Things about to get UGLY...Donaghy to share info about other refs with feds

[westkoast]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2979605

Former NBA official Tim Donaghy will reportedly give federal prosecutors information that will implicate other referees in some forms of gambling activity as part of his cooperation with government officials.

The offenses might not include any criminal activity, but could draw the ire of NBA commissioner David Stern, who has insisted the Donaghy situation was that of a "rogue, isolated criminal."

A report on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York said Donaghy will give prosecutors as many as 20 names of other NBA officials and will detail their involvement in some form of gambling activity. The specifics of the gambling allegations are reportedly believed to include betting in casinos.

"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's Chris Sheridan. "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. We're dealing with truth, not hearsay, and the truth is that the only person who has pleaded guilty to any kind of wrongdoing is Tim Donaghy."

NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said the league had received no information regarding the possibility of other officials being investigated.

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement with the officials bans gambling by referees, although there is one exception -- officials are allowed to go to the racetrack and bet on horses during the offseason.

Donaghy, who pleaded guilty on Thursday and was released on $250,000 bond, faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 9 for conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. He also must pay a $500,000 fine and at least $30,000 in restitution to the government.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.





Thoughts?!?!?!?  This is going to be really bad.

[rickortreat]

You beat me to it with the Post!  I agree very, very ugly and very bad for the game and Stern.  This is the worst possible news - that NBA officials are in some way crooked.

And to think there were those of us defending refs as being decent, honest hard-working people, who would never, ever, change the outcome of a game or point spread with a call!

The lack of integrity - provided these allegations are substantial and true, call into question the safeguards the league has in place.  Twenty other officials involved, is a lot of people and the NBA pays the refs and other officials pretty damn well.

What is it with these NBA refs?  And we thought the players were bad.

[Reality]

He is just gonna say they bet in casinos.  Not on NBA.  Probably not even on sports (Donaghy and other refs will say.)  Just slot machines, cards etc on their own time.
Stern pontificates another phony speech, everyone goes home and all continues as it has.
Terrible calls on the court continue.

It's gonna be just like the MLB steroids *investigation*.

[WayOutWest]

I heard on the radio that the State of Arizona is suing somebody, not sure if it's the NBA or the actual ref for costing the Suns a championship.  I am not joking.  They are seeking damages for the loss of income that a championship would have brought in revenues to the state.  The Spurs better be careful their trophy and rings don't get confiscated when they visit the Suns.

[Derek Bodner]

Honestly, do you care if refs bet in casinos?  If a ref played a game of blackjack, I honestly don't care.  Just because somebody gambles doesn't mean that they have the (lack of) ethics to influence games they officiate.

[westkoast]

Honestly, do you care if refs bet in casinos?  If a ref played a game of blackjack, I honestly don't care.  Just because somebody gambles doesn't mean that they have the (lack of) ethics to influence games they officiate.

Better yet would the media care?  Probably not.  They want a story where Joey Crawford bet on the Spurs game he kicked Duncan out of.  They don't want to hear Joey Crawford put 5 bucks worth of nickels into the Wheel Of Fortune machine in the Belagio.  I want to believe he is going to lie to take down other refs to try to make his fall a bit lighter but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part.

WOW...if they win that case I am going to *#$@ a brick.  Who was to say they would have even beat The Jazz in the next round?!  The Jazz could have provided the same problems the Spurs did for the Suns.  Better yet, what about the 3 other games the Suns lost?

[Reality]

Honestly, do you care if refs bet in casinos?  If a ref played a game of blackjack, I honestly don't care.  Just because somebody gambles doesn't mean that they have the (lack of) ethics to influence games they officiate.

Better yet would the media care?  Probably not.  They want a story where Joey Crawford bet on the Spurs game he kicked Duncan out of.  They don't want to hear Joey Crawford put 5 bucks worth of nickels into the Wheel Of Fortune machine in the Belagio.  I want to believe he is going to lie to take down other refs to try to make his fall a bit lighter but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part.

WOW...if they win that case I am going to *#$@ a brick.  Who was to say they would have even beat The Jazz in the next round?!  The Jazz could have provided the same problems the Spurs did for the Suns.  Better yet, what about the 3 other games the Suns lost?

I think Donaghy is lying to get himself a better deal, but is lying in the other direction.  He knows much more then he is telling, yet he gives the Feds info on the other refs legal non sports related casino gambling.  Big whoopie, has absolutely no proven connection to NBA or even sports gambling.  Therefore Donaghy fullfills his obligation to *give* the Feds some info, but it hurts none of his fellow refs.  No one else gets charged, Stern expresses more fake indignation that refs are in casinos and the result is the b.s. calls on the court continue ad nauseum for the 2007-8 season.  It's not really suprising the *Feds* are not leaning on Donaghy for more.  Payoffs galore must have taken place.  What i don't get is why the Feds are making sure Vick goes down.  Vick must have gambled away bribe money or one of the stolen sparring partner dogs must have belonged to a judge.

[westkoast]

Honestly, do you care if refs bet in casinos?  If a ref played a game of blackjack, I honestly don't care.  Just because somebody gambles doesn't mean that they have the (lack of) ethics to influence games they officiate.

Better yet would the media care?  Probably not.  They want a story where Joey Crawford bet on the Spurs game he kicked Duncan out of.  They don't want to hear Joey Crawford put 5 bucks worth of nickels into the Wheel Of Fortune machine in the Belagio.  I want to believe he is going to lie to take down other refs to try to make his fall a bit lighter but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part.

WOW...if they win that case I am going to *#$@ a brick.  Who was to say they would have even beat The Jazz in the next round?!  The Jazz could have provided the same problems the Spurs did for the Suns.  Better yet, what about the 3 other games the Suns lost?

I think Donaghy is lying to get himself a better deal, but is lying in the other direction.  He knows much more then he is telling, yet he gives the Feds info on the other refs legal non sports related casino gambling.  Big whoopie, has absolutely no proven connection to NBA or even sports gambling.  Therefore Donaghy fullfills his obligation to *give* the Feds some info, but it hurts none of his fellow refs.  No one else gets charged, Stern expresses more fake indignation that refs are in casinos and the result is the b.s. calls on the court continue ad nauseum for the 2007-8 season.  It's not really suprising the *Feds* are not leaning on Donaghy for more.  Payoffs galore must have taken place.  What i don't get is why the Feds are making sure Vick goes down.  Vick must have gambled away bribe money or one of the stolen sparring partner dogs must have belonged to a judge.

Dare I say you are reluctant to play the race card here?

[Reality]

 

[WayOutWest]

Dare I say you are reluctant to play the race card here?

I don't think race has anything to do with the lastest "goings on".  It just happens that most premier athletes are black.  It's like picking on Asian drivers if you happen to live in the Bay area.  IMO the Vick drama is a prime example of what's wrong in this country.  I can think of a thousand other things that are more important for law enforcement to focus on, WASTING time on some BS dog fighting case makes me want to nuke a state.  Yes it's dispicable to treat animals that way but PEOPLE are being treated the same way in this country and all over the world but we STFU when it comes to that, but will pull out all the stops to end dog fighting. 

<Allen Iverson Voice On>
DOG FIGHTING!
We're talking about dog fighting!
Millions of Americans are without health insurance!
Thousands of Americans are dying overseas!
And we're talking about DOG FIGHTING!
<Allen Iverson Voice Off>

[westkoast]

Dare I say you are reluctant to play the race card here?

I don't think race has anything to do with the lastest "goings on".  It just happens that most premier athletes are black.  It's like picking on Asian drivers if you happen to live in the Bay area.  IMO the Vick drama is a prime example of what's wrong in this country.  I can think of a thousand other things that are more important for law enforcement to focus on, WASTING time on some BS dog fighting case makes me want to nuke a state.  Yes it's dispicable to treat animals that way but PEOPLE are being treated the same way in this country and all over the world but we STFU when it comes to that, but will pull out all the stops to end dog fighting. 

<Allen Iverson Voice On>
DOG FIGHTING!
We're talking about dog fighting!
Millions of Americans are without health insurance!
Thousands of Americans are dying overseas!
And we're talking about DOG FIGHTING!
<Allen Iverson Voice Off>

Maybe you are right but I hear more crying about 'Vick putting a black eye on football' then I hear people crying about Mr. Gambler pretty much shaking the league to the very core at bars/regular conversation among grown men.  Maybe people just don't care about basketball like that?  I don't know.

[Joe Vancil]

The idea behind the ban on ref gambling is to avoid the referees running up a huge debt, and seeing money to fix games as a way to get out of the hole.  It's not the nickel in the slot machine that Stern is worried about...it's the guy who runs up four or five (or more) digit debt.

[Skandery]

 

It's not the nickel in the slot machine that Stern is worried about...it's the guy who runs up four or five (or more) digit debt.

Yeah...the same thing that happened to Donaghy. 

He gambled, got in massive debt, and started giving tips to the guys with baseball bats about ways they should bet on NBA games using the intimate knowledge he had of certain Ref/Player--Ref/Coach relationships before they broke his knees with those bats.  Its the only real bargaining chip he had and he used it--he actually could've gone worst and fixed the games himself but figured it'd be much harder with the safeguards that are in place.  Plus its easier to smell the rat that's in front of your face.  He gave tips on assumptions he made of how games would go because he knew how certain Refs felt about players and coaches and THAT IS the real crime of the whole thing.  No way should his tips have been anywhere near as successful as they were if this underlying problem with ALL THE REFS didn't exist.       

[Lurker]

It's not the nickel in the slot machine that Stern is worried about...it's the guy who runs up four or five (or more) digit debt.

Yeah...the same thing that happened to Donaghy. 

He gambled, got in massive debt, and started giving tips to the guys with baseball bats about ways they should bet on NBA games using the intimate knowledge he had of certain Ref/Player--Ref/Coach relationships before they broke his knees with those bats.  Its the only real bargaining chip he had and he used it--he actually could've gone worst and fixed the games himself but figured it'd be much harder with the safeguards that are in place.  Plus its easier to smell the rat that's in front of your face.  He gave tips on assumptions he made of how games would go because he knew how certain Refs felt about players and coaches and THAT IS the real crime of the whole thing.  No way should his tips have been anywhere near as successful as they were if this underlying problem with ALL THE REFS didn't exist.       

I know I can't wait until they re-instate Joey Crawford.  First time he officiates a Spurs game I'll bet the house on the opponent.   

[westkoast]

Donaghy was chasing the rush of making money and he knew he could "help" out the mob not only to get himself out of debt but to just make money period.  So I don't know if it was strickly done to get himself out of hot water.  There are various news sources stating that he just liked to gamble to make money and was addicted to it.  Even losing thousands in Vegas over a weekend doesn't mean you are addicted like he was.   So him airing out Joey Crawford likes to play slots or cards is still nothing more then BS.

The guy had a mansion worth quite a bit of money so I don't see how he is being painted (on this board) an being so down and out he had to be bailed out by the mob or else get his knees broken.  I think he saw an opportunity to make cash moreso then he was so badly in debt he HAD to.  Usually those type of guys are the ones living in motels or really crappy apartments because they sold off everything to gamble.  That was HARDLY the case with Donaghy.

Lurker do you have property in Austin?  I'd take you up on the bet because I bet Joey kisses Spur rear end just to "prove" he is not bias against them.