<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> NEW YORK -- Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy planned to plead guilty in federal court on Wednesday to charges alleging he bet on games he officiated, a person familiar with the betting scandal probe said. Donaghy was to surrender at Brooklyn federal court, the person said on condition of anonymity because Donaghy hadn't turned himself in yet. NBA spokesman Tim Frank told the AP that the league was informed Tuesday that Donaghy would plead Wednesday but was given no further information. Donaghy's attorney, John Lauro, and federal prosecutors declined to comment. NBA commissioner David Stern said last month the referee's lawyer told the league his client was contemplating a plea. Besides allegedly placing his own wagers, investigators also examined whether Donaghy provided inside information to others, including referees' schedules. The referee had a gambling problem and was approached by low-level mob associates through an acquaintance.</div> Source: ESPN
Yea, about time. Man, I want all this mess to be put behind the NBA, and to focus on the upcoming season. Edit: I don't know where to ask this, but what does ftw stand for?
FTW = For the win. Donaghy faces a maximum of 25 years in jail and a 250,000 dollar fine. Hopefully people will forget about this by the 08-09 season and make sure no other ref does something stupid like this.
<div class="quote_poster">Master Shake Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yea, about time. Man, I want all this mess to be put behind the NBA, and to focus on the upcoming season.</div> I don't want this to be swept under the rug that easily, in fact I'm frustrated at how this story has been forgotten so much after it first broke several weeks back. The officiating in the NBA has needed reform for years and this was the incident where I thought Stern would finally be forced to do something and make massive changes to an extremely flawed system. If your officiating is so bad that you can't even tell a guy is fixing games then you know theres something wrong with it. I hope more gets made of this and the NBA improves the officiating, even if it means cleaning house of all the stubborn veteran officials.
Stern's a genius when it comes to damage control and publicity. He played off the whole thing as an isolated incident and then layed it on thick with the "mobsters taking advantage of a guy with a terrible weakness" sob story. This gambling on games problem may only be related to Donaghy, but the whole incident exposed some serious problems: the lack of communication between the NBA and referees, the lack of accountability for referees, the NBA's rating system (Donaghy was ranked one of the best somehow), etc. Now Stern'll probably be able to ignore those issues and focus on more important things like making the NBA's slogan gramatically incorrect.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Stern's a genius when it comes to damage control and publicity. He played off the whole thing as an isolated incident and then layed it on thick with the "mobsters taking advantage of a guy with a terrible weakness" sob story. This gambling on games problem may only be related to Donaghy, but the whole incident exposed some serious problems: the lack of communication between the NBA and referees, the lack of accountability for referees, the NBA's rating system (Donaghy was ranked one of the best somehow), etc. Now Stern'll probably be able to ignore those issues and focus on more important things like making the NBA's slogan gramatically incorrect.</div> The Kevin Garnett trade aided Stern's efforts tremendously. I agree with Run BJM, the problems surrounding the officials in the NBA and how they conduct themselves still hasn't been addressed. Let's count how many times an official makes a bad call and fans cry out "your fixing the games!" It's going to be a recurring theme all season long, unless Stern comes out with a system to hold officials more accountable to the public when they make mistakes.
<div class="quote_poster">Asian Zero Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">FTW = For the win. Donaghy faces a maximum of 25 years in jail and a 250,000 dollar fine. Hopefully people will forget about this by the 08-09 season and make sure no other ref does something stupid like this.</div> A max of 25 years in jail? That seems harsh. Leonard Little got 90 days for driving over a mother when he was drunk. What BS. Edit- BTW, Jim Gray wants Donaghy to get the maximum sentence. WTF? Is betting on basketball that important that you have to ruin a guy's life?
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Kevin Garnett trade aided Stern's efforts tremendously.</div> Not only did the Kevin Garnett trade aid Stern's efforts, but the shadow cast on the NFL and MLB right now has also helped take some attention off of it. If Bonds didn't break the home run record while being accused of taking steroids and Vick hadn't been under investigation for dogfighting right now, this story would be all over every single news outlet and it'd be a much bigger deal. The fact that these scenarios all happened at the same time help to take some the attention off of each other. For example, Sports Illustrated ran an article about all three events and gave about a page to each one but still grouping them all together as a bad time for professional sports. Had there not been other incidents going on right now, the Donaghy situation would have had it's own feature article.
I was under the impression that when one pleads guilty there is an understanding of the sentencing of the charges that one is pleading guilty to. At what point in time is the public going to know the penalty for Donaghy's admission of guilt? And at what point in time will we know how he betted and what games he bet on?
He will get what he deserved.25 Years in prison is perfect lets not forget he gambled on games and changed the outcome of the games.
<div class="quote_poster">Dark Hero Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He will get what he deserved.25 Years in prison is perfect lets not forget he gambled on games and changed the outcome of the games.</div> Lol what? Since when did gambling on games become a huge offense outside of the sports world? Do you think Weed is a horrible drug too? If Donaghy gambled on games he should get fired, but how has he damaged the real world in any way? The NBA is just a sport full of divas that get paid too much anyway. I'd like to see you say the same thing if your mom or dad was in Donaghy's position.
The thing is, Donaghy's also charged with wire fraud. That crime is what they're really going to nail him for. I bet he'll get it reduced regardless, because he's going to give up information.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The thing is, Donaghy's also charged with wire fraud. That crime is what they're really going to nail him for. I bet he'll get it reduced regardless, because he's going to give up information.</div> Regardless, our judicial system is quite arbitrary in handing out punishment for these unoffensive crimes.
Still on the hook <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">All along, David Stern had hoped that Tim Donaghy would walk into the United States District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., and offer up no one but his corrupted self. The commissioner had lorded over an NBA officiating culture about which the public wanted to believe the worst, and he needed everyone to see his rogue referee had no peers to rat out. As it turned out, the words "game fixing" and "point shaving" never appeared in the government's charges. Prosecutors did charge Donaghy with betting on two December 2006 games that he officiated, and as Stern himself said, you lose the benefit of the doubt about calling an honest game once you've bet on its outcome. If Donaghy had money riding on his whistle, people must consider those games rigged. Even if his guilty pleas Wednesday on two felony charges included no revelation of more dirty officials, they did little to ease the public's suspicion. Donaghy's plea suggested something league elders had been trying to dismiss forever: Different officials are predisposed to call games differently. As much as anything, Donaghy will go to jail for exploiting that secret. </div> Yahoo! Sports
I hate Stern's nonchalance in this matter. It's almost like he thinks this scandal wasn't serious or anything. Since Donaghy is likely going to start snitching, I doubt he gets the full 25-year sentence. It really makes you wonder how many things are actually secretly going down in the NBA. Despite all the "it's the hardest job in the world" b.s. people (particularly Stern and his cronies) use to defend them, it was pretty obvious the officiating reached an all-time low the past couple of seasons.
<div class="quote_poster">MrJ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I hate Stern's nonchalance in this matter. It's almost like he thinks this scandal wasn't serious or anything. Since Donaghy is likely going to start snitching, I doubt he gets the full 25-year sentence. It really makes you wonder how many things are actually secretly going down in the NBA. Despite all the "it's the hardest job in the world" b.s. people (particularly Stern and his cronies) use to defend them, it was pretty obvious the officiating reached an all-time low the past couple of seasons.</div> I hate to say it, but if I were a mob boss, I would call Tim up and say "Snitches get stitches"
Donaghy Hints at Other Refs' Biases <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">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]."</div> Source Suck it Stern!
I'd be interested in finding out how accurate Donaghy's picks were. It'd tell a lot about how blatant these biases are and how much of an impact they have on the game.
