I'm not sure how many times I said to Kelli during the playoffs last year, "this game seemed totally rigged" (much like the Miami Finals of the year prior). The game I'm speaking most of is game three of the Suns/Spurs series (although there were others). Well, it turns out that it was! Who were the officials? "Officials: Greg Willard , Tim Donaghy , Eddie F. Rush" Unfortunately it was just found out that Tim Donaghy was betting on the games and altering the outcome accordingly as you can see here!I know that this is not the Spurs fault and I in no way blame them because I know they can't feel good about this either. But this pretty much means the 2007 season meant absolutely nothing. This is tragic for the state of NBA affairs. How is it possible to even watch a game from here on out without having to wonder, "are the refs fixing this game for profit?" I'm not sure it is. This is really sad.
Bill Simmons, as always makes it interesting here.
If you want to see it for yourself, here goes!
9 comments:
wow. that's absolutely terrible
Oh come on.
You can't go back and start picking apart individual games. And if we are honest it's not like any national tv networks were cheering for the Spurs (because it would equate lower ratings), and so up through the finals the Spurs were never given the benefit of the doubt. So just because the announcer says something doesn't mean anything. For instance Bill Walton is known for his distain of San Antonio.
Even in the finals all the hype was around Lebron and the Cavs, even though everyone knew the Spurs would win.
Personally this is why I don't like basketball. Calls are extremely subjective. And then there is a unspoken acceptance of other broken rules, i.e. nobody gets called for walking.
Until absolutes are called we can't expect anything to change in the NBA.
anon, you apparently didn't see Game 3, nor did you read the article. I advice going back and doing both before posting things that have nothing to do with what i'm talking about.
I'm not saying Tim or any of the other refs were "rooting" for the Spurs to win the championship. Obviously since Tim has been busted for shaving points and fixing games for the a gambling ring, it would probably be a game by game basis, but has nothing to do with team prejudice. Seriously, Did you read this at all???
If you don't believe what the announcer is saying, then turn off the sound. The visual evidence speaks for itself. Phoenix got robbed.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-24-65/Phoenix-Got-the-Calls.html
so, does this counteract Game 3? I am sure it won't to Suns apologists.
that helps with the series in general but that certainly doesn't make up for Game 3! I'm not saying that the Suns would have won the series anyway. I'm mostly just frustrated because it makes you wonder, "what other refs are involved in this?" It just makes me wonder if I can watch a basketball game without wondering if the refs are getting paid off to beat the spread. Game three isn't the worst example of Donaghy, the Miami/New York game is the worst where New York was a four point underdog and Donaghy made dubious calls (which you can watch online) to make the Knicks win by six and made a bunch of people a ton of money. This is just so corrupt. I'm not meaning to complain about game three in general but the state of affairs in the NBA. And I also don't want to question the Spurs championship because obviously there was nothing set up for the Spurs to win, it isn't about a particular team, it's about the odds, no matter who the team is.
I don't think the league is telling us everything--even though they are characterizing it as an 'isolated case'. I don't have any concrete proof, but it is my gut feeling that David Stern knows a heck of a lot more than he is letting on. Give it a few more weeks--Donaghy is just the tip of the iceberg.
yeah, you're probably right.
I wonder if Donaghy's whole crew wasn't in on it. How could they possibly not know what Tim was doing? Especially the Heat/Knicks game. I imagine it is probably even bigger than that though. might be because i'm a little pessimistic about human nature however! who knows?
Well, that just goes with the territory (you are a pastor, right?). Consider the Donaghy incident fodder for a sermon. (If you don't, I bet someone else will).
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