What is Digg?87 Comments
- markmorow, on 10/11/2007, -0/+19Wait until Mark Cuban gets a hold of this.
- theblueprint, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Anyone who's watched one NBA playoff game in the last 5yrs knows something isn't right.
I have no evidence to attribute it to gambling, but there has to be something behind the sheer number of ***** calls. Some were so bad, I was offended for the team that my squad was playing. - canewediggit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16i think i just heard rasheed wallace's head explode
- kamel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13This will tarnish the league for a long time. Fans have always suspected that the refs have a hand in who wins games. And of course not all refs are like this, but it will always be on the minds of fans when calls go against them. And think of the chants and signs that will be held up at games this year. I don't even think we've seen the tip of what the fallout from this will be.
- reed311, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13Oh, so this is why they call a foul EVERY 3 SECONDS. Christ, you look at a guy wrong and they'll call a foul.
- senatorkevin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12If this is true, this is FAR worse than Pete Rose betting on baseball. While Rose was a manager during his bets, he obviously only had very limited control of the game and the outcome.
- hablabla, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Wow, this is about as bad as it can get for a sports league. NBA officials have more control over the game than any other major US sport. Let's just hope that this ref didn't work the Spurs/Suns series, or all hell is going to break loose.
- CheckPlease, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10I wonder if David Stern will have that ref playing minor league baseball until this blows over.
- darny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8only if he bet with his team. If he was betting against his team you'd better believe he had a lot of control over the outcomes.
- RealmDown, on 10/11/2007, -5/+13My theory on Basketball: Give both teams 100 points and let them play for 2 minutes.
- Starflyer59, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9NBA=National Betting Association?
- kamel, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8RTFA. They came across it as part of a mob investigation
- mwmccullough, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6That's right. And laughing gets you ejected.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6ive always suspected something. the miami detroit series of 2006. the cleveland detroit series of 2007, the miami dallas series of 2006. all of these series had weird calls involved. the dallas miami series is the most insanely fixed series i have ever seen. dwayne wade got phantom calls all the time. the nba is fixed the draft is fixed and its sad because i want to see fair play.
- aztuscani, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6This has the potential to be huge. All those myths and theories involving refs with agendas are now coming to reality.
- akatherder, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I've seen calls go FOR and AGAINST my team where I just thought "WOW! Somebody is on the take."
- SverigesKung, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8Wait, wait, NBA games are fixed and/or have been fixed before? Shocking!
- s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5There's gotta be something going on when Tim Duncan Smiles/Laughs.
- Neiby, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Same here. The action moves pretty fast in an NBA game, so you should expect to see the refs make some mistakes. But once in a while I'll spot a mistake so huge that I wonder if it was made on purpose.
- rfaraj, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Agree completely. That series was impacted more by the refs than any other I can remember.
- goes211, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4They announced the the name as Tim Donaghy. Any info on this guy?
- xerigen, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4My money is on Steve Javie. He likes to take control of the game and makes some absolutely horrific calls. And he uses way too much hair gel.
- NsinU8, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Seems to me that the NBA should be policing their own employees. Tickets cost enough money as it is for our tax dollars to be going towards this. The NBA should have figured it out before the feds.
- noch, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I really want to know what official it is. They said it was a retired official . . . didnt Joey Crawford just retire?
- RuffRidr, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5It will be interesting to find out which games were effected. Mavs vs. Heat in '06 perhaps. That sereies had a lot of shaky calls.
- RuffRidr, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Nice!
- g3buz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3The games were being fixed by the mob. It was the FBI's organized crime division that was investigating it....
Do you really have a problem with the FBI's organized crime division investigating organized crime?
OK, I'll bite Owden, what _should_ they be investigating. - jankind, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Suspended for the TIm Duncan incident.
- canewediggit, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5win. this thread now closed to further comments.
- TheGuin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2so the only thing in the NBA that is more messed up than the players, is the refs
- RealmDown, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4My sympathies. Try adderall.
- slaystench, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2That guy did call a lot of BS fouls... hmmm
- s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2That's where you're wrong.
- Dhalsim007, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Check out this digg-related link: http://digg.com/basketball/NIGHTMARE_Look_how_much_an_NBA_ref_can_affect_a_game_result_vs_spread/blog
It's scary how close these games are to the spread already.... - in2deep, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This guy is done...can you imagine how many gamblers are blaming their loss of money on this clown...id want some protection if i was this dude
- xerigen, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Reportedly the mob is involved. I can see why they would want to investigate that.
- merdiesel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Must be nice... As a Kings fan, we're ***** by the refs on a nightly basis. I hope whoever is responsible for this ***** is burned at the stake.
- fadetoone, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Looks like he officiated at least one of the Mavs/Warriors round 1 games. Although I would attribute those losses mostly to poor playing. http://www.nba.com/games/20070427/DALGSW/gameinfo.html
According to Wikipedia, he wasn't involved in the Mavs/Heat series... (sadly). - Alfdog, on 10/11/2007, -5/+7I see what you did there
- orph3us, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1nadroj leahcim
- hockey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Remember the palace brawl between the pacers and the pistons a few years back involving Ron Artest and other players? Apparently this guy was one of the refs for that game.
- hipnerd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Dick Bavetta is the man.
My first thought was Kings v. Lakers, Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. The Kings got called for fouls 27 times in the fourth quarter alone. That's a little more than one foul every 27 seconds. As ESPN's David Aldridge said:
"There is nothing I can say that will explain 27 free throws for the Lakers in the fourth quarter -- an amount staggering in its volume and impact on the game. It gave me pause. How can you explain it? How can you explain a game where Scot Pollard fouls out when he's two feet from Shaquille O'Neal, or that Doug Christie is called for a ridiculous touch foul just as Chris Webber spikes Kobe Bryant's drive to the hoop, or that Mike Bibby is called for a foul deep in the fourth quarter after Bryant pops him in the nose with an elbow?"
Bavetta also gave game 6 of the finals to the Bulls in 1998 by taking away a 3-point shot from Utah at halftime that clearly had left Howard Eisley's hands.
Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, Larry Johnson got fouled by Antonio Davis, dribbled once, took three steps, and then hit a 3-pointer. Bavetta ruled it a continuation. Johnson hit the free throw to complete a 4-point play, and the Knicks won 92-91. Pacers fan still call him "Knick Bavetta."
I'd love for it to be Bavetta because it would explain so much. - sexylee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This explains the shietty officiating for the past few seasons.
- dRuNk3nIrIsHmEn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1An article I read on ESPN.com said Rose's bets were always on Cincinnati to win.
- orph3us, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Digg up, I don't know if Donaghy was reffing all those games, but I know he did most of the ones you mentioned and all were strange by general consensus of most people I know.
- orph3us, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1As a fan of the NBA and basketball this is a travesty but also a godsend. If David Stern can't clean up the NBA maybe the FBI can.
- Chester12, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2On top of unnecessary fouls, I imagine the ref probably avoided making calls as well, which practically doubles the number of incidents to consider over the years (i.e. Suns/Spurs).
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Am I the only one bothered at the fact the Federal Government is wasting resources investigating this? I would assume the FBI has some more important matters to attend to, like wiretapping citizens and harassing librarians.
- orph3us, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That was Joey Crawford, this is Tim Donaghy... Two different refs..
- davewashere, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2This is just about the worst thing that could happen to the NBA. It's been slowly recovering from the Ron Artest melee and trying to shed its thug image, and now it appears at least one ref was fixing games.
Officiating in the NBA is highly subjective, which makes it the easiest sport for fixing games. There are pretty much fouls happening constantly, but most refs ignore them unless they become a key part of the play. If one ref decided to call ticky tack fouls on one team and ignored the more obvious fouls from that team's opponent, the end result of the game could be manipulated rather easily.
I say it's time to disband the NBA and make basketball an exhibition sport with no refs. Fans seem to enjoy the Harlem Globetrotters and the And 1 tour a lot more than Kobe "This Won't Hurt" Bryant and Carmelo "Stop Snitchin" Anthony. -
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