Now Stern Feels Betrayed?

I'll admit it, I got a lot of guilty pleasure watching David Stern stumble and fumble his way through that press conference. For years I've been watching that aloof little midget glib his way through interview after interview with that same smug, self-important look on his face It's always been the same, the reporters knowing nothing and Stern having all the answers. Time and again he would take the podium and act like everyone around him was over-reacting or that there was nothing to fear, because Stern was going to make everything OK again. I'd like to see that arrogant, Mussolini style pose now.

Let's review a few factoids and reports here. Tim Donaghy is currently being investigated by the FBI for illegal gambling and fixing basketball games over the last two years. The FBI investigation may include members of organized crime from whom Donaghy allegedly took orders from. During that time the NBA has warned him numerous times about problems in his personal life. Stern also insists they knew about the Federal investigation as much as five months ago. Ooooookay, quick question here Davy, if you knew he was fixing games, why let him continue? Stern contends he didn't want to hamper the investigation. I contend he's a moron.

Consider the following. One of his most senior referees was altering the outcomes of games both in the regular season and potentially the playoffs, had already been warned about off-court issues in his personal life and had been investigated by the NBA on allegations he was frequenting Vegas casinos even before the FBI supposedly told the NBA what they were doing. Even so, Stern allowed Donaghy to continue officiating into the post-season, including several pivotal games.

Donaghy was on the floor for the Raptors/Nets Game 6, where New Jersey won by 1 point, and were awarded more free throws, with Chris Bosh, Mo Peterson and Anthony Parker nearly fouling out for Toronto. A week later he at the Suns/Spurs Game 3, where over 60 free throws were awarded, 36 of them going to the Spurs. The previous game, which Phoenix won by twenty, saw only 35 free throws given out. In a series that was already suspect with Ginobli flopping like a soccer player and Bruce Bowen doing everything short of beating Steve Nash over the head with a chair, Stern let a man under Federal investigation on the floor in what everyone considered the Finals for that year.

To make matters worse, Sterns attempt to prop up the NBA's internal security only made him look worse. Boasting investigators that had worked for the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and Homeland Security, video review teams that look at every call and independent financial auditors Stern vowed this was an isolated case, one man slipping through the cracks. Thing is, even if Donaghy is the exception, which I doubt, the NBA still has egg on it's face. As stated earlier, Donaghy had been involved with incidents with his neighbors, been allegedly seen in Vegas casinos, been suspended from playoff games in 2006 and warned he was about to lose his job should he not straighten up. This man was red flagged for two years but somehow they missed a Federal crime? The man handed out more technical fouls( an even more potent tool these days with Stern making it easier to T up players) then any other ref but that didn't raise any concerns? He was allegedly betting tens of thousands of dollars on games but the much-hyped financial auditors couldn't figure it out? Even the Vegas sports books were starting to catch on that something was going on when Donaghy officiated games, but Stern insists he only recently found out.

This is, in my own small opinion, a flat out lie. Either Sterns teams are the biggest collections of Inspector Clouseaus in history or he was willing to ignore the problem. As the NBA's Commissioner it's his job to know what's going on, especially when it comes to the referees he's been almost violently defending for years as legitimate and un-biased. Yet even when he found out he let Donaghy hang around despite the fact the investigators were going back two years in their search for evidence and had informed Stern that low level mafia members were involved.

Despipte all this, Stern says Donaghy is alone, a "rogue official". Of course, that sounds plausible. Actually it doesn't, just ask Michael Franzese, a former member of the Colombo family in New York City. Franzese was on the Jim Rome Show earlier this week and admitted on air he had gotten refs to influence the outcome of basketball games during his days as the mobs top earner. The fact is officials who gamble on sports(in Donaghys case it is believed he fell into dept betting on football) will almost always do so with bookies to avoid prying eyes makes it all the more simple for the mob to put the fix in. Donaghy reportedly racked up tens of thousands of dollars in dept in NFL games and had to pay it back, one way or another.

To make matters worse for Stern, Donaghy has reportedly hired a lawyer who specializes in cutting deals based on information his clients posses, and in Donaghys case, it is supposedly names of other officials who have been fixing games. Receiving death threats in the mail, Donaghy is now under surveillance by the local Sheriffs Department. Stern obviously waited until the middle of summer to drop this into the medias lap hoping it would go away before the season started, but his ignorance(deliberate or not) to the whole story could lead to a crushing blow to the sport. TV ratings are down, fans are become more embittered each year and now their worst fears have been made reality. The games weren't on the level. They weren't called down the middle. The ref(refs?) really did have it in for their team. And like it or not, this problem begins and ends with David Sterns and his arrogance, and in this case fained obliviousness, to the one unforgivable crime in sports. An un-even playing field.