he hates that we stole Oden from Boston. He hates Oden being in a small market team. I have reason to believe even Stern, may be telling the refs to call every foul on him. Yep they are fouls, but not the fouls you call on big men. I am really starting to think Stern is trying to pry Oden away from Portland. Crazy as it seems, Stern is a complete tool. As shady as they come. Look at the interviews when he was confronted by fixing games and the draft lotto. He's lying through his teeth. And guess what? Ain't nothing any of us can do about it. He controls these "pro-wrestling" matches with an influenced fax. Boy does it suck being in a small market. Absolutely no love.
Yea I wouldn't be surprised. In tonight game, Roy had 5 fouls opposed to Johnson who had 0. Donaghys excerpts seem to have some truth to them in my opinion.
I've said it 1000 times before, Stern is the NBA's version of Vince McMahon! He has turned a great sport into an entertainment only reality! This game now is about image and marketing first second and third! Team and the love of this sport are rare flashes of light these days similar to heat lightning in the summer.The big name games are preordained for superstar calls and phantom wins. It's scripted and sad, and Stern laughs his ass of every night knowing he's killed this sport for everyone who's ever played or loved this game. Stern was the kid in school who never made a team in his life, and now we are seeing that short mans complex coming to its full evil conclusion. Stern doesn't love basketball, I'd argue he hates it, and that's why we have this product that should start nightly with "Can you smell what the STERN is cookin!" One day it will come out that Stern fixed the NBA for the last two decades and the refs were merely caring out his wishes. Trust yourselves in the fact that when it looks like a Stern, smells like a Stern, it probably is a Stern. Does it seem strange that a SPORT predicated on image and marketability for tall athletic guys,would be run by a short, fat, homely man? My thought is Stern has turned the NBA into a projection of how he WISHES the world would view him. Read into that however you will!
Sounds like a great idea for a sign to bring to a Blazers game, preferably when Stern is there. And maybe have a companion sign that reads "Because David Stern Said So!"
I 100% believe that Stern = McMahon. Everything is fixed. It isn't about competition and sport. It is about money. Sad but true. That is why you cannot invest too much emotion in sports these days.
Glad to see people smelling the coffee or alternately, what the Stern is cooking. Amazing how the refs gave the game away with three consecutive Bullshit calls. Blazers should have won in regulation anyways and Nate choked it away (Again), but I have little doubt that it's rigged. I've also seen it work in Portland's favor when we are whipping on some even smaller market/less marketable team. So it's not just about Portland losing, its about watching how games are managed. I hear certain refs are calling the game and I know the fix is in. Last night was a prime example. When I heard that Steve Javie was reffing I knew it was fixed. I should have known it would be for ATL = bigger market. I also believe they are trying to pry Oden away yes. I hope Oden would spill the beans if he ever has a suitcase style, behind closed doors offer "You'd get calls in New York/LA/Boston/Chicago..."
People always have an always will see conspiracies where they don't exist. That Stern would have any special beef with Portland strikes me as extremely unlikely, and that the refs have a mandate to ensure that the team lost last night is laughable. Ed O.
There are also always people who are duped by better then possible returns and the thought that a fellow Jewish man would never steal from Jewish charities. Yet Madoff did exactly that. He stole from people who trusted him in a vast ponzi scheme. This from a former chairman of the SEC who supposedly was regulating Wall Street. Unfortunately, people WANT to believe that good triumphs over evil and that most people are good. I believe, in fact, that most people are good. However, people in power are more likely then little folk to be corrupt (power corrupts etc.). Sadly society goes after little guys with three strikes you are out laws and lets white collar criminals off on technicalities thanks to million dollar legal teams. You say conspiracies don't exist and yet prisons exist, conspiracy to commit ***** exists as a legal term. (**** = murder, fraud etc.) Various mafia's and gangs exist. Vast systemic fraud has and is occurring on Wall Street and in the banking sector, there are corrupt DEA officials etc. etc. etc. The reason the NBA related conspiracy theories actually have merit is two-fold: one an insider rolled over on them and two an organized crime investigator from the FBI stated that Donaghy's statements and his investigation are consistent with organized crime being commited with the NBA's collusion. This isn't a midnight meeting at the docks Ed, it's a highly reliable FBI agent who protected America against Al Qaeda and went after the Gambino crime family. His word holds a hell of a lot more water then Stern's word that "everything is hunky dory and no investigation is needed." So many of Stern's policies since the late 80's are questionable. The first being the disolving of the independent Referee's Union the second being the zero tolerance stance on criticizing the refs. There is no harm done by criticizing the refs, unless you don't want attention attracted to the fact that the refs ARE either making large mistakes consistently OR actively manipulating game and series outcomes. Finally, the NBA doesn't pay the smell test for me and anecdotal evidence based on 25 years of watching the game rather closely have shown a consistent biais to big market teams and especially "Super Star" players. The Super Star call is absolutely unequivocably a fact. If the NBA skews the game towards Super Stars why do we believe the manipulation of the game ends there? There are 100's of millions if not many billions of dollars per year at stake between advertising, merchandise and sports betting (mafia) and yet we think there is no impetus to rig the outcome? People talk about the risk of doing it out weighing the bad. Well, Donaghy came out, the FBI guy said his piece and here we are two years later and no transparent investigation has occurred. Too many pieces fit the puzzle. This could all be solved by an independent outside audit of referee's with full access to NBA confidential files. That however, is precisely what Stern has made clear will NOT happen. Whenever the people who have the most to lose want no investigation by an outside independent auditor my radar goes off. Just saying.
Great post. NBA officiating cannot be explained by simple human error. It cannot even be explained by arrogance and systemic incompetence.
That's my belief as well. It makes me bitterly sad, more then I can say. The Blazers and the NBA have been special to me since I was a child and one of the few things my Father and I really bonded over. I don't say this stuff because I want it to be true. I say it because even though it breaks my heart I think it's true. I would love to see a groundswell of support among NBA fans for a Stern ouster and outside investigation of the NBA refs. Stern should be thrown out for the Sonics to OKC let alone possible manipulation. I want to see the NBA of the mid-80's back, when we still had the independent referee's union. Of course Stern used to send Jake O'Donnell (the fixer) to games and series that mattered. That was a little obvious after awhile and he needed more agents. That's what I've come to believe after years of watching a sport I love turn into a free throw contest between the fastest guards and most favored golden children (LBJ, Wade, Kobe and even our beloved Roy gets bullshit calls).
Here I was enjoying a nice Blazers game with my girlfriend having a cocktail after work at the bar up the street. Good food, conversation, and a great game. Then Javie does his thing causing me to yell "Javie, You C***SUCKER" right in the middle of the bar. My girlfriend HATES attention. There goes the night... Man that ref knows really knows how to screw people!
That Horford goal tend was absolutely unreal one of the worst (no) calls I've seen in years. The Blake turnover was I think a pretty good if a close call. There were a few others in OT that made it clear. Now I do believe that if the Blazers had poured it on they would have won. Give the refs an inch and the game goes the ordained way.
This is an anual theme I think... and it is always interesting to see the opinions. Javie is a great ref to have on the road... sucks at home. Where I see him as different is that he doesn't seem to have the home team bias most refs do. That fact we are pissed about refs shows Blazermania is making a comeback. It is a good thing. I don't think the NBA is not rigged in the way that I believe people are saying here. Whenever there is betting there will be people trying to manipulate it to earn money. That influence is there no doubt... though I am sure that a lot of the time it is done in a way to not influence the outcome of the game. That is the easiest thing to spot. I do believe the NBA likes home teams to win. It keeps fans in the seats. It isn't that you can't win on the road... you just have to do it soundly. I also believe stars get the calls. If they believe fans are paying to see x player... you can expect that player will get the calls and not get calls on them. It is interesting that this may actually make the game less appealing because it just isn't that entertaining watching FTs. I think refs may well try to extend playoff series to 6 or 7 games. Heck... if they get paid by the game... you figure it out. Plus it is just more money for everyone involved. I used to work at Boeing... and the people in the union would call in sick during the week so they could work on the weekends and get 2.5x pay. Duh.
It's interesting to me how people think that the little guy (boeing employee or individual ref) is fully capable of, and constantly doing illegal or immoral things. Heaven forbid someone in power do the same thing and do it intelligently. Amazing really. History shows rivers of blood of the innocents. Thank god for the Enlightenment so now we can pretend it doesn't happen anymore. I recommend that you don't go to a third world country, you might be in for a rude awakening. Turns out nothing has changed except technology, propaganda, spin and public relations. A certain amount of humans and especially power hungry and greedy humans are still very, VERY nasty. We've just been on the winning team for so long in America, and we had such a robust middle class that it's less obvious then in the third world where there are distinct and rigid class structures. Sadly, America is going in that direction. Either you see it, or you are in denial or you aren't paying attention. The NBA is just one more multi-billion dollar business (When you include advertising, merchandise, video games and sports betting) and is therefore just one more target for organized crime to want a "piece of the action". I'm sorry boys and girls but in the real world corruption is virtually everywhere there is any amount of power or money. I don't know how anyone with access to even a smidgen of news, especially news from foreign countries, could come to any other conclusion.
