http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4722584 Names Rasheed (among several players) he and other refs singled out to make suffer. I thought the most damning section of this video was the last few quotes STOMP
Why is no one commenting on this? This is HUGE news. The last part of the story is the worst. Yikes. Hard to be a fan after that.
If I'm Sheed, I file a lawsuit. I want all of my fines refunded immediately. This is fucking horse shit.
What can we do about it? The NBA seems to not give a shit, and portray Tim to be a lying POS, even though the FBI says he's fully cooperated. So how can we put pressure on the NBA to change their reffing policies, etc? I would love to have some changes to make it fair. Hell bring back the replacements, at least to my perception, they were less biased and didn't do the "Star" treatment.
Refs hated Sheed = Refs punished Sheed by hurting the team he played for = Portland would have won 2000 WCF vs. Lakers = Portland HAS two NBA championships. Fuck the NBA. I'm celebrating Portland's second championship the rest of the year.
I think Donaghy is partially playing to the common sentiment among fans that there is star treatment and that the NBA values entertainment over fair competition. Any 12 year old watching the NBA could have said what Donaghy did at the end. If he had said that he was the one, rogue ref and that everything is okay... no one would buy his book. Then again, it's hard not to believe someone corroborating the feelings you've had for years. So, I don't know. I don't see the NBA changing any time soon. I've resigned to the fact that the Blazers are cursed, so whatever.
I thought it was interesting he said he hasn't watched a game in two years. I understand his time in the joint, but he doesn't care about hoops now?
Nothing new. His biggest point is that you could call 20 fouls or 100 fouls in a game and be justified. We all know that. We also knew certain refs have preferences. We knew that. He just put all the information that is out there to use for his own benefit. (Well... and the mobs) Since he was approached by the mob and his family threatened if he didn't give them the picks... you have to believe that other refs were also approached. Has the NBA ever had a ref report that happened? Not that I have ever heard admitted. But logically... other refs must have been approached. It defies logic to think that just one was. Also... the NBA knows darn well things like people pay to see stars... so you don't want stars to foul out of games. This can actually *create* a star... they get away with more... they get more calls etc... and the NBA makes more money. A friend of mine had a friend in college who went to some NBA ref training camp... and they made it clear that the NBA doesn't want stars fouling out of games. We've seen it time after time when a star has 5 fouls and then commits 6th... mysteriously it is called on the next closest player. That shit happens over and over. Anyway... I believe what he is saying. I think there are probably worse things going on too. What is amazingly sad is his 70-80% success against the spread. That is an amazing success rate... and it definitely points to some manipulation.
My favorite tech of all time was this one: [video=youtube;in-W5OuCmS4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in-W5OuCmS4[/video] Luckily it was just the WCF, so the game was no big deal. :shakeshead:
