June 11, 2008

Donaghy: NBA Games Rigged

Yesterday, 'Nova grad and ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy made a filing in federal court claiming the NBA influenced referees to make certain calls during at least 2 playoff series.

The one game in question is the famed Lakers-Kings Game 6 of 2002, where the Lakers got 27 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Lakers, down 3-2, rallied to win the series and the NBA title. David Stern said "there are this continuing flow of allegations from, don't forget, an admitted felon. So they're baseless." Yes, an admitted felon, who committed the most heinous of crimes, murder gambling on basketball games.

Donaghy apparently wasn't going to reveal any of this, until the NBA attempted to make him pay $1 million for its internal investigation related to him. Ha, ha, ha, the NBA deserves anything it gets. Now if you really want to find a rigged sport, how about the NFL? It's the only major sport that uses radios!

2002 Lakers-Kings Game 6 at heart of Donaghy allegations [ESPN.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 10:06 AM | Comments (2)

July 30, 2007

NBA Pointshaving Biggest Catholic Scandal Ever

Although I've just been making fun of his Villanova background in my coverage of alleged corrupt NBA ref Tim Donaghy (right, during his career missing the foreign object in "Macho Man" Randy Savage's tights), the shame he's inflicting on institutions goes far beyond the Main Line. Or, rather, it also goes to Cardinal O'Hara, who the Inquirer says has been "hit hard" by the referee scandal.

Donaghy isn't just a mid-1980s O'Hara grad, he also met (alleged, I guess) Phoenixville bookie James "Baa Baa" Battista in high school, who federal investigators also contacted in regards to the NBA scandal. Tim and Baa Baa are apparently bringing down the name of their alma mater:

Some O'Hara graduates, not surprisingly, are unhappy with the negative publicity the story has brought to the 44-year-old Catholic high school, which also produced three other NBA referees. "I think it does a disservice to my alma mater to allow the alleged misdeeds of one person [to] blacken the reputation of a school which has nothing to do with this scandal," said Rosemary Connors, an O'Hara graduate from Broomall.

Oh, see, here I thought Donaghy was accused of fixing O'Hara games in exchange for molesting tips from Philadelphia Archdiocese priests. Whoops, my fault!

O'Hara hit hard by NBA referee scandal [Inquirer]

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July 24, 2007

Ref's Help Unnecessary Against 76ers

In the ongoing saga of the Most Interesting Sports Scandal Going On Right Now™, the NBA held a press conference to address the Tim Donaghy scandal. NBA commish David Stern said Donaghy, who went to Villanova and Cardinal O'Hara (of course), is the only referee the league believes bet on games, but that won't stop every single basketball ref at every level from being accused of being the new Tim Donaghy for the next 10 years or so.

(It will never get old. The rollouts for next year's St. Joe's-Nova game are going to be awesome.)

Meanwhile, in a recent STEPHEN A. SMITH column in the Inquirer, the master of the written word quoted an NBA source on Donaghy: "He's disliked by a whole lot of people. He's viewed as a loner by other referees, separate from the pack. Still, absolutely no one assumed he would be involved with something like this. The entire NBA community has to be shocked." A loner! Did Tim Donaghy murder someone or something?

Also, a January 76ers-Raptors game reffed by Donaghy could be one of the games the FBI is looking at. Heavy betting on the Raptors shifted the 76ers from a one-point favorite to a one-point 'dog. Donaghy's help was apparently not needed, as the Raptors won by 18. Samuel Dalembert probably did more to help the bookies than Donaghy ever could.

Stern: Bet probe 'worst situation that I have ever experienced' [ESPN.com]
Stephen A. Smith | Gambling probe is worst blow for NBA [Inquirer]
Sixers-Raptors game in January likely to interest investigators [Daily News]

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July 23, 2007

Things Keep Getting Worse For Tim Donaghy

Last week, reports revealed the FBI was investigating whether Villanova grad and NBA official Tim Donaghy made calls to influence games in order to ease gambling debts. The mob might also be involved.

Uhh, yeah. My reaction was, plainly, "Guh, wha?" Yeah, Tim Donaghy made some questionable calls. He made some bad calls. But every referee makes bad calls. That's because every single basketball referee on the planet is a terrible ref. Especially that one in my intramural league senior year of college, the one where I fouled out in pretty much every game. And that one in that three-on-three tournament my freshman year. And that ref who managed to trample me while backpedaling when I was like nine.

Okay, you get the point. Well, anyway, now the police have apparently been called to Donaghy's Florida home after he received threatening phone calls. Most certainly the call came from an irate, moronic Suns fan.

One thing we know, the threatening phone calls weren't from a St. Joe's grad. I think they're happier than ever, pretty much.

Police Called To Home Of NBA Ref Donaghy [NBC 10]
Friday: 'Nova Grad, NBA Ref Investigated For, Uh, Pointshaving?

Posted by D-Mac at 04:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

July 20, 2007

'Nova Grad, NBA Ref Investigated For, Uh, Pointshaving?

Cardinal O'Hara and Villanova grad Tim Donaghy is being investigated for allegedly helping to fix games for the mob. Wait, what?

Betting scandals in professional sports are kind of a thing of the past, since almost all the players are millionaires nowadays; what are you going to do, give Donovan McNabb his own country? The only player I could think of who could possibly throw a game would be a kicker in the NFL, but the likelihood of a game coming down to a field goal isn't perfect, etc., etc. (Maybe a goaltender, too, I guess.) Oh, and that kid in Finding Forrester threw the game, too, but that was high school.

Anyway: Yeah, pro athletes make too much money nowadays to throw games. But a referee? Yeah, I guess. I had a friend in college who insisted college refs had to bet on games, it made too much sense. And allegedly Donaghy may have made calls that affected the outcomes of games in order to ease gambling debts.

The Inquirer's David Aldridge also reported this:

Donaghy sold his West Chester home in 2005 and moved to Bradenton, Fla. The sale occurred after Donaghy was sued for harassment and invasion of privacy by a neighboring couple who claimed that Donaghy had stalked them and vandalized their property.

And the obligatory: Another fine Villanova graduate.

FBI investigating area NBA referee [Inquirer]

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