way to break a story right before a long holiday weekend, dumbasses

drew46n2: way to break a story right before a long holiday weekend, dumbasses

Approves

FTA: "Battista claims he has the phone records to prove his contact with these 13 referees."

$100 says d-bag Joey Crawford is one of the contacts. Remember when he threw Tim Duncan out of a game against the Mavs for laughing on the bench?

13 NBA referees linked to Tim Donaghy gambling scandal

ALLEGEDLY, subby. Fwiw, I believe with every fiber of my being that not only were many NBA refs involved in organized crime, but also that edicts came down from NBA league offices themselves about which teams needed a bit of nudging in some games, but if you're going to take the word of a criminal, it might be wise to ask for some evidence first.

The source says Battista is making these claims as he works to finalize a tell-all book deal.

Ding ding ding. I have a feeling this is not going to be the last tell-all book about this, either. The NBA may have been able to quash Donaghy's book (for now), but they can't keep playing whack-a-mole forever.

With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.


i don't know if your being sarcastic or not, but I truly agree with this statement regardless.

Where is obvious tag?

As a seattelite I must say it's quite fun to watch the NBA crumble. That smug cocksucker david stern has had this coming for a while now and I'm going to enjoy it.

Basketball is the easiest of the major sports to fix. I happen to believe this guy. Marc Cuban was right when he told Stern "Your league is fixed."

I really want to enjoy basketball. This sucks. We should clean house and bring in some high school refs.

rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?

Mouthoy: rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?


A nickname like that is just shear luck.

drew46n2: Mouthoy: rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?


A nickname like that is just shear luck.

Oh god, that joke was baaaaaaaaaaaad. Ewe should be ashamed.

Disapproves:

drew46n2: Mouthoy: rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?

A nickname like that is just shear luck.

Of all the possible comments, ewe had to go with that one?

Treygreen13: drew46n2: Mouthoy: rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?


A nickname like that is just shear luck.

Oh god, that joke was baaaaaaaaaaaad. Ewe should be ashamed.

[shakes fist at Treygreen13]

Why Would I Read the Article: if you're going to take the word of a criminal, it might be wise to ask for some evidence first

Watching games that were obviously fixed doesn't count? Pretty sure I saw a few.

Treygreen13: drew46n2: Mouthoy: rcantley: With a name like Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, you know this is a reliable source.

Seriously. How to you get a nickname like "The Sheep?" Push back when farked by shepherd?


A nickname like that is just shear luck.

Oh god, that joke was baaaaaaaaaaaad. Ewe should be ashamed.


I know...oh well. I thought this bookie was still on the lamb...

I quit watching Basketball back when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were playing.

Being a Lakers fan, I can't help but feel that the finals were nearly always rigged for the the Celtics.

bukketmaster: Why Would I Read the Article: if you're going to take the word of a criminal, it might be wise to ask for some evidence first

Watching games that were obviously fixed doesn't count? Pretty sure I saw a few.


like the obvious foul on Brent Barry at the end of game 3 in the 2008 Western Conference Finals. D-Fish jumps into Barry at the 3 point line, during the shot, no whisle. Barry misses, buzzer sounds, Spurs lose.

The replay has...oh, my, Joey Crawford...right there on top of the no-call. Link (new window)

Just a handful of bad apples. A few lone actors. Nothing to see here.

Well, if this turns out to be true the NBA will be ruined. Not sure if that's good or bad.

drew46n2: FTA: "Battista claims he has the phone records to prove his contact with these 13 referees."

$100 says d-bag Joey Crawford is one of the contacts. Remember when he threw Tim Duncan out of a game against the Mavs for laughing on the bench?

Duncan gives that "what me" look every time he gets a foul called on him. Combine that with the amount of times he whines for a foul on the offensive end, and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

Dumbass tag trumps obvious tag? Dumbass.

Contrabulous Flabtraption: Well, if this turns out to be true the NBA will be ruined. Not sure if that's good or bad.


there's still too much money involved. They'll have a big monkey-trial and some house cleaning, be down for a few years, and be back.

It's been obvious for years that referees favor certain teams and players, but that hasn't stopped most fans, including myself.

David Stern: "Pay no attention! Nothing to see here! The game is perfect!"

*Ring*

DS: "Yes, Mr. James? Yes, sir. More fouls coming up! Um, wouldn't it help if you had a better team? Wouldn't it seem obvious if you win a title with the bums you have around you? I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Mr. James! It was a momentary lapse on my part. I promise extra special head when you get back to New York. Thank you for your forgiveness. Yes, sir. Jordan sucks compared to you."

Doogled: I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.


A player being ejected from a game for laughing? WHILE SITTING ON THE BENCH?

right...I know it was painful watching the Spurs dominate your team, whoever they are, so brutally over the last 11 years, but come on, dude was on the bench.

Only confirming what those of us who (used to) watch pro basketball already knew.

/used to watch the NBA

Bonanza Jellybean: Only confirming what those of us who (used to) watch pro basketball already knew.

/used to watch the NBA

+1

tag would have been much better.

Lost Thought 00: Just a handful of bad apples. A few lone actors. Nothing to see here.

The Mavericks, Suns and Kings might not think so.

Any sport with Jordan Rules probably isn't entirely on the up and up.

drew46n2: Doogled: I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.


A player being ejected from a game for laughing? WHILE SITTING ON THE BENCH?

Again, if you constantly criticize the way a man does his job, don't be surprised if he holds a grudge. Nice job of accusing me of holding a grudge since I put some blame on Duncan. I'm seeing a trend developing...

Anyways, that still isn't even close to the worst foul I've seen in the past few years. During last season's Georgetown-Duke game, a ref with his back to the benches turned around and awarded Greg Monroe, who was on the bench, a technical (I believe it was his 4th foul). What was wrong with that? Well, Monroe had his mouth shut during the time leading up to the technical.

Doogled: Nice job of accusing me of holding a grudge since I put some blame on Duncan


I know, because if anyone in the league needs to be reigned in it's Tim Duncan. He's one bad game away from heading into the stands and swinging on someone.

Here's the part that doesn't make sense: If there were that many refs involved, A) The NBA would have gotten their names at some point, and 2) Some of them would have likely been some of the "old guard" refs like Crawford, Javie, Bavetta, etc. I mean there are only so many NBA refs (around 60 it looks like), it would just seem unlikely that it would all be younger, lesser known refs, especially considering who was involved in the plane ticket thing a few years back.

So assuming the NBA wanted to keep this quiet to avoid having a complete meltdown of their league, they wouldn't have fired any of the other refs involved in this, but nevertheless they would have wanted to get rid of them as well. Promise them a nice severance to keep quiet, tell them they're going to announce their "retirement", and phase them out slowly over several years. We would have surely seen some kind of sign of this by now.

Was Donaghy a "lone wolf" bad ref in the league? Maybe not. Was over 20% of the refs that dirty? I find that hard to believe. It's damn hard to keep secrets in this day and age, something else would have found it's way to the surface by now.

jayhawk88: Promise them a nice severance to keep quiet, tell them they're going to announce their "retirement", and phase them out slowly over several years. We would have surely seen some kind of sign of this by now.


I thought the NBA allowed its gamblers to come back after two years of "retirement".

jayhawk88: So assuming the NBA wanted to keep this quiet to avoid having a complete meltdown of their league, they wouldn't have fired any of the other refs involved in this, but nevertheless they would have wanted to get rid of them as well. Promise them a nice severance to keep quiet, tell them they're going to announce their "retirement", and phase them out slowly over several years. We would have surely seen some kind of sign of this by now.

They may have been trying something like this in the contract dispute over the summer.

Severance. Under previous deals, any referee who was 55 or older who retired or resigned was entitled to a generous payout. The league wants to eliminate that benefit for referees with fewer than 10 years' experience and all new hires, while reducing the payout for everyone else. In their latest proposals, the N.B.A. agreed to delay that change for one year, which would allow referees to take advantage of the more generous terms if they retired after this season. This is apparently the provision that McMorris views as an attempt to purge older referees.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/sports/basketball/18nba.html (may or may not click, Fark doesn't like NYT links)

drew46n2: I know, because if anyone in the league needs to be reigned in it's Tim Duncan. He's one bad game away from heading into the stands and swinging on someone.

Look, there isn't a bigger prima donna in the league than Timmah. If he went on the court with a machete and chopped an arm off of Eric Dampier, and the ref whistled him for a foul, he'd turn around with that "You gotta be kidding me" look, while wiping the blood off the blade.

I'm not saying that infamous bench foul was right, and yes Crawford obviously has a grudge against Timmah and the Spurs, but if I was a ref and had to listen to his act for 48 minutes night after night, I'd probably have a hair trigger for any shenanigans he was pulling too, real or imagined.

PowerSlacker: I thought the NBA allowed its gamblers to come back after two years of "retirement".

Only if they can put up 30+ a game.

I'm pretty sure they're still fixing games. They can't be as bad in reality as their calls/non-calls would suggest.

maybe they can

JohnBigBootay: As a seattelite I must say it's quite fun to watch the NBA crumble.

Wow, you're posting this from orbit?

When is someone gonna turn in a few NFL officials?

jayhawk88: So assuming the NBA wanted to keep this quiet to avoid having a complete meltdown of their league, they wouldn't have fired any of the other refs involved in this, but nevertheless they would have wanted to get rid of them as well.

Did you miss the part where they planned the calls out so that certain teams/superstars/NBA lead stories wouldn't be eliminated?

jayhawk88: Was Donaghy a "lone wolf" bad ref in the league? Maybe not. Was over 20% of the refs that dirty? I find that hard to believe. It's damn hard to keep secrets in this day and age, something else would have found it's way to the surface by now.


You're an NBA fan, what else would an NBA fan believe?

woops, bolded the wrong part, should have been
but nevertheless they would have wanted to get rid of them as well

with the answer that they were doing the NBA's bidding by and large

2wolves: Any sport with Jordan Rules probably isn't entirely on the up and up.

Jordan Rules

?

cot: 2wolves: Any sport with Jordan Rules probably isn't entirely on the up and up.

Jordan Rules

?

haha! also, people talk about the "Brady rule". i really believe since you can see an NBA's players face so clearly, that's why people claim "STAR TREATMENT!!"

plus, as a Laker's fan, i laugh at this because Kobe's always had a crap load of Technicals.

/thinks most refs are human and screw up

oops Lakers'

drew46n2: like the obvious foul on Brent Barry at the end of game 3 in the 2008 Western Conference Finals. D-Fish jumps into Barry at the 3 point line, during the shot, no whisle. Barry misses, buzzer sounds, Spurs lose.

You mean where Barry traveled?

Oh, but keep harping on "the refs are against us", you ungrateful bastard. BTW, at least from the Donaghy excerpts, it seems Crawford, the guy that is "mean to the Spurs" is one of very few that wasn't tagged as a company man (though he may be personally biased).

Dick Bavetta plays to the home crowd more than Frank Drebin did during the game when Reggie Jackson tried to kill the Queen.

/Enrico Palazzo!