBA Referee being investigated by the FBI!!!

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by Hitman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkKdXLwt0U

Well....wow

When you look at those calls knowing what we know now, all in a row like that....sure does look bad. They might want to ask that Rush guy some questions as well...

wow

[V2M]

Originally Posted by Dirkgreatness

BTW, even IF game 3 was set up, i still think that the spurs would've won the series.

I was rooting against the Suns and I was glad they lost... but how could you say that?

If Spurs had lost Game 3, they'd be trailing 1-3 after 4 games, with 2 out of 3 games to play in PHX (including Game 7).

[you]

I have recently begun watching NBA video after the Donaghy incident.

It will be very difficult to take the NBA seriously ever again.

Especially after the 2006 NBA Finals.

The officiating will have to be spotless or every arena in the country will explode during every game.

[MavsX]

another reason to have instant reply in the nba. I am not saying after every play. You know give each coach a few 'challenges' per half. If he is wrong take away a timeout, if he is right..then change the call..and everybody is happy.

those guys in the booth, have the tape rewound within seconds, after the coach makes the challenge. you really would not be wasting that much time. Especially if the right call is made because they changed it after a challenge.

do it. they need to freaking do this. This would eliminate all the ghost calls and flops especially when the game is on the line, or the series is on the line..

just words of wisdom, from MavsX

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Numbers indicate unlikely outcomes in games Donaghy officiated


By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com

Updated: July 24, 2007, 1:22 AM ET

When noted sports gambling expert R.J. Bell began crunching numbers from the last four years of NBA referee Tim Donaghy's career Monday, what he discovered sent him on a public relations ride he never thought possible.

"It's been a crazy day," said Bell, the president of sports betting information site pregame.com. "But this is some groundbreaking stuff."

The biggest eye opener, Bell said, came when he compared the number of points scored in the games Donaghy officiated versus the number of points the Las Vegas sports books had expected.


Donaghy, Game-By-Game


See how each game that Tim Donaghy worked last season finished in relation to betting lines.
Donaghy's season


In the two seasons in which the FBI is investigating Donaghy for allegedly fixing games for gambling purposes, Bell found that, in games when Donaghy was part of the officiating crew, NBA teams scored more points than Las Vegas expected (hitting the over) 57 percent of the time. With a league average of 49 to 51 percent, the odds of such an occurrence are 19 to 1.

When Bell analyzed the numbers from the two seasons before the two in question, he discovered that, in games Donaghy officiated, NBA teams scored more points than Vegas expected just 44 percent of the time.

Although the 13 percent difference might not seem that jarring to the casual observer, it's jaw-dropping in the world of sports gambling. Bell said the odds of a 44 percent probability happening 57 percent of the time are about 1 in 1,000.

"There's a 99.9 percent chance that these results would not have happened without an outside factor," Bell said. "Something abnormal was going on here."

ESPN.com's own research into Donaghy's last two seasons supports Bell's claims. In the 66 games Donaghy refereed in the 2005-06 season, the two teams in his games combined to score an average of 196.8 points. The average over/under, according to BoDog.com, was 186.6, a difference of almost 10 points.

In 2006-07, Donaghy refereed 73 games. In those contests, the two teams combined to score 201.37 points and the average over/under was 187.9 points, a difference of more than 13 points per game.

"Vegas is too good for that to happen," Bell said. "The standard range should be somewhere around five or six, maybe. Not 10 or 13."

The surprising trends aren't limited to total bets, when a gambler wagers on the total number of points scored in a game. Side bets, when a gambler picks one side or the other to win the contest, also raised some concern.


At the start of the 2007 calendar year, Bell said, there were 10 straight games in which Donaghy was part of the officiating crew and the point spread moved a point and a half or more before tip-off, indicating big money had been wagered on the game. In those 10 contests, according to Bell, the big money won all 10 times.


At the start of the 2007 calendar year, Bell said, there were 10 straight games in which Donaghy was part of the officiating crew and the point spread moved a point and a half or more before tip-off, indicating big money had been wagered on the game. In those 10 contests, according to Bell, the big money won all 10 times.

"They say follow the money, right?" Bell said. "Well, when the money is right 10 straight times, something is going on. To me, that's the gavel clicking down."

Just as interesting are the numbers from April 15 to the postseason. During that stretch, there were eight games in which Donaghy was part of the officiating crew and the line moved more than a point and a half before the tip, Bell said. And in those games, including over/under bets and win/loss wagers, the big money was just 2-7.

"It means one of two things," Bell said. "Perhaps in the playoffs, they felt too much scrutiny and they weren't trying to do anything and the results are just random. Or perhaps there was some sort of turnabout with the individual in question and he went the other way."

Yet despite such surprising numbers, in an environment in which every gambler is looking for every advantage he can find, Bell said it's highly unlikely anyone outside the individuals who had knowledge of Donaghy's alleged involvement would have been able to identify his tendencies.

"There's a strong indication that this was not going around on the buzz, as they like to say. Without the benefit of hindsight, two years wouldn't have been enough for these tendencies to reveal themselves," he said. "In three or four years, maybe. But not two."

According to FoxSports.com, over the last two seasons, Donaghy led the NBA in technical fouls, free-throw attempts per game and foul outs per game.

Bell said officials are studied to find possible gambling advantages in the ways they call a game. But the majority of that work, he said, is done in baseball; umpires are given ample attention because of their strike zone size. On any given night, the umpire can affect the over/under. In the NBA, Bell said the only real attention paid to the referees is whether that official is a "homer," in other words whether he has a tendency to be influenced by a home crowd in a big game.

"There's research that if it's a nationally televised game or a rivalry game with a large, boisterous crowd, some officials will get freaked out," Bell said. "A sophisticated gambler knows that and will consider that when placing his bets."

Wayne Drehs is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn3.com.

Link

[V2M]

Sorry to say this... but yet another tainted title to the Spurs!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Listening to Stern's press conference makes me ill. He just loves to spout out a bunch of bs to be blameless once again. The captain of a ship is responsible for his sailors.

[bobatundi]

Did David Stern just respond to a question with, "I think I was just asked when I stop beating my wife?"

[Nash13]

That press conference isn't worth watching. Stern is skating around question so much, it's starting to get confusing.

[V2M]

It's so funny to see an arrogant, smug person trying desperately to act humble and like he really cares!!

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Posted on Tue, Jul. 24, 2007
NBA's attitude on gambling is ironic in light of events

By JAN HUBBARD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


The e-mails arrived in succession Friday morning:

1. 7:59 a.m.: A summary from Sports Business Daily in the New York Post report that NBA referee Tim Donaghy was being investigated by the FBI for fixing games.

2. 8:14 a.m.: A news release from the NBA on Team USA beginning training camp in Las Vegas.

After a spirited search over the weekend, I finally found one writer who connected the two: David Stern's fascination with Las Vegas, the Mecca of sports betting, and a sports betting scandal. All of the other commentary was along the lines of, "Gosh. This is bad."

You think?

Vegas and Stern have been romancing each other for quite a while, and it has always seemed odd. Commissioners, by definition, are anti-gambling, but Stern has embraced the culture.

His teams accept sponsorship money from a variety of gambling operations -- local casinos as well as Internet sites. The NBA once took money from the New Jersey lottery in exchange for use of its team logos, which, presumably, enticed NBA fans to gamble on the lottery.

Other leagues accept similar sponsorship money, but the NBA is the only major league that allows a team to play in the same building as a casino -- the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.

For the last four years, there has been a summer league in Las Vegas and the NBA took over running it this year. In February, Las Vegas became the first non-NBA city to host an All-Star Game. Team USA, consisting solely of NBA players and with a significant number of NBA staffers working for USA Basketball, trained last week in Las Vegas.

And when Caracas, Venezuela, backed out of hosting the Tournament of the Americas -- the Olympic qualifying tournament -- Stern steered it to Las Vegas, where it will be played next month.

The NBA makes a fine distinction between types of gambling, pointing out that any time the league is in Las Vegas, sports books do not offer betting on NBA games.

Perhaps Stern hopes that one day, he can put a team in the city, reap the lucrative benefits, and sports books will drop betting on all NBA games. But that's not going to happen. At best, the sports books might be persuaded to not accept bets on the local team, but Vegas is Vegas and nobody is going to muscle it.

Besides, the idea that the NBA can embrace gambling on some levels but disassociate itself from gambling on levels that Stern chooses is flawed. It would be like having the next NBA board of governor's meeting at one of the legal bordellos near Reno and saying, "The NBA is against prostitution, but you have to admit the facilities are great."

Stern will have a press conference today, and what he will not say is this: Tim Donaghy is the best thing that could happen to the NBA at this point in its history.

The controversy will force Stern to re-examine his inconsistent approach to gambling institutions. If he believes NBA players, coaches, league and team employees have gone to Las Vegas on official events and have never bet on something NBA related, he's being naïve.

And what about those young referees who work the summer league?

The second reason the NBA will benefit is that nothing will be cleaner than NBA refereeing this year. If it was a mutual fund, I would buy it.

No doubt the controversy will result in periodic hysteria about individual calls but, honestly, most sports conspiracy theories are idiotic.

First of all, bettors fix games to beat the point spread, not to determine who wins or loses.
Second, the league does not fix games, because if any high-ranking executive was caught doing so, that person would go to prison.

(That last point was a service to Mavericks fans, who still believe there was some sort of conspiracy in the Dallas-Miami series last year. It didn't happen. David Stern and Stu Jackson are not interested in going to jail.)

No doubt that Stern has a mess on his hands. Tim Donaghy has saddled the NBA with an awful situation and the accompanying negative publicity for years to come.

But there is irony in the deplorable situation. The Donaghy experience may ultimately teach the league a few valuable lessons about the consequences of any sort of relationship between sports and gambling.

Jan Hubbard, 817-390-7760

Link



Questions for David Stern
July 24, 2007 10:14 AM

In about an hour, you'll get to watch David Stern answer questions for the first time about Tim Donaghy, the referee who is alleged to have fixed games in cahoots with organized crime.

I have been mulling what questions I'd like to have answered, and was about to write about it, but then I found ESPN's Marc Stein had pretty much nailed all of them. Stein's piece is loaded with new information, and frankly is the best thing I have read yet on the topic.

Stern's press conference will be live on ESPN television, ESPNEWS, and here on ESPN.com at 11 am ET. I'm thinking there's a good chance that this will be the most-watched press conference of David Stern's career. Sometimes he can be so charming and intelligent. Other times he comes off as callous and dictatorial. As someone who loves the NBA, I hope we get the friendlier one. It'd be good for the league if he can use this moment to not just establish that he's in control, but also to win over a lot of the public.

UPDATE: Conference starting now. You can launch video player from the main page of ESPN.com or click here. (UPDATED LINK)

UPDATE: Things that stood out to me from this press conference:

• If I'm not mistaken, David Stern somehow made it through all of the press conference (at least the part that I saw before my feed froze) without once saying the words "mob" or "mafia." He didn't even make a passing reference, and the only question he really got about that angle he ignored completely. I can imagine why he had that approach -- it's a thicket of bad PR and legal complications -- but all the same, it seems odd not to at least address the notion that the mob might have been influencing games.

• Tim Donaghy has been hung out to dry. Stern has closed the door every way possible on that guy. He didn't really allow, in any way, for the possiblity of Donaghy's innocence -- a much harsher line than the media or the judicial system would allow at this point. Stern talked about punishments and prevention. He said things like he wanted to see if that Suns-Spurs game was one of the games that was gambled on, which implies with certainty that some were gambled on. He even, oddly, told the world Donaghy's income last year. (Per Stern, $260,000.) The most interesting question of the conference came late, when someone asked how Stern knew Donaghy was guilty, when he hadn't even been charged with anything. Stern said that Donaghy's lawyer had said that Donaghy was contemplating a plea. Contemplating a plea? That is the same as guilt? I assume the FBI has told Stern more than he is telling us.

• This press conference was, I thought, very successful in explaining whether or not the league let Donaghy referee games when he was under suspicion of gambling. There was one allegation that he had been in a casino, and the league, according to Stern, investigated the hell out of it and came up with nothing. Stern was poised and firm in his insistence that the FBI first called with word of the investigation on June 20, and he first met with them the following day.

• Stern went to great lengths to explain the fancy background and asset checks that the league has been doing on referees for the last two years, but no one that I saw asked about the reported million dollar Florida home that is said to have raised eyebrows with at least one fo Donaghy's colleagues.

• David Stern seemed to have Las Vegas's back a little. He volunteered at a moment when it seemed a bit forced that it was his understanding that the bets Donaghy is said to have placed were not through Las Vegas. He also said that he canceled a scheduled meeting about relocating a team to Las Vegas because it seemed unseemly at this time.

League-Wide Issues, Tim Donaghy

Link

[bobatundi]

Yep, I heard right:

Question: I know it's hard to prove a negative, but how certain can you be that this is an isolated incident and it isn't more pervasive?
Stern: I think I was just asked when I stopped beating my wife; so I don't think that how certain can I be? On the basis of my current understanding, it's an isolated incident. And I can this proves that I can never be certain of anything, but we have been we understand that this is an isolated instance.

[The Crippler]

yeah, I also was thinking, "what the f was that" bobatundi...

[Dirkgreatness]

Well IF you want to watch the press conference, heres a link.

[rabbitproof]

Thinking about it, the NBA leaves itself open to questions and is in such a battered state because of conceptions and perception problems PRIOR to all this.

There might have been nothing the NBA could have done about "one rogue ref" but the image it had prior could've been handled much better. More consistent reffing, yes, but even policies like the draft lottery are asking for trouble.

[dude1394]

Look at almost every other sport, (maybe soccer is different, I don't watch it enough).

Even hockey seems better officiated to me.

Almost every other sport I can watch a call and see where the ref might have made it, only the pass interference in football is as subjective it seems. However the NBA makes like 50 pass interference calls.

They just have to be as tremendously transparent and their rules need to be clearly stated and administered. They need to be way, way over the top in doing this because their sport has more power in the hands of the refs than any other major one. More games are decided by referring in the NBA than all other games combined.

When you have a game where a single ref can single-handedly effect a point spread and nothing is thought about it, your procedures need to be tightened.

But stern just said his are fine and that this is the only ref that is doing this, sorry but the reality doesn't agree with you. Obviously since you didn't know about this ref, you don't know about the "other" one either.

[Stranger]

From the NYTimes:

Sports of The Times
N.B.A. Put Referees Above the Law
By SELENA ROBERTS
Published: July 25, 2007

In a black suit and blue tie, wearing the colors of bruises, the typically grand David Stern arrived at a mic yesterday with the reduced look of an image viewed through binocular bottoms.

He was not haughty and pithy, but haunted and meek. He was not himself. Stern spoke softly — often with awkward pauses — as he explained what the N.B.A. knew of the F.B.I.’s investigation into whether the referee Tim Donaghy fixed games over the past two seasons.

Yes, the league’s internal security network of former “Dragnet” types and ex-spooks and retired spies missed detecting this scoundrel with a shady whistle.

No, he didn’t know Donaghy was at the center of an investigation into point shaving — the great taboo of sports — until the F.B.I. called the league June 20.

“My reaction was, ‘I can’t believe it’s happening to us,’ ” Stern said.

What’s not to fathom, though? Stern’s league has been rendered vulnerable by its longtime system of ref protectionism and false empowerment.

This goes beyond the unconditional defenses Stern has offered on behalf of referees who muss Pat Riley’s hair gel or rattle Phil Jackson’s Zen with a dubious call.

This is about ethical compromises the league has made over the years that have cultivated the God complexes of referees and provided a petri dish perfect to develop a rogue official.

Donaghy isn’t known to be among the nearly 20 N.B.A. referees in the late ’90s who caught the attention of I.R.S. investigators by exchanging first-class tickets for coach and pocketing a tax-free difference.

He was a witness to Stern’s response, though. In a sign of how deficient the N.B.A. officiating pool is, the league reinstated about a half-dozen of the tax cheats.

Why wouldn’t referees feel above the law if the league offered them loopholes in integrity?

The N.B.A. would go on to be hoodwinked by its blind faith in a flawed ref. In January 2005, Donaghy was questioned by the league for his part in a legal dispute with a neighbor near his home outside Philadelphia. A private eye from the league’s security department was directed to nose around Donaghy, to check out rumors of gambling and poke into the anger problems at issue.

The snooping came up dry. And Donaghy delivered a denial.

“He informed us that the allegations against him were untrue,” Stern said. “And that he was the person that was being harassed by his neighbor, not as alleged by the neighbor, that he was harassing the neighbor.”

The league believed Donaghy, its unimpeachable ref.

Stern has never conceded a human element in officiating. To him, the referees are always above reproach and suspicion. And yet the relationship between coaches, players and officials has become increasingly antagonistic in recent years.

Some players and coaches quietly point to a class differential that has grown exponentially over the last decade. As Stern noted, Donaghy pulled in a solid salary of $260,000 last year — or a week’s pay for star players and some coaches. Does anger or envy ever figure into a call?

The league’s officiating monitors are numbers freaks — how many calls are made, rate of technical fouls, etc. — but they do not measure each referee’s conscience.

For years, coaches have complained about referees who ask players for autographed shoes or request a star’s attendance at a charity golf event or pal around with a team after hours. In 2002, through court documents filed by Karla Knafel, a former mistress of Michael Jordan’s, the referee Eddie F. Rush was portrayed as the cupid for the secret lovers.

“I feel comfortable with his explanation,” Stu Jackson, the N.B.A.’s vice president, said at the time. “Do I feel there is a problem? Absolutely not.”

Or maybe there was an issue. In 2004, there was an official codification of fraternization rules. Yet a year later, the policy was waived when the referee Bob Delaney enlisted N.B.A. stars for scrimmages to attract paying customers to his basketball camp at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.

This ref-player relationship may seem too cozy to be cool, but the league always offers its refs the benefit of the doubt. Many of them are good citizens and good people.

But here, in his worst hour as commissioner yesterday, with his face pale from stress, Stern was still extolling the virtues of his officials with few qualifiers.

“Sometimes they perhaps carry themselves in a way that is not as modest as we would prefer, but they do their darnedest to get the result right,” Stern said. “And frankly, I’m more concerned, rather than chastising them, with reassuring them that I am committed to protecting them while at the same time making sure that we keep our covenant with our fans.”

The promise of purity was clouded long ago, when the league put referees above the law, when Stern continued to deify them without regard to their human faults, when Donaghy was cutting his teeth.

Protectionism isn’t what referees need. Protectionism is how the league got into this fix.

E-mail: selenasports@nytimes.com

[Stranger]

I'd also like to add that the NBA's new contact rules essentially made "super-star calls" part of the official rules of the game. High scoring wing players became the NBA elite in marketing AND on the court.

[V2M]

Letterman's 'Top Ten Signs A Referee Is Fixing Games': http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latesho...0070724.phtml#

[Dirkgreatness]

Did Donaghy Help Warriors In Game Versus Bulls?
July 23, 2007 - 11:08 pm
New York Times -
As F.B.I. officials, the news media and fans pore over video footage of games refereed by Tim Donaghy, looking for curious foul calls and other such behavior, several seconds of a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors in February could attract attention.

The Bulls-Warriors game of Feb. 9, played at Golden State and broadcast on ESPN, was tied, 112-112, with 23 seconds remaining. While a Bulls guard dribbled between midcourt and the 3-point shot line — clearly working the clock down for an attempt at a final shot — Warriors center Andris Biedrens stood in the lane without guarding anyone for about seven seconds, which is grounds for a defensive three-seconds violation.

Donaghy, stationed behind Biedrens on the baseline, clearly stepped forward and tapped Biedrens on the waist with 16 seconds left. Biedrens, by then at the edge of the lane, then immediately moved clear of the paint, and play continued.

The penalty for defensive three seconds is the assessment of a technical foul and retention of the ball. Golden State could have faced a 3- or 4-point deficit before getting the ball back.

Instead, the Bulls had a shot blocked with six seconds left, and Golden State missed a half-court heave to leave the score tied as regulation time ran out. The Warriors won in overtime, 123-121. According to several gambling Web sites, the odds opened with the Warriors favored by a point and a half.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar..._versus_bulls/

[V2M]

^ We could have played the Clippers in the 1st round...

[fluid.forty.one]

That Spurs/Suns video is disgusting to watch. I don't know how I'm going to feel when I start watching the playoffs next year.

[Henry_VIII]

As bad as the calls were in that Sun/Spurs game, I'm not sure they were any worse than the calls in games 3 and 5 the 2006 finals. It actually might make you hope the refs from 2006 were involved in some sort of corruption, because otherwise their incompetence was worse than a known crooked ref.

Hopefully, this will be a catalyst for positive change in the NBA reffing world.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Flagrant foul on NBA?
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tuesday morning, a somber David Stern stood before a room of sports reporters to outline what he called "the most serious situation that I have experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or commissioner of the NBA."

Last month, the National Basketball Association was informed that the FBI and the Justice Department were investigating Tim Donaghy, a 13-year referee, on suspicion that he bet on NBA games and provided inside information to gamblers about players. On July 9, Donaghy sent a letter to the league tendering his resignation. Donaghy has not been charged with a crime. But there's potentially worse news for the league: Donaghy has reportedly told investigators that he will name other officials and players involved in gambling.

...

link

[dude1394]

Dateline : Chicago:

David Stern insisted today that only 3 rogue referees were in the game and that no others were point shaving. This after a NBA referee named two other referees and they entered a guilty-plea.

Mr. Stern said "It feels like I've been asked about beating my wife" to a question about how many other referees were on the take. Mr. Stern assured his fans and the reporters that the NBA has fool-proof mechanisms to keep this from happening, but they were secret and he wouldn't tell them what they were.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Dirkgreatness

Did Donaghy Help Warriors In Game Versus Bulls?
July 23, 2007 - 11:08 pm
New York Times -
As F.B.I. officials, the news media and fans pore over video footage of games refereed by Tim Donaghy, looking for curious foul calls and other such behavior, several seconds of a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors in February could attract attention.

The Bulls-Warriors game of Feb. 9, played at Golden State and broadcast on ESPN, was tied, 112-112, with 23 seconds remaining. While a Bulls guard dribbled between midcourt and the 3-point shot line — clearly working the clock down for an attempt at a final shot — Warriors center Andris Biedrens stood in the lane without guarding anyone for about seven seconds, which is grounds for a defensive three-seconds violation.

Donaghy, stationed behind Biedrens on the baseline, clearly stepped forward and tapped Biedrens on the waist with 16 seconds left. Biedrens, by then at the edge of the lane, then immediately moved clear of the paint, and play continued.

The penalty for defensive three seconds is the assessment of a technical foul and retention of the ball. Golden State could have faced a 3- or 4-point deficit before getting the ball back.

Instead, the Bulls had a shot blocked with six seconds left, and Golden State missed a half-court heave to leave the score tied as regulation time ran out. The Warriors won in overtime, 123-121. According to several gambling Web sites, the odds opened with the Warriors favored by a point and a half.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar..._versus_bulls/

This is some sick information that makes m stomach hurt. This game effected two series that would have turned the whole playoffs into something else. This cost the Bulls the 2nd seed, and maybe cost the Clippers a playoff berth against the Mavs.

[Flacolaco]

On one hand, I can't wait to hear those other names...

On the other hand, I'd really like to think that this a-wipe was alone and that the game really wasn't THAT out of control.

[Dirkadirkastan]

David Stern insisted today that only 3 rogue referees were in the game and that no others were point shaving.

After you insisted there were only zero and then insisted there was only one? Sorry Stern, it's getting pretty difficult to trust you.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Stephen A. Smith | Stern will make sure someone pays in scandal

By Stephen A. Smith
Inquirer Columnist

NEW YORK - On Tuesday morning, the czar of the National Basketball Association looked as close to sick as anyone had ever seen him. Staggering to the podium. Surrounded by league officials. Stripped of the arrogance and self-assuredness that normally accompany his every word. But to know David Stern is to know one thing above all else: Someone will pay dearly for this.

You don't spend nearly a quarter-century transforming a league into a multibillion-dollar industry flourishing in prime time only to watch it potentially disintegrate amid an alleged gambling and point-shaving scandal involving a referee, and do nothing. Tim Donaghy will be thrown into a jail cell if Stern has anything to say about it, preventing the referee from doing anything meaningful for the rest of his days.

"This is the Stern everyone knows," an Eastern Conference official said, one of many afraid to say anything publicly in fear of Stern's wrath. "He's known for knowing everything he needs to know, for always being on top of his game and being extremely protective of the NBA's image. There are people who will question that now. Who will wonder if this happened because he was asleep at the wheel, which is ridiculous.

"So in Stern's eyes, this entire fiasco is not only a blemish on the NBA's record, but his own. God help us all."

Stu Jackson, the league's senior vice president known for handing out fines and suspensions on Stern's behalf, should be concerned. As should Ronnie Nunn, the league's supervisor of officials, since neither will experience any peace for quite some time. And most folks sincerely doubt that Bernie Tolbert, the league's head of security, will have his job next week.

To know Tolbert, a good man, is to personally wish for something different. But the proverbial head must roll. As Stern reiterated during Tuesday's news conference, "the only thing we can do [from here on out] is deal with matters as harshly as you can and hope that acts as a deterrent."

Although he certainly exercised that belief on a number of occasions, Stern never had to make such utterances before. For the better part of two decades, he had Horace Balmer, the league's former head of security who retired three years ago and was known by insiders for dispensing a heavy hand at his discretion.

Micheal Ray Richardson was banned from the league for drug use. So was Roy Tarpley. And if a referee, a coach, a scout or any other NBA personnel enjoyed a lifestyle that didn't necessarily correlate with the salary he was being paid, Balmer insisted that the person pay him a visit.

"Horace would call them in the office in a hot second," an NBA security official explained days ago. "It didn't matter what you were doing or how it looked. If Horace thought it was something potentially detrimental to the league, he was all over it. Never mind your guilt or innocence at the time. He just wanted to let you know he was watching you."

Stern didn't hire former FBI and DEA agents, ex-Army officials or retain members of the Secret Service as consultants for problems to occur. They're employed to put fear in the hearts of those who'd dare consider violating the sanctity of competitive sports. That did not seem to happen with Donaghy.

"I can tell you this is the most serious situation, and worst situation, that I've ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA, or the commissioner of the NBA," Stern said on Tuesday.

Stern went on to speak of how the NBA takes its "obligation to our fans in this matter very, very seriously." Of how he will "do every look back possible to analyze our processes and seek the best advice possible to see if there are changes that should be made."

It was obvious Stern already knew what those changes would be.

A new evaluation process. More monitoring. Whatever else the law allows, and, of course, a change in personnel.

Anything less and it would seem like everything's OK.

You don't have to know Stern to realize that couldn't be further from the truth.

Link

[you]

Stern himself needs to hit the road.

It's time for a new era, commisioner. Step off of the podium and let someone else on.

[dirt_dobber]

Ref changed bet pals to boost loot, gambler sez
BY MIKE JACCARINO
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...oot_gambl.html
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, July 31st 2007, 4:00 AM

A professional gambler questioned in the probe of disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy told investigators that the greedy official switched partners in the midst of his run as a fixer because he wasn't receiving his fair share of the profits.

Peter Ruggieri, 42, of Glen Mills, Pa., sang to authorities that Donaghy first partnered with a fellow professional gambler named "Jack," according to his attorney, Christopher Warren. Jack's last name was not available last night.

But Donaghy soon grew dissatisfied with the money Jack funneled back to him as part of the betting scheme, Ruggieri told investigators, according to Warren. Donaghy then turned to high school chums Jimmy Battista and Tommy Martino.

It's not clear to Ruggieri what sort of information Donaghy passed along to his conspirators - or whether he actually influenced game scores through calls, Warren noted.

That mattered little in professional gambling circles. Throughout Donaghy's involvement, first Jack, and then later Battista, also known as "The Sheep," grew famous for circulating red-hot touts on NBA games that proved correct 60% to 70% of the time, according to Warren.

In both cases, Ruggieri listened to the picks and made money on the bets, Warren said.

About three years ago, Jack approached Ruggieri and asked him for a place to make bets. Ruggieri referred him to an offshore betting operation. At the time Ruggieri thought Jack was unhappy with his bookmaker.

In retrospect, the request, according to Ruggieri's attorney, assumed more sinister connotations.

Within months, Jack began to win at a "tremendous rate." The startling run of success was accompanied by vague touts like, "Pete, Dallas is going to kill 'em tonight," that invariably proved correct.

A short time later, Battista happened on a similarly incredible winning streak. Months later, Ruggieri realized Donaghy had switched partners from Jack and began working with Battista and Martino, who served as a go-between for Donaghy and Battista.

Soon, a word or bet from Battista would send the point spread on a given NBA game flying.

Eventually others realized the common denominator that Ruggieri had already discovered: ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy, Warren said.

Warren said Ruggieri became so convinced of the Donaghy angle he assumed Battista was merely parroting what Donaghy told him, Warren said.

In 1998, Ruggieri and Battista were arrested as part of a five-man professional gambling enterprise. Martino was not among those arrested. Each man put up money, and the group met each day at one of the members' homes to place bets.

The Pennsylvania State Police arrested the men after a two-month investigation. One member of the group has told The News authorities mistook them for bookmakers. Most participants received fines or probation.

Previously published reports have implicated Ruggieri as Donaghy's connection to the Gambino crime family. Federal investigators learned of Donaghy's skullduggery by eavesdropping on a tapped phone line of a Gambino associate.

Warren insists this connection isn't true, saying, "It's absurd and slanderous. He has no connections whatsoever to the Gambino crime family or any other organized crime family."

[MartinGT]

How wierd, no mention about how the refs screwed the Spurs during the 2006 WCSF against the Mavs???

Go Figure!

[sike]

Originally Posted by MartinGT

How wierd, no mention about how the refs screwed the Spurs during the 2006 WCSF against the Mavs???

Go Figure!

except for one questionable no-call at the end of a game I seem to remember Tim Duncan being off limits for just about the entire series...if he slipped its a foul, if he coughs its a foul, if he misses and there is any contact whatsoever...its a foul...

I wouldn't cry too much for the 06 Spurs.

[Dirkadirkastan]

The Mavs were called for 24 more personal fouls than the Spurs in Games 5, 6, and 7 combined. (3 more total against the Spurs up to that point)

It's RIGGED, I tell you!

[Jack.Kerr]

August 15, 2007
Donaghy Pleads Guilty in N.B.A. Betting Case
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and HOWARD BECK

Tim Donaghy, a former N.B.A. referee who was under investigation for his connection to a gambling ring, turned himself in to federal authorities today and pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to gambling.

During his plea hearing, Mr. Donaghy admitted to betting on games in which he officiated. He said he would communicate his picks of the winners of N.B.A. games to gambling associates, and was paid for the correct picks. He also said he told associates which referees were scheduled to officiate games, their relationships with certain players and teams, and the health status of players.

Mr. Donaghy did not specify which games he bet on, and did not say how much money was wagered. A bail hearing is to be held at 1 p.m. today.

Two other men in the case are expected to be arraigned on gambling charges this afternoon. A lawyer for one of those men has said that his client, James Battista, 42, who attended the same high school as Mr. Donaghy in Springfield, Pa., will fight any charges that may be brought against him.

Records show that Mr. Battista was convicted of criminal conspiracy and bookmaking with five other people in 1998 by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office. He did not receive a jail term, but was sentenced to probation and community service.

Federal authorities have not officially identified the other person set to be arraigned today.

The federal government had been investigating whether Mr. Donaghy bet on N.B.A. games during the past two seasons, and if he had made calls since December that affected any game’s margin of victory while being coerced by members of organized crime.

Standing before Judge Carol A. Amon in the Brooklyn federal courthouse today, Mr. Donaghy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to engage in wagering over state lines.

He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

In pleading guilty to the charges, Mr. Donaghy admitted to taking part in a scheme to defraud the N.B.A. of his honest services, by not being a referee whose only interest is making fair calls in games.

Mr. Donaghy, 40, resigned on July 9 after 13 seasons as an N.B.A. referee. He entered the federal courthouse in Brooklyn this morning through a back entrance and did not speak with reporters.

The N.B.A. first learned of the investigation on June 20, and its commissioner, David Stern, has since described Mr. Donaghy as “rogue” referee and said the incident was “isolated.” Stern said he did not believe it was connected to other referees, players or league officials.

Nevertheless, Stern called the incident, “the most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or a commissioner of the NBA.”

Mr. Donaghy’s lawyer, John Lauro, and Mike Bass, a spokesman for the N.B.A., declined to comment yesterday.

Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.

[Jack.Kerr]

This is an old, old, old problem.....dating back to even before when Ed Rush acted as a procurer for Michael Jordan.

DIRTBAG DONAGHY HINTS AT OTHER REFS' BIASES
By MARC BERMAN

August 16, 2007 -- In pleading guilty to two felony counts related to gambling yesterday, Tim Donaghy cast a cloud over all referees when he said in federal court that one of his betting tips to gamblers centered on referees' relationships with certain NBA players.

Donaghy also said he made picks based on which referee crew would be working a game, and that he got paid for every pick that was correct.

In addition, the disgraced former NBA official said he made picks on some games he worked.

By acknowledging he used referees' identities as a handicapping tool, Donaghy implied NBA officials show favoritism to some teams and players - a widely held theory that has sullied the league's image.

The NBA's Referees Association was quick to release a statement after Donaghy's court appearance to dispute the integrity issue.

Association spokesman Lamell McMorris said, "We recognize that a cloud has descended upon all referees, but we are committed to showing the public this was an isolated event and NBA officiating is conducted at the highest levels of honesty, integrity and fairness."

Donaghy said in court yesterday, "I was given access to master referee schedules that included the identities of officiating crews for particular games. I was also aware of the manner in which officials interact with players and called games as well as the condition of players prior to a game. By having this non-public information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games."

Donaghy said he used "this non-public information in order to pick NBA teams that I predicted would win particular games and also cover the point spreads set by professional bookmakers."

Commissioner David Stern would not comment directly on the implication that refs show favoritism, but acknowledged he is investigating all aspects of officiating.

"We will continue our ongoing review of the league's officials program to ensure the best possible policies and procedures are in place to protect the integrity of the game," he said.

John Lauro, Donaghy's lawyer, seemed angered at Stern yesterday, believed to be because of Stern's news conference a few weeks ago in which the commissioner spoke as if Donaghy had already been found guilty of the charges.

"I'm sure there are questions that need to be addressed to the league, need to be addressed to Commissioner Stern," Lauro snarled, referring to the referee issue. "As I understand it, he held a press conference previously and is comfortable talking to the press [about this case]."

[V2M]

What's our record with Dan Crawford officiating, again?!

I say, dump all current referees and hire new...

[ty]

Originally Posted by V2M

What's our record with Dan Crawford officiating, again?!

I say, dump all current referees and hire new...

I wonder if FIBA refs gamble...

[Henry_VIII]

Ex-NBA Referee Tim Donaghy to Name Others in Betting Probe

link

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who pleaded guilty this week to felony betting charges, will point the finger at other officials as he cooperates with federal authorities in a betting probe, ESPN reported Friday.

Donaghy will give prosecutors as many as 20 names of other NBA officials and will detail their participation in gambling activity, ESPN reported. The specifics of the gambling allegations are reportedly believed to include betting in casinos, which referees are banned from doing by NBA regulations.

Other referees said Donaghy acted alone.

"As far as we know, the misconduct was isolated to one individual, and we'll stand by that until proven otherwise," National Basketball Referees Association director Lamell McMorris told ESPN.com. "We'll review whatever information Tim Donaghy alleges, but as far as we're concerned, the only person whose conduct has been proven wrong is Tim Donaghy.”

Can't wait to see this list.
Oh, and Mr. McMorris better start working on his next statement because I don't think this will remain an isolated incident for much longer. Stern too.

[Dirkadirkastan]

TWENTY??

This is very sad. Makes me feel like a sucker just from watching these games.