Postgame Spread: One Way In Which The NBA Is Like Rick's

Friday, July 20, 2007

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED -- to find that GAMBLING is going on in here!

This is about as surprising as Lance Bass coming out of the closet.

Labels: bad referees, basketball, Casablanca, totally predictable news

5 Comments:

So exciting. Which ref do you think it is? What if it was more than one?

By Jesse, at 1:47 PM
What do you mean, "what if"? I think this calls the entire profession into question, kinda like the steroids thing.

The one guy got caught thanks to his Mafia ties; he's collateral damage in the FBI's larger case, most likely. If you shave points without any glaring Mafia ties, where's the paper trail? It's not like you need the mob's help to work with a sports book.

I'd compare it to how only a few players have been caught for Roids. Except with this, there's no moral grey area. The whole sport becomes stained. (The jury's still out on the competitive morality of steroid use, if not the legality.)

Not only is point-shaving referees more damaging than steroids, it's more damaging than players shaving points. The refs represent the LEAGUE, not individual employees. As if the integrity of NBA referees wasn't already lodged firmly in Toiletville, now there's a smoking gun.

I really, truly, deeply hope that this is the long-overdue kick to the ass that the NBA's officiating system sorely needs.

/soapbox

By Jeff, at 2:06 PM
That came off as a little more combative than I intended. Also I didn't answer the question.

Here's what I think is a current list of NBA referees (ironically taken from a sports betting site).

Good question... I think we can rule out the prominent ones.

No way they'd have taken Joey Crawford back if they know about an FBI investigation.

Dick Bavetta seems too silly. He has enough trouble calling games as it is.

Bennett Salvatore would be too obvious.

I'd love for it to be Violet Palmer, if only so we can stop feeling guilty about the fact that the NBA's most incompetent referee happens to be a woman, and whose gender is totally unrelated to her incompetence. That said, I doubt she could even shave points correctly. She'd just screw it all up royally, and end up buying herself a pair of concrete pumps and a dinner reservation at the East River's finest seafood establishment.

I'm gonna go with Bennie Adams. If he goes by Bennie, he's a suspect. C'mon, indictment...

By Jeff, at 2:18 PM
So much for that. It's Tim Donaghy.

Related, Nate Jones argues that this is no big deal, that referee bias is a part of the game, and that the result of any close game can usually be blamed on the losing team not doing enough.

On some levels, sure. You can't rely on the refs to make the right call. And the better team usually wins.

But that popular excuse conveniently dismisses the elephant in the room: BIASED REFEREES! To sanction this as part of the game is absolutely un-fucking-acceptable by any standard. Unintentional incompetence is enough of a problem without having to wonder about intentional incompetence too.

By Jeff, at 3:38 PM
This is the first reason I've come across in favor of my abandon-the-nba policy that has nothing to do with the Knicks.

By Alex, at 9:03 AM