http://www.nypost.com/seven/07202007/news/columnists/nba_in_a_fix_columnists_murray_weiss.htm

Quote :

"THE FBI is investigating an NBA referee who allegedly was betting on basketball games - including ones he was officiating during the past two seasons - as part of an organized-crime probe in the Big Apple, The Post has learned. The investigation, which began more than a year ago, is zeroing in on blockbuster allegations that the referee was making calls that affected the point spread to guarantee that he - and the hoods who had their hooks in him - cashed in on large bets. "

...after falling into debt with bookies in the mob.

7/20/2007 9:42:49 AM

I swear, the entire world of sports is crooked nowadays

I'd almost rather be oblivious to everything going on so I can enjoy a game without wondering how or why the most dominant player is as good as he is or why a team is getting more calls than the other

7/20/2007 9:59:37 AM

This thread has UNC bias written all over....

It happens in the college ranks all the time so it doesn't surprise me about the NBA either really.

7/20/2007 10:04:32 AM

I’m surprised it took this long for something like this to come to the surface, with professional sports having become the megabusiness that it is

7/20/2007 10:05:28 AM

this sounds like some Sopranos-type shit. Someone is definitely getting whacked over this.

7/20/2007 10:42:39 AM

this could get really ugly for the NBA.. worse than Pete Rose IMO

7/20/2007 10:51:27 AM

Damn.

7/20/2007 11:02:30 AM

My guess: Bennett Salvatore.

I remember this article from last year, and was thinking "Why not just always bet on the home team when this guy refs": http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060620

Quote :

""I don't think the NBA fixes games, but they have one trick that they use for situations like this -- when they want a home team to win the game, they invariably assign the worst referees possible to that game for two reasons: Bad referees have a tendency to get swayed by the home crowd, and bad referees never have the stones to make a tough call on the road. In a related story, I went to 35 Clippers games this year and kept a list of the referees in my pocket which I also used to follow the referees for any televised games. And yes, the referees in the NBA -- as a whole -- have never been worse. But there were six referees that stuck out as being especially terrible." Then I went on to list the worst six referees. Here was No. 2 on the list: "2. Bennett Salvatore -- Always one of the worst, he took it to another level this season. If you see him on the court at the start of the game, get ready for about six technicals, two near-brawls and both coaches having to be restrained by their assistants at various times." Why is this relevant? Not only did Salvatore officiate Game 4 of the Suns-Lakers series (the one where Kobe tied it at the end of regulation and won it at the end of OT on two shaky non-calls on Nash, both by Salvatore), not only did Salvatore officiate Sunday night's Game 5 (in which Miami had a 40-12 free-throw advantage at one point), but Salvatore called the foul on Wade's final drive in overtime (remember, the call where ABC couldn't find a replay to show that anyone touched him?) even though he was standing at midcourt a full 35-40 feet from the play, and even though two other refs were closer to the play. Not only was that NOT his call, he butchered it. Considering I brought this up LAST spring, do you find any of this a little strange? Why aren't the best referees calling these games? Why do the worst ones always seem to get assigned to games in which it would be better for the league if the home team won? Why am I the only one who notices this stuff or seems to care? Why do I find myself watching these games and concentrating more on the one-sided officiating than some of Wade's spectacular plays? As my buddy House e-mailed on Monday morning: "I don't think I can take much more of NBA refs insisting on controlling the outcomes of the most significant games. The NBA is a disgrace and should be completely embarrassed. I hate this game." And that's coming from one of the last 19 NBA diehards -- I can only imagine what the casual fans thought after watching such a one-sided travesty. Look, we all love Dwyane Wade. He's fantastic. But there's absolutely no scenario in which a 2-guard should be attempting as many free throws as everyone on the other team. It's absolutely unfathomable. And here's what really kills me: If there's a Game 7, you KNOW they'll come up with the best possible officials for that particular game. So why wouldn't every Finals game work like that? We have seven possible games spread over 17 days ... they couldn't pick the best three or four refs and have them work every game, like how MLB picks the best seven umps to comprise the World Series crew? Why wouldn't that work? Is there a single reason you can come up with? Arrrrrrrrgh. "

7/20/2007 12:30:22 PM

Great find....I knew Dallas should have won that game

7/20/2007 12:48:34 PM

yeah, that would be bigger than rose

7/20/2007 2:30:05 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2943095

ESPN names the guy.

7/20/2007 3:05:15 PM

not to bring race into it, but THANK GOD its a white ref

between the thug image of the NBA being ran around and the whole Vick thing, Jesse Jackson can only do so much

7/20/2007 3:07:12 PM

Tim Donaghy

7/20/2007 3:28:31 PM

Quote :

"I swear, the entire world of sports is crooked nowadays since the beginning of time"

7/20/2007 3:36:47 PM

Quote :

""Dear Dr. Siepser, "My contacts were very uncomfortable and were constantly drying out when I was on the floor. I am much more comfortable and my vision is great. Thanks to Dr. Siepser.""

Tim Donaghy
NBA Referee

[Edited on July 20, 2007 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

7/20/2007 4:45:09 PM

i wouldnt be shocked at all if one of the games was Miami @ Charlotte this past year...that fucker was a ref and I swear Wade got more calls at the end of the game when Miami was already up 12 or something than even Wade normally would

7/20/2007 6:16:52 PM

Is this the guy who gave Duncan the tech for laughing?

7/20/2007 6:20:54 PM

no, that was some old dude. Duncan gives this guy $100 every now and then to NOT call techs.

[Edited on July 20, 2007 at 6:27 PM. Reason : .]

7/20/2007 6:26:56 PM

That was Joey Crawford.

[Edited on July 20, 2007 at 6:28 PM. Reason : ...]

7/20/2007 6:28:07 PM

This doesn't even phase me. I'd be surprised if he's the only NBA ref doing this.

NBA referees are terribly inconsistent so its impossible to even tell when someone might be point shaving

7/20/2007 6:28:37 PM

Quote :

"As we head into a monumental week for the NBA, it's time to look at some of the questions that need to be answered by commissioner David Stern and others concerning the Tim Donaghy case. Here are three of the biggest ones: 1. How big is this scandal? The New York Daily News reported Sunday that federal authorities believe Donaghy will cooperate with investigators and possibly name other officials or players involved in the scandal. Stern has already come out publicly and said that Donaghy was the one and only referee under suspicion of affecting the outcome of games he officiated, but if the opposite is true and even more referees are involved, Stern's credibility will take another enormous hit. The Daily News said Donaghy has hired former federal prosecutor John Lauro, who specializes in representing whistleblowers, as his defense attorney. 2. When was the NBA informed that Donaghy was under investigation by the FBI? The Denver Post reported Sunday that the answer to that question is January, which, if true, would mean the NBA allowed Donaghy to continue refereeing games, including playoff games, despite knowing he might be crooked. Who in the league office signed off on that? 3. What about all the red flags? According to data compiled by Stats LLC and reported in the New York Post Donaghy led the NBA in technical fouls called, whistling 177 of them -- 20 more than anyone else. Donaghy also ranked fourth in blowing personal fouls; was third in ordering free-throws, and second for fouling-out players for the 2006-2007 season. The NBA is meticulous in gathering data on its referees and the calls they make, and if it had a referee calling an inordinate number of technicals, you'd expect they'd speak to Donaghy about it, no? Also, The Post reported that NBA officials knew that Donaghy was gambling on football and ordered him to stop. Further, the New York Times reported Sunday that Donaghy refereed in 11 games after Jan. 1, 2007, in which the consensus Las Vegas line moved 2 points or more. The team on which bettors wagered heavily enough to move the line that far won 7 of those 11 games. On Jan. 15, the Philadelphia 76ers were originally favored to beat the Toronto Raptors by a point. Bets came in so heavily on the Raptors that they eventually were favored to win by a point instead. The Raptors won in a blowout, 104-86. Two nights later, so much money was bet on the Phoenix Suns against the Houston Rockets that the consensus Las Vegas line, which opened at the Suns favored by 4 ½ points, moved to 8 by tip-off. The Suns won by 9, 100-91. "

The most key game this guy called in the playoffs was game 3 between the Suns and Spurs.

7/23/2007 8:46:08 AM

Colin Cowherd said this morning on the radio that he would rat out the mob and not other referees (if they are also in on it). He said that the mob isn't as powerful and he'd just have to change his name and move to Omaha.


I would totally rat out other NBAers who were guilty of this as opposed to the mob. Don't fuck with the Gambinos.

7/23/2007 11:08:45 AM

he just looks like he has a gambling problem

7/23/2007 11:53:53 AM

Good stuff by Bill Simmons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070722

Quote :

"Imagine how simple it would have been to sell that script. A white NBA referee with a gambling problem (Matt Damon) loses too much money to a bookie (Timothy Olyphant) who's connected with a dangerous family of mobsters (led by head boss Alec Baldwin). One of their muscle guys (Turtle from "Entourage") threatens to beat up the ref unless he gives them inside information. Which he does. Now they have him. They tell him to start throwing a couple of games or they'll go after his wife (Evangeline Lilly) and daughter (the little girl from "Little Miss Sunshine"). He agrees to affect the over/under of games by whistling more fouls than usual, which should drive the scores above the over/under because everyone will be shooting more free throws. For a couple of games, it works. Eventually, they want more. Fearing for his life, he crosses the line and helps fix a few outcomes without realizing the mobsters will never say, "All right, we're good. Nice working with you." Meanwhile, a renegade FBI agent (Ryan Gosling) overhears the ref discussing one of the games on a tapped phone line, then gets tipped off by a mob informant (Joe Pantoliano) that they turned an NBA referee. They track the weasel for a solid year, gather all the evidence they need, then break the news to the NBA commissioner (Ron Silver) and his staff that their league has been compromised. It's too late. Too much damage has been done. The referee resigns, the feds swoop in and that's that. The movie ends with a sobbing Damon going to jail, Gosling getting promoted and Silver glumly watching the tape of a pivotal playoff game from the previous spring, a horribly officiated game that could have potentially affected the championship ... and the sight of that same compromised referee jogging down the court, ready to blow the whistle at a key moment. The end."

7/23/2007 12:02:58 PM

here's a "highlight" video of Game 3 btw the Spurs and Suns featuring your boy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fvkKdXLwt0U

7/23/2007 2:39:53 PM

Quote :

"Colin Cowherd said this morning on the radio that he would rat out the mob and not other referees (if they are also in on it). He said that the mob isn't as powerful and he'd just have to change his name and move to Omaha. I would totally rat out other NBAers who were guilty of this as opposed to the mob. Don't fuck with the Gambinos."

Seriously. What an idiotic comment from Cowherd. "Protect the league, don't worry about the mob, they don't own as many politicians nowadays."

7/23/2007 2:45:31 PM

^^ The only questionable call was the first one that he made from half court when Manu was taking it to the rim. The ref at half should never make that call. All the other calls looked reasonable to me.

7/23/2007 2:51:22 PM

duncan didn't foul amare on that block??? Nash wasn't fouled on that "steal" by Bowen??

please understand basketball.

7/23/2007 2:52:32 PM

I thought they were both good no calls. Some times fouls could go either way. Just b/c it could have been called a foul and the ref doesn't call it doesn't mean the ref was throwing the game. Superstars get protected and get more calls. Home team gets more calls.

The Duncan block he had his hand all over the ball. Yes there was contact but I thought it was a good no call.

7/23/2007 3:34:28 PM

He hit the hell out of Amare's shoulder and right arm.

7/23/2007 6:30:26 PM

^,^^,^^^

Quote :

"So that's two significant problems. Problem No. 1 will fade away over time, although it will never completely disappear. Problem No. 2 can be fixed, although it will take some major work. But Problem No. 3 can't be fixed. If the allegations are true, Tim Donaghy didn't just violate the integrity of the league and rig some games. There's a good chance he altered the course of the 2007 championship. Only three teams had a chance last year: Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio. When Dallas choked against Golden State in the opening round, the NBA's refusal to fix a broken playoff system came back to haunt it in Round 2, thanks to a Spurs-Suns matchup that suddenly doubled as the NBA Finals. In Game 1, San Antonio stole home-court advantage with a convincing win that everyone remembers because Steve Nash busted his nose open. The Suns rallied back with a blowout win in Game 2. Here's what I wrote after the third game -- the Spurs were favored by four, with an over/under of 200.5 -- after San Antonio prevailed, 108-101, thanks to Amare Stoudemire playing just 21 minutes because of foul trouble: Congratulations to Greg Willard, Tim Donaghy and Eddie F. Rush for giving us the most atrociously officiated game of the playoffs so far: Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series. Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington and Violet Palmer must have been outraged that they weren't involved in this mess. Good golly. Most of the calls favored the Spurs, but I don't even think the refs were biased -- they were so incompetent that there was no rhyme or reason to anything that was happening. Other than the latest call in NBA history (a shooting foul for Manu Ginobili whistled three seconds after the play, when everyone was already running in the other direction), my favorite moment happened near the end, when the game was already over and they called a cheap bump on Bruce Bowen against Nash, so the cameras caught Mike D'Antoni (the most entertaining coach in the league if he's not getting calls) screaming sarcastically, "Why start now? Why bother?" What a travesty. Not since the cocaine era from 1978-1986 has the league faced a bigger ongoing issue than crappy officiating. Now ... Before the Donaghy scandal broke, if you told me there was a compromised official working a 2007 playoff game and made me guess the game, I would have selected Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns series. There were some jaw-dropping calls throughout, specifically, the aforementioned Ginobili call and Bowen hacking Nash on a no-call drive that ABC replayed from its basket camera (leading to a technical from D'Antoni). Both times, Mike Breen felt obligated to break the unwritten code that play-by-play announcers -- don't challenge calls and openly questioned what had happened. The whole game was strange. Something seemed off about it. At the time, I assumed the league had given us another "coincidence" where three subpar refs (and calling that crew "subpar" is being kind) were assigned to a Game 3 in which, for the interest of a long series, everyone was better off having the home team prevail ... just like I anticipated another "coincidence" in which one of the best referees would work Game 4 to give Phoenix a fair shake in a game that, statistically, they were more likely to win. After all, it's easier to win Game 4 on the road than Game 3, when the fans are pumped up and the home team is happy to be home. (Which is exactly how it played out. Steve Javie worked Game 4, a guy who Jeff Van Gundy deemed "the best ref in the league" during the Finals. Hmmmm.) Look, this could have been an elaborate series of connected flukes. I'm just telling you that none of it surprised me. Which is part of the problem. But here's what I didn't expect: That a potentially crooked ref was working that game. Imagine being a Suns fan right now. You just spent the past two months believing that your team got screwed by the Stoudemire/Diaw suspensions, that you would have won Game 1 if Nash didn't get hurt, that you would have taken Game 3 if you hadn't been screwed by the officials, that you would have cruised in Game 5 if two of your best guys weren't suspended for running toward their best player as he lay in a crumpled heap. Now it looks like an allegedly compromised referee worked Game 3. Well, how much did Donaghy affect the game? How many calls did he whistle on Stoudemire? How many of Bowen's potential fouls did he not call? Was he the seemingly incompetent schmuck who made that three-seconds-too-late call on Ginobili? Did Tim Donaghy cost you that game? If David Stern wants to do right by the fans, then he should order NBA TV to rerun the tape of Game 3. We need answers. We need to know for sure. Hell, they can start a series called "NBA Hardwood Classics: The Tim Donaghy Collection" and we'll spend the rest of the summer combing through games and figuring out how many Donaghy could have fixed. Like Game 6 of the Raptors-Nets series, which New Jersey won by a point in the final seconds. Did he swing that one? What about Game 2 of the Orlando-Detroit series, when the Magic rallied for a late cover in the final seconds with Donaghy jogging around? What about the Heat-Knicks game from last February in which the Knicks were given a 39-8 free-throw advantage and covered a 4.5-point spread by 1.5 points? Did Donaghy call those two technical fouls on the Miami coaches? Is there footage of Pat Riley screaming at him?"

from the Simmons link a few posts up

Quote :

"THE ZAPRUDER FILM Follow-up note: A few hours after this column was posted on Sunday morning, an NBA fan posted "highlights" from Game 3 on YouTube that reveal Donaghy making a number of questionable calls during that Spurs-Suns game, including the three-seconds-too-late call on Ginobili that I mentioned in my column (and two months ago as well). After the call is made, play-by-play announcer Mike Breen calls it a "late whistle" three different times, then a replay of the play shows that there was no contact, followed by Breen saying "doesn't look like there was much there" and partner Jon Barry adding, "I don't know what he saw!" Collectively, it's a damning collection of anti-Phoenix calls, although not all of them were made by Donaghy. Expect the highlights of this game to eventually become the Zapruder Film of the Donaghy Scandal. Sorry, Phoenix fans. "

7/23/2007 7:01:29 PM

oh fuck...damn thats some shit

7/23/2007 7:02:55 PM

how much you wanna bet that if the nba will force youtube to pull that video (i assume sports telecasts are protected like music videos, tv shows, etc)?

7/23/2007 7:09:26 PM

I dont think this topic is getting enough love on tww

Anyone hear the press conference this morning. Jesus, it just made me more skeptical. Everytime someone would ask Stern if he thought there were others involved he just kept making the point that this is what I know at this time. There has got to be more people involved and jesus I hope it's some fucking players. The NBA needs a bitch slap....

7/24/2007 1:54:45 PM

This really makes me mad now....I was pulling for the Suns big time this year.

Tim Donaghy basically cost the Suns the NBA championship or at least the chance to play Cleveland and likely win the championship. If I am Amare/Nash/Marion and D'Antoni I am really hot right now.

7/24/2007 1:58:58 PM

These Phoenix fans are sounding like whiny little bitches.

7/24/2007 2:02:24 PM

Suns fans do have a right to complain, the officials potentially cost them a championship.

Of course, we have no way of knowing that, no way of knowing what might have been between those teams, and between the victor and the Cavs...

Everyone knows the Suns have been screwed, nobody with any sense is making any excuses for it, but there's nothing that can be done about it now, and complaining about it at this stage is still whining. Justified or not, whining is still whining.

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 2:15 PM. Reason : .]

7/24/2007 2:14:38 PM

The suns were screwed. I would venture to guess that others are involved and the outcome or point spread in many, many games has been altered

7/24/2007 2:21:14 PM

This did not cost the Suns any championship. Yes, there were some bad calls (and I remember poor officiating at both ends that game), but the Spurs would have beat the Suns again even if it took one more game, because they are the better team.

7/24/2007 2:24:52 PM

when are the Seahawks going to investigate SBXL

7/24/2007 2:59:44 PM

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 3:07 PM. Reason : wtf I didn't type that]

7/24/2007 3:03:51 PM

Quote :

"I dont think this topic is getting enough love on tww"

You're right jccraft1. This could set the NBA back for a while. Stern does need to take some blame for this because if one of your refs is gambling football games, what makes him think that ref isn't going to bet on his own games considering he/she can influence the outcome of the game. Sad day for the National Basketball Association.

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 3:26 PM. Reason : sad Jerry West logo]

7/24/2007 3:25:53 PM

if it came out that every single ref in the NFL was betting on their own games, the NBA would still get the worse rap

7/24/2007 3:37:39 PM

Any speculation as to how deep this goes? How many other refs involved? Players or coaches?

7/24/2007 5:04:12 PM

^^ NBA refs already had a bad reputation...

NFL refs almost wind up reffing by committee.. just about every call is disgusted, so it seems like it would take a lot more for an nfl ref to affect a game than it would for an nba ref..

7/24/2007 5:10:36 PM

yeah i hear that i'm just saying for awhile its seemed like whatever the NBA does to try and correct its problems, and whatever NFL problems are exposed over and over again (hey i heard some player was recently fighting dogs)...the NBA always gets the worse rap

7/24/2007 5:12:59 PM

The NFL hasn't had a problem this bad. Even if they replaced opening game and overtime coinflips with dog fights, that wouldn't wreck the integrity of the game like this incident.

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 5:18 PM. Reason : d]

7/24/2007 5:17:59 PM

so the NFL is worth even more billions of dollars than the NBA but its never had anything like this? ok Mr. Naive

7/24/2007 5:19:03 PM

^nothing that has been released...

What are you saying, the NFL is supposed to get a bad wrap too because it's popular?

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 5:24 PM. Reason : .]

7/24/2007 5:23:58 PM

Quote :

"(hey i heard some player was recently fighting dogs)"

really? because i hadn't heard anything about it, or any media outcries over a lack of willingness to outright kick that player out...

of course, i also never heard about how his far-off-the-field activities affected the games, but i could be wrong about that.

[Edited on July 24, 2007 at 5:27 PM. Reason : .]

7/24/2007 5:25:38 PM