thomas
Registered: 02/19/04
Posts: 3,285
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| | 11/25/09 at 07:30 AM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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From: http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/BO130486/
Source: Gambler claims 13 referees involved in NBA betting scandal 7News sports director Joe Amorosino is reporting the following: BOSTON -- A source tells 7Sports that the gambler at the center of the 2008 NBA betting scandal says 13 referees were involved. Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit wagering information in connection with disgraced NBA official Tim Donaghy and served 15 months in federal prison. The source also tells 7Sports that Battista claims he has the phone records to prove his contact with these 13 referees. Donaghy served 15 months in federal prison for providing inside tips on NBA games to a professional gambler in exchange for money. When the scandal broke in June of 2008, NBA commissioner David Stern called Donaghy a "rogue, isolated criminal." The source tells 7Sports that Battista says he had a "Big-5" of dependable referees with Tim Donaghy being the "King" as Battista called him, who the gambler says delivered a winning bet 78 percent of the time in games he officiated. The 7Sports source says that on December 12, 2006, the night before the Celtics played the Philadelphia 76ers, Battista says he met with Donaghy and a mutual high school friend. On that night, the gambler claims they made a deal which according to Battista involved Donaghy supplying information including injury reports and referee assignments and Battista making the bets. The source says that according to Battista, the first game the two men bet on together was the Celtics-76ers game the following night -- a game Donaghy officiated and one the Celtics covered with ease. The Celtics were 1 1/2 point favorites, but with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, the score was tied. The Celtics would eventually go on to win by 20 points. The source says Battista is making these claims as he works to finalize a tell-all book deal.
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Smack
Registered: 07/14/04
Posts: 198
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| | 11/25/09 at 09:44 AM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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It's obvious that Stern and Co. want to brush this under the rug and call it an individual ref going rogue (lord I'm sick of that word). I have a feeling if this were players who were accused of betting that the league would come down hard and do everything it could to clean it up. Why would the league not want to recognize that the refs can effect the game just as much as the players? Until they do, this won't be going away. |
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pabbi1
Registered: 08/03/04
Posts: 2,548
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| | 11/25/09 at 12:33 PM | Reply with quote | #3 |
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With the standard NBA denials that the 'degenerate bettors' have no cred. Word up, Stern, your cred is no better. So, I'm torn - which degenerate conspirator to believe?
<sigh>
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Stern: “We have found a solution that should provide our league with better competitive balance.” |
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thomas
Registered: 02/19/04
Posts: 3,285
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thomas
Registered: 02/19/04
Posts: 3,285
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pabbi1
Registered: 08/03/04
Posts: 2,548
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| | 11/25/09 at 09:49 PM | Reply with quote | #6 |
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Anyone care to wager that Nellie has plunked down a few coins on the Pismo Beach Panthers?
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Stern: “We have found a solution that should provide our league with better competitive balance.” |
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aemiller9
Registered: 01/09/04
Posts: 5,599
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| | 11/25/09 at 09:56 PM | Reply with quote | #7 |
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The commish in line with you know who has declared this unprecedented crisis, and has not his fault and really he has no clue what to do, but it is the most important thing in the world at this point and time.
I guess telling the ref what to call and which violations to ignore so the NiKe players and look good isn't a problem.
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Smock_Dobie
Registered: 03/02/08
Posts: 250
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| | 11/26/09 at 07:09 PM | Reply with quote | #8 |
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Sigh...
I mean, who didn't know this was going to happen?
Quote: It's obvious that Stern and Co. want to brush this under the rug and call it an individual ref going rogue (lord I'm sick of that word). I have a feeling if this were players who were accused of betting that the league would come down hard and do everything it could to clean it up. Why would the league not want to recognize that the refs can effect the game just as much as the players? Until they do, this won't be going away
I'm assuming the problem is the league has used ref's in the past to fix games. Now that the ref's have decided to make a little cash on their own, it's everyone's dirty little secret.
It's a ticking time-bomb.
The only thing that will save the league at this point is the general stupidity of the public. You've been lied to since day-1 of the Stern-era. He's fixed drafts, lottery's, games, and championships.
Now he's going to try to fix public perception. Don't let him.
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'When he got here in 1994, Jason Kidd promised to turn this franchise around 360 degrees...and unfortunately, he did...' |
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beesting
Registered: 03/17/04
Posts: 52
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| | 11/26/09 at 07:51 PM | Reply with quote | #9 |
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The owners have the power to hire and fire Stern as far as I can tell.
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Samurai
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 2,384
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| | 11/26/09 at 09:44 PM | Reply with quote | #10 |
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Quote: Originally Posted by Smock_Dobie
I'm assuming the problem is the league has used ref's in the past to fix games. Now that the ref's have decided to make a little cash on their own, it's everyone's dirty little secret.
Wilt Chamberlain was famous for never fouling out, though he was always kept in games, even with 5 fouls...something which would never happen now the way centers get limited in their minutes because of foul trouble. Think about it! Was it because he knew how to avoid fouls? Or was it because refs wanted to keep on the court the guy that paying customers most wanted to see?
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aemiller9
Registered: 01/09/04
Posts: 5,599
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| | 11/26/09 at 10:12 PM | Reply with quote | #11 |
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Really no one, not one single person in the Universe has wonder if the NBA has ever made games come out to help them get better ratings or more advertising bucks?  |
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Samurai
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 2,384
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| | 11/27/09 at 03:36 AM | Reply with quote | #12 |
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Officials operating under direct orders from Stern to "fix" games? Unlikely even if it were necessary.
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DavidR
Registered: 01/16/04
Posts: 1,548
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| | 11/27/09 at 10:18 AM | Reply with quote | #13 |
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| Its not like Donaghy hasn't already said they fixed games. |
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MarkA
Registered: 03/05/05
Posts: 2,424
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| | 11/27/09 at 12:28 PM | Reply with quote | #14 |
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| Donaghy admitted to trying to influence point spreads to pay off his gambling debts. He claimed other refs were doing similar things, but he never implicated the league. Unless... he's not afraid to rat on the mob, but Stern would have him whacked!
All this conspiracy fluff misses the point by a mile. There are billions to be made legally with the NBA. It's a cash cow. A star system, sure that makes sense, to a certain degree, for marketing purposes. But fixing games? Risking your whole enterprise for ... a hypothetical ratings point that isn't guaranteed? What's the point? Who's dumb enough to do that? You're proposing that Stern is an evil genius who can't evaluate his own rational self-interest?
RE OFFICIATING: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's razor
RE STERN/BUSINESS IN GENERAL: "The scandal isn't what's illegal; it's what's legal." --Michael Kinsley
None of these conspiracy theories are penetrable by reality. Here's two simple easy-to-rig situations that don't fit into your paradigm: 1) If the league rigs the draft, WHY DID LEBRON GO TO CLEVELAND? Have you been to Cleveland? It's sh*thole. A terrible town. There's no money to be made there. I think homeless people live in the Cavs' luxury boxes. Lebron could have single-handedly saved the Knicks, in New York, where there is money. 2) How the hell did small-market Orlando make the finals last spring over the Lebron/Kobe matchup the whole world wanted? Please tell me how that happened?
ALSO: Stern works for the owners, not the other way around. The 2/3 of the league who would suffer and lose money for the benefit of the other 1/3 would NOT participate in such a scam. It's ludicrous. |
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DavidR
Registered: 01/16/04
Posts: 1,548
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| | 11/27/09 at 02:07 PM | Reply with quote | #15 |
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Never implicated the league?
Quote: The 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings presents a stunning example of game and series manipulation at its ugliest. As the teams prepared for Game 6 at the Staples Center, Sacramento had a 3–2 lead in the series. The referees assigned to work Game 6 were Dick Bavetta, Bob Delaney, and Ted Bernhardt. As soon as the referees for the game were chosen, the rest of us knew immediately that there would be a Game 7. A prolonged series was good for the league, good for the networks, and good for the game. Oh, and one more thing: it was great for the big-market, star-studded Los Angeles Lakers. In the pregame meeting prior to Game 6, the league office sent down word that certain calls — calls that would have benefitted the Lakers — were being missed by the referees. This was the type of not-so-subtle information that I and other referees were left to interpret. After receiving the dispatch, Bavetta openly talked about the fact that the league wanted a Game 7. "If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that's down in the series, nobody's going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7," Bavetta stated. As history shows, Sacramento lost Game 6 in a wild come-from-behind thriller that saw the Lakers repeatedly sent to the foul line by the referees. For other NBA referees watching the game on television, it was a shameful performance by Bavetta's crew, one of the most poorly officiated games of all time.
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