FBI Looks Into NBA Game Fixing

[ctjayfan]

"Was the pitching mound ever moved back in major league baseball?"

I don't think so, and the pitching mound is basically flat now...

[dlb]

Anyway, I'm wondering if the game would change for the better if the hoops were raised to 11'.

This was discussed years ago, when dunking first came into vogue. The conclusion was that if you wanted to reduce the influence of taller players, you should lower the basket to 9', then everyone can dunk.

[bedir than average]

Oddly enough Mark Cuban has been ridiculed for his statement a few years ago that NBA games looked fixed due to poor refereeing. I have yet to hear any one point out that there now seems evidence that Cuban might have been right.

If anyone cared about the NBA right now this would be a bigger story than Michael Vick and maybe than Barry Bonds.

[domat]

Originally Posted by 1Perry

I know, lets put a team in Vegas.

how would that make a difference either way?

[bedir than average]

Donaghy to cooperate in probe

Authorities believe former NBA referee Tim Donaghy will cooperate with their investigation that he made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered, The New York Daily News reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources.

Later David Stern makes a statement

As we previously stated, we have been cooperating with the FBI in their investigation of allegations that a single NBA referee bet on NBA games that he officiated. As part of that cooperation, we were asked by the Government not to comment about the investigation, but in light of the widespread press coverage and the naming of the referee, Tim Donaghy, we consider it appropriate to make a fuller statement," Stern said in a statement.

"We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again. We will have more to say at a press conference that will be scheduled for next week."

Stern is likely praying right now that this was truly just one individual, otherwise his sport is going to plummet below its low point post strike. I know that rookies in all leagues go through training concnerning gambling, but I wonder how large the program against referee gambling is.

[bedir than average]

ESPN Radio's Sunday GameDay is stating that there is a strong chance that Donaghy will be mentioning some players as part of the gambling investigation.

That's when this gets huge.

[Wiggen]

This is just what the NBA needs. They've already lost a significant part of their fan base, so this is bound to help.

I used to be an NBA fan years ago, but I gave up on it once the salaries reached the stratospheric level. The team in my city, thanks to a trade they made on draft day, will be paying somebody about $14 million dollars a year to sit on the end of the bench.

Ludicrous. Blow it up and start over again, with realistic salary caps for players.

[BravesRule22]

WOW.....If there really are players involved AND they can prove it then the NBA is about to take a HUGE hit and something it might not recover from depending on the players and the extent this reaches too.

[Stlouistravis]

I know that this may seem a bit harsh.......

But I am absolutely elated that this recent discovery of an NBA official disgracing the game has become a reality.

Why?????

Because there is absolutely nothing more satisfying to my soul than to see the ever so ARROGANT, grossly POMPOUS, NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN wiggle and squirm as he deals with a situation that he has absolutely NO CONTROL OVER!

I used to consider him to be the best commissioner in sports up until the last three or so years when he began to rub me the wrong way on many fronts.

Always being too swift to act, and never really taking the needed time to properly seperate the wheat from the chaffe before accessing his disciplinary rulings on players and coaches in certain situations was the first turn off.

Then there is his outrageous eagerness to show the world that he is in charge.

Then came all of the changes that HE felt were best for HIS league without even considering the feelings of the backbone of his league....The Players.(ie...Changing the Basketball...which he only changed back after the Shaq's of the world voiced their opinions about it)

And last but not least.....This belief that his officials could do no wrong, and the ridiculous fines and suspensions placed on players and coaches anytime they voiced their displeasure with his angelic "do no wrong" officals.

I was absolutely surprised when Stern took action against one of his officials for unjustly throwing Tim Duncan out of a game this past season.

It serves this Arrogant SOB right to have this happen to him and his league!

I hope more officials are involved so it can really make him eat his words and the many times he has suggested how preposterous it is to think that NBA game fixing could be taking place in "HIS" league.

[djwhokid]

I love Dick Bavetta

[bedir than average]

Locked on Sports: Next stage in Donaghy scandal

The next stage of the Donaghy scandal has begun. We moved from the story itself, to the view of odds makers and now we have arrived at each city looking at specific games. In today's paper the Houston Chronicle and the Indianapolis's Star breakdown games that Donaghy officiated.

he ends with

I think we are at a point where we can convince ourselves of anything. The intergrity is comprimised without question. How much we may never know and that is what is terrible. It forever allows us and anyone else to believe whatever they would like.

David Stern is so hosed because Locke is right. Anyone who has ever had a theory concerning the NBA and gamefixing can find their "proof" now. Even if the scandal really is only proved to be the one man the NBA will take years to wipe away the oily sludge from a once bright, shiny league.

[Zen653]

Add Scott Foster to the list of crooked NBA referees:

EXCLUSIVE: NEW YORK — NBA referee Tim Donaghy made repeated phone calls to a second referee at the same time he provided inside information to professional gamblers during the course of the 2006-2007 season, according to court documents and phone records obtained by FOXNews.com.

The records show Donaghy placed 134 calls to referee Scott Foster — more than the 126 calls Donaghy made to his bookie — between October 2006 and April 2007, the period during which he has confessed to either betting on games or passing on game information to gamblers. The majority of the phone calls lasted no more than two minutes and occurred prior to and after games Donaghy officiated and on which he admits wagering.

With the exception of 150 calls Donaghy placed to Thomas Martino, to whom he says he provided “picks” to win games and who was the middleman between the disgraced referee and a bookie named James Battista, the ex-ref phoned no one more than he called Foster. During this period, the most calls Donaghy made to any other referee were 13.

It’s unclear what information was exchanged during the calls between Foster and Donaghy, who is awaiting sentencing later this month in federal court after reaching a plea deal in the case. Federal prosecutors in the case declined to comment on this report. But former federal prosecutors not involved in the investigation say the frequency and duration of the calls, as well as the days they took place, are suspicious.

FOXNews.com - Disgraced NBA Referee's Phone Calls to Second Ref Raise Questions - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News