NBA Officials

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

There have been countless articles both in the print and broadcast mediums concerning the betting/game fixing/point shaving scandal in the NBA. I desparetly hope that none if it is true. I have had the good fortune to officiate for far more years (36 years through 2006-07 and still counting) than I ever expected, and to have achieved a level of success that well over 95% of all officials never get to acheive, it is very saddening to read that this kind of thing could actually happen in our profession.

I personally know one NBA official and two WNBA officials and everybody on this forum knows that scrutiny that today's NBA officials undergo (having each and every play they make a yes or no decision analyzed). My own personal belief is that it is extremely difficult for a three-man officiating crew could alter the outcome of a game at any level let alone one official in a crew. I hope that the accusations are false and whether they are true or not, I hope that our profession will whether the storm and being even stronger for it.

I think that we should let the investigation take its course and reserve judgement until then.

MTD, Sr.

[canuckrefguy]

I dunno, Mark....

I sympathize, but there's one helluva lot of smoke coming out for there to be no fire....we shall see....

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by canuckrefguy

I dunno, Mark....

I sympathize, but there's one helluva lot of smoke coming out for there to be no fire....we shall see....

An accusation does not make it true. Until we find out the details we are just guessing.

Peace

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

DEVIL REF--#666 (Real Camp number I was given)

Clearly, the camp staff was well-informed.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Until we find out the details we are just guessing.

Peace

Very true, but Stern's comments certainly make sound like he's convinced. "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," Stern said.

We may be guessing, but I'm sure Stern isn't. He's already seen what the FBI has. I think ESPN is carrying Stern's news conference at 11 am Eastern today.

[Odd Duck]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

There have been countless articles both in the print and broadcast mediums concerning the betting/game fixing/point shaving scandal in the NBA. I desparetly hope that none if it is true. I have had the good fortune to officiate for far more years (36 years through 2006-07 and still counting) than I ever expected, and to have achieved a level of success that well over 95% of all officials never get to acheive, it is very saddening to read that this kind of thing could actually happen in our profession.

I personally know one NBA official and two WNBA officials and everybody on this forum knows that scrutiny that today's NBA officials undergo (having each and every play they make a yes or no decision analyzed). My own personal belief is that it is extremely difficult for a three-man officiating crew could alter the outcome of a game at any level let alone one official in a crew. I hope that the accusations are false and whether they are true or not, I hope that our profession will whether the storm and being even stronger for it.

I think that we should let the investigation take its course and reserve judgement until then.

MTD, Sr.

While I can understand the sentiment, I think we should all remember that the allegation (unless I have missed something) is not that he necessarily changed the outcome of the game (winner) but that he made calls to influence the spread and over/under totals.

I think everyone will agree that calls/no-calls at every level are subjective. It is very difficult to review a game film and say with 100% certainty that a call should have gone the other way. An official, if he wanted to, could also impact the game, spread and total points early in the game. Suppose Wade gets popped for a couple of fouls (legitimate) by your partners...then all I need to do is make one bogus call on him and go against him in a bang-bang play and he has to sit because of foul trouble.

I am of the opinion that while the officials in the NBA are, for the most part, the best there is that a big part of getting to that level (maybe even as important as you officiating ability) is who you know, being in the right place at the right time and you personality. You can be the best official alive, but if you are a butt head and act aloof you are probably not going to advance. I also firmly believe that any collection of people (regardless of the profession) is going to have roughly the same proportion of "characters" and flaws as the general population.

I think we are also finding out that the glorious "evaluation" process in which they participate has some flaws...possibly serious flaws.

As canuckrefguy said...there is a lot of smoke. While he is innocent until proven guilty in the legal system...in the court of public opinion he is already toast. That may be sad and wrong, but it is reality and the consequences of the decisions he apparently made.

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Very true, but Stern's comments certainly make sound like he's convinced. "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," Stern said.

We may be guessing, but I'm sure Stern isn't. He's already seen what the FBI has. I think ESPN is carrying Stern's news conference at 11 am Eastern today.

Scrappy, wouldn't you agree that Stern is getting a bit ahead of himself in terms of a presumption of innocence?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Very true, but Stern's comments certainly make sound like he's convinced. "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," Stern said.

We may be guessing, but I'm sure Stern isn't. He's already seen what the FBI has. I think ESPN is carrying Stern's news conference at 11 am Eastern today.

David Stern is the Commissioner of the NBA. He has a different responsibility to his league than other individuals. Similar to Arthur Blank and the Michael Vick situation, we have no idea what is going to ultimately happen. The official might have done things that were unethical that he would have lost his job anyway. But to say he fixed games is might be a stretch. Remember there have been no charges filed. There is no information on specific games (at least made public). I am just saying until we know for sure or some information is made public, be careful how much you think you might know. Usually what is presumed at the beginning of a situation usually does not end up the really took place. Remember "Weapons of Mass Destruction?" Just because we believe the sky is falling does not mean that is ultimately true.

Peace

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by Dan_ref

Scrappy, wouldn't you agree that Stern is getting a bit ahead of himself in terms of a presumption of innocence?

Not necessarily. He's probably seen/heard the evidence that the FBI has collected; at the very least, he's been briefed on it by the FBI. If he didn't have the evidence in front of him, I can't believe that he would come out so strongly on the issue. The guy is a league employee, after all. If there was still some doubt in his mind, he would likely say the usual "wait to hear all the evidence" things.

I'm not ready to convict the guy, because I don't have any evidence at all. But I'm sure that Stern does. We'll probably find out in about 20 minutes.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Not necessarily. He's probably seen/heard the evidence that the FBI has collected; at the very least, he's been briefed on it by the FBI. If he didn't have the evidence in front of him, I can't believe that he would come out so strongly on the issue. The guy is a league employee, after all. If there was still some doubt in his mind, he would likely say the usual "wait to hear all the evidence" things.

I'm not ready to convict the guy, because I don't have any evidence at all. But I'm sure that Stern does. We'll probably find out in about 20 minutes.

Can we listen in online somewhere?

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Not necessarily. He's probably seen/heard the evidence that the FBI has collected; at the very least, he's been briefed on it by the FBI. If he didn't have the evidence in front of him, I can't believe that he would come out so strongly on the issue. The guy is a league employee, after all. If there was still some doubt in his mind, he would likely say the usual "wait to hear all the evidence" things.

I'm not ready to convict the guy, because I don't have any evidence at all. But I'm sure that Stern does. We'll probably find out in about 20 minutes.

I'm not a lawyer of course but I believe the FBI can't disclose evidence that's going to a grand jury. Regardless of what Stern's role is here the government is bound by law. In any event if I was a lawyer and I got hired to represent the official in question I would certainly make a big deal out of Stern having tainted any potential jury pool with his remarks. There's a reason why in the real world we often hear people say things like "I can't talk about it because it's under investigation...or going to trial...or in trial". Apparently these considerations don't apply in Stern's world.

Of course neither of us know what we're talking about so I'll go ahead and give you *my* take. Stern is facing a huge sh1tstorm with this story and he's more than willing to identify and publicly hang any scapegoats that will help his case. Regardless of what evidence he may or may not have seen.

[sj]

Stern is giving a press conference right now.

[JugglingReferee]

Got it on www.sportsline.com

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Dan_ref

Scrappy, wouldn't you agree that Stern is getting a bit ahead of himself in terms of a presumption of innocence?

I know it's not the same thing, but didn't we just see some athletes get convicted before trial and turn out to be completely innocent. And, the guilty party there was someone who had more reason to know better than David Stern.

[Jimgolf]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I know it's not the same thing, but didn't we just see some athletes get convicted before trial and turn out to be completely innocent.

True,but supposedly he's going to plead guilty, and sing like a canary. Pretty safe to assume he's guilty if he plans on pleading guilty.