NBA excerps from a book they don't want you to read
 

From the book, "Blowing the whistle", by Tim Donaghy

Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read - Tim Donaghy - Deadspin

Some good reading. :)

Tim Donaghy's excerpts are about one-onemillionth as interesting as the one's in Earl Strom's book, "Calling The Shots".

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Earlstrom.jpg

Wow! Somebody please tell me this is all a bunch of made up BS. :eek:

Great. Not only is this offensive beyond belief, but now everyone has the idea that this is the pinnacle of refereeing. Just what zebras need.

I was thinking the same thing. Wow. :mad:

NBA response:
NBA: Any Tim Donaghy allegations will be reviewed - ESPN

Oh good. I feel better now that I know the fox will investigate the carnage at the hen house. Kind of like the mayor of Stockton, UT conducting an investigation into whether the mayor of Stockton, UT acted improperly when he suspended a police officer for giving the mayor's son a traffic citation.

<s>Credibility</s>

I can't decide whether that excerpt is a horrifying indictment of this profession or proof positive of the theory that the NBA more closely resembles the WWE than basketball...or maybe both. Regardless, I find it sickening.

I don't have a lot of faith in the NBA either, but I can hardly believe that Donaghy is really just "telling it like it is". I suspect that he's either exaggerating or downright fabricating a lot of that stuff. I have no evidence either way, but I simply can't imagine that he's really representing the overall culture of the NBA ref. I'd love to hear what Violet Palmer has to say about it...

I'm curious, why V?

I'll have to look for it, but I read something on ESPN.com that the NBA and the referees' union have agreed as part of the new CBA that officials will not be allowed to give monetary or other compensation as a tip to team personnel for being their gophers.

Found it. Check it out:

Referees no longer allowed to tip locker room attendants - ESPN

In all the interviews she did when she first started, she struck me as a very down-to-earth person, with a pretty good perspective on life and on reffing. I can't imagine she'd put up with the kind of stuff Donaghy describes. He makes it sound like all the refs have that attitude, but I'm just not convinced. I guess Violet is one person who I've heard talking about themself, where most of the other refs I've never paid attention. From what I've seen, I'd trust her take on this book and on Donaghy.

Perception, And The Appearance Of A Conflict Of Interest ...
 

In the Catholic middle school league that I work, we have an agreement with the schools. They will not ask us to purchase tickets for the 50%-50% raffle, and we are not allowed to purchase tickets for the 50%-50% raffle. Imagine if the home team were down thirty points at halftime, and during the halftime intermission they announced that BillyMac was the winner of the 50%-50% raffle, handed me a big wad of cash, and then the home team made an amazing comeback and won the game by two points. It's all about perception, and the appearance of a conflict of interest. Of course, we still get free food from most refreshmant stands. Best fried dough in the world. To die for.

This reminds me of a true story about my exwife's Catholic parish, where they had a carnival every summer to raise money for the church. Every year they would raffle off a Cadillac, which was the epitome of luxury cars back then. One summer, the pastor, as he usually did, pulled the winning ticket out of the drum, but this time he called his own name as the winner. He had the winning ticket for the Cadillac. What are the chances of that happening? Sometimes they didn't even pull the name of a parishioner, instead someone from out of town who was visiting the carnival. Well the pastor wanted to throw out his ticket, and pick another winner for the Cadillac, but a policeman warned him that the law required him to keep the car, which he did. True story. Really.

I distinctly recall the talking heads mentioning some of the same things in the article.

When TD mentioned "a company man", I immediately thought of Bavetta. 20+ years of watching the NBA and patterns emerge.

Much of that article isn't surprising to me.

Surprising? Perhaps, perhaps not. But is it true? I'm not sure there's any way to know. Unless you're on the staff, how would you ever know?

I hope the book gets released:

Then I hope some NBA refs sue the publisher and and the scum who wrote it. After this article there is no way the refs can get their credibility back, ever. And IMO, it is totally unjustified. It is a shame that in our society today some 2-bit gambler who is in hock up to ears and in jail, who had a great life and threw it away, can ruin a lot of other people in a "tell all" book that gets accepted as biblical truth by a bunch of cynics and frauds. And that we have media like ESPN, who makes money from both ends of the deal.

Some of you guys write like you have no clue. You write stuff about these people having no integrity, or comparing these refs to a mayor in Utah. Your cynicism plays right into the hands of all kinds of sports fans, and other people who should know better, who believe that officials cheat for some people and against others.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS?

Without going into too much arguement, it means that the next time you are on a floor, or a field, and make a controversial call at the end of a game, people who see the game will assume you are just like those NBA refs. You can't be trusted either. that kind of stuff feeds down to all levels of sport, and it is destructive to sport, just like the attitude is destructive to our country.

In a small local HS forum I follow, almost every week there is somebody complaining about how the officials cheated at the local game. Recently one of them said: "I know some people who are officials, they told me they are just in it for the money, they have no integrity."

Is that what you want your reputation to be? Is that how you want to be known.

You obviously haven't been paying attention to the news. The publisher canceled the book, but not before some excerpts leaked out. They probably realized they had a book that had zero creditibility and didn't want to open themselves up to lawsuits that could result. That was some inflammatory libelous stuff in there.

The Next Jose Canseco ???
 

What if Donaghy is the next Jose Canseco? Few people believed Canseco, yet, as it turned out, he was right on the money. Canseco told us about cheating players. Donaghy is trying to tell us about cheating officials.

As my grandmother used to say, maybe Donaghy is, "Full of prunes". Or maybe he started the next major sports controversy topic since steroids?

True, or false, it's worth looking into.

No, I read the thread
 

Ref Ump,

Sorry I think you are wrong. The cat is already out of the bag, whether the book is out or not. In this day and age, nobody gets the benefit of the doubt in pro sports, as our good friend BilleMac so clearly shows for all of us int he post just above this. It is clear to him: Book comes out, must be true, they are corrupt.

Most people think like him, not like officials.

I always thought the TrailBlazers- Lakers series was partly fixed for the lakers. Some of the calls then were absolutely absurd and totally turned the series around and I wasn't even a blazers fan.-- when the Blazers had Pippen, Sabonis etc. Kings fans whined about their own series with the Lakers for years.
He really is putting up things that he knows will get strong reactions. Yeah, I know the guy is a loser and so is Jose but unfortunately I'm not willing to rule out that what he is saying is false. After the Jordan Bulls years the ratings were down for a while and I just have my suspicions that the business side was put first and there were lapses in officiating that might have been directed from the top and/or done by refs who have been around for years and know extended series means more drama and better ratings.

Interesting Perspective.....
 

I once heard Helen Thomas, White House Correspondent, give a speech. She said, "Never believe a rumor until it's officially denied."

Sad and pathetic little man. Out for a fast buck to pay off his insurmountable debt. I would hope the excerpts aren't true, but at this point, does it really matter? The opinions and perception of the public at large, not to mention the players and coaches, are tarnished forever. Personally, this crap makes me ill.

I have no doubt that there is some truth hidden in this book though. I seem to remember an "outside the lines" a few years ago talking about inappropriate interactions between players or coaches and NBA officials. Free gear, autographs, attendance at charity events, etc. Caught the ire of several politicos too, as well as a plethora of former NBA officials. Could make for some quite interesting fodder . . .

That's your interp of BM's post? It's not how I interpret it.

I'm with BNR, you read BillyMac wrong.

I made that comparison, not about the refs. I made it in comparison to "the league" saying that they'd investigate the allegations of their own wrong-doing. I'm not saying whether I believe or disbelieve the allegations, only that there can be no credibility if the NBA does their own investigation.

If there is to be a credible investigation, it has to come from a respected, independent, outside body. It has to be done with complete transparency, allowing everybody to see all of what is uncovered. It has to address all of the allegations.

I couldn't agree with you more. The NBA is launching an investigation, but you're right. It should be a respected, independent, outside body. However, there won't be any transparency in the investigation if it's a private body, because transparency could open the NBA and the investigate body to lawsuits if someone were to disagree with their findings.

I realize that. That's why it will be nearly impossible to ever get a credible answer to the allegations. No matter who investigates, unless all the data is put out there for everybody to see, some group or another will proclaim the investigation to a be a whitewash or a witch hunt or whatever because it doesn't validate their beliefs.

As with most unsubstantiated rumors, I'm willing to bet the stuff I read is based on fact, but embellished for effect.