Sports fans have had to deal with the shocking revelations that Philadelphia-born NBA referee Tim Donaghy was probably throwing games over the last several years. He had a gambling problem, and one report suggests that the mob tried to clear that with him by having him shave points in games. As a result, he allegedly made calls he shouldn't have, and in some cases, didn't make calls he should have.
The NBA does such a poor and inconsistent job of making calls anyway that it is fairly easy to have such a thing go by. How many times have you seen a player travel with no call being made? How many times have you seen a player draped all over a player going to the basket without a call being made? How many times have you seen a player barely touch another player and find yourself astonished that a call was made? Such is life in the NBA as it has been allowed to develop. And in such an environment, Donaghy was able to fix games. And this is tragic for not only the NBA, but sports in general. It will make us all suspicious when refs are doing a bad job. I know I've been suspicious about the NFL before. I hope it's not the case, but sometimes...
At any rate, it now turns out that Donaghy was involved in the 3 most controversial NBA games in recent history. Rasheed Wallace got a reputation for being one of the bad boys of the NBA, and received a 7-game suspension in the process, for confronting a referee on a loading dock outside an arena after a game. It turns out Donaghy was that referee. Remember the Pacer-Piston brawl that ended up in the stands after a fan threw ice at Ron Artest? That whole thing got started because the game was allowed to be too rough in the first place. Donaghy was part of that crew. And finally, fans were convinced that the officiating was horrible this spring when the Spurs were allowed to beat up on Steve Nash and his fellow Suns, one of the best teams in basketball. They were expected to represent the West in the NBA finals. But it didn't happen because of the officiating, plain and simple. Everyone knows that. Well, it turns out Donaghy was part of that crew, too.
Now his life is being threatened. The mob doesn't want him telling what he knows to authorities. What does he know? How many people are involved? Are there others in the NBA, or other sports, involved?
The world seems like a mess sometimes. It's human beings who make it a mess. This is a clear example of one human being having a profoundly negative impact on the world around him.
Ethics matters. Honorable behavior matters.
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