LT Sports

I just came across a great post on Red’s Army that spoke about a book that was written by Tim Donaghy. Of course, Donaghy is the  former NBA ref who was caught betting on games. In his book, which is never going to see the light of day, he let out inside secrets regarding certain games in which the refs deliberately made calls to have games fixed. Being a skeptic, I was not totally shocked to hear that refs would fix games, but to actually see that it was written by Donaghy, who was on the inside, it blew me away. It’s one thing to think that there is a possibility that the refs are fixing games, and it is another thing to hear that it actually happened. 

From my point of view, I always said that the refs were the perfect pawns to fix games. They have a huge effect on the outcomes of games, and that includes everything else leading up to those outcomes. By making certain calls, they can shift momentum in one team’s direction and everyone watching can be totally oblivious to the entire charade. They think that a team is just unraveling because of pressure or homecourt advantage, but in reality, it could be the way the refs are favoring one team. After all, nobody is focusing on the refs, everyone is too involved watching the players.

Getting back to Donaghy and his decision to release this information, I think that his choice says everything that you need to know about refs in general. Being that Donaghy was a ref, and he decided to let secrets out about his profession, it shows that he was willing to abuse his position of power. Because he had a job that held so much power, and he was a guy that dealt with that power all of the time, it had an influence on who he was as a human being. A bad call here, a make-up call there, and before you know it, these refs are lying about everything without even thinking twice. So, of course Donaghy was going to release secret information, he has a history of leveraging power to his advantage regardless of the situation.

I know that Donaghy is just one example, but I feel that the way he went about this whole situation was typical. If refs were truly honest and trustworthy people, they would live that kind of life on and off the court. By showing that he could not be trusted off the court, it shows that he could not be trusted on the court either.

I guarantee you that if any other ref was treated like Donaghy was, they would have let out secrets as well. Donaghy just did what he was taught by the NBA, and that is to use his position as a means of control. If rules are not followed, it does not matter, as long as it works out for him in the end, honesty can be compromised.

Filed under: NBA