Cheaters all

Normally, I try to believe in the best of sport. Sure I get angry at the TV when there are bad calls and go into depressions when BC loses a big game, but overall I love sport of (almost) all kinds. So I am very disturbed by the obscene amount of cheating I see and hear about across the board. It makes you doubt everything.

Everyone knows about baseball and steroids. Individuals pumping themselves full of drugs to try and get that tiny edge over their competitor (or in the case of Barry Bonds make a very gifted athlete into an unstoppable freak). Then there is the NFL & Spygate (whether or not there was any type of real advantage gained by the Pats from this tactic is a topic beyond the scope of this blog). Teams violating league policies trying to outsmart the other team, looking once again for that competitive edge.

Two of the biggest offenders of the "cheat" mentality are scholarship schools in the NCAA and the world of professional boxing. There are so many stories of schools skirting the rules that I wouldn't even know where to begin. (One little aside, if they could ever prove that USC knew about both Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo it seems to me this would be the best justification for a new "death penalty" since SMU. And killing both football and basketball not just one or the other.) And of course professional boxing is rife with stories of dirty judges and the mob paying fighters to throw fights. But most recently, it is steroids that have made their way into the boxing spotlight as well from James Toney getting stripped after testing positive after a title fight to Shane Mosley (one of the most exciting boxers of our times) getting accused of doping through the Conte investigation.

This brings me to the NBA. The above examples have all been about people (players, teams, schools, etc.) trying to gain an edge on their competition by having that secret something they don't have (Viagra, Roger?). But the story out of the NBA is much more disturbing. Tim Donaghy is accusing the NBA of encouraging officials to change the outcome of games to prevent star players from being ejected, to calling games to ensure a game 7, to thinking about TV ratings and ticket sales while doing their jobs. Of course David Stern has come out and said that this is preposterous, that the NBA would never do such a thing and you need to consider the source of the information (a convicted gambler and liar). David Stern's points are valid, but it makes you wonder.

I have made no secret of the disgrace that has become the NBA. The one-sided games that I have seen. The poor calls. The routine displays of favoritism to the stars. When announcers say things like, "If he had a few more years in the league then he might have gotten that call" (see Acie Law in the playoffs) and say it without anyone laughing or thinking its a joke - this is a problem. When you are listening to the post game analysis of Game 2 of the Finals and the commentators are saying, "The Lakers are going to get every call in Game 3" and "It would take a miracle for the Celtics to win Game 3 after the calls in this game" (which of course they lost 87-81) and once again being dead serious - something is wrong.

You should not be able to tell what the ref is going to do before the game even starts. Is it really that much of a leap to think that if the refs are going to try to "even it out", as many suggested would happen for the Lakers after the foul shot disparity in Game 2, then they could just as easily make calls to completely decide the outcome of the game. It's not that we believe that it isn't possible to do this (we all know it is), it's that we need to believe that these men and women have enough integrity and respect for the game to not do such a thing. But they change outcomes every night. Ask the Spurs about the non-foul when Barry makes a last second shot and literally has another player jump onto him with no call. Ask Acie Law or any rookie for that matter about what happens if they try to drive to the bucket and their name isn't Lebron James.

With all due respect to David Stern (not sure how much he deserves but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt), it's not a question of IF refs have fixed games it's more likely a question of how many. And if they could ever prove that Stern and his people actually told the refs how to call games or treat certain players then the NBA is in for a scandal beyond anything that Spygate could have brought. Good luck to you David, if more ex-refs start talking Donaghy's language your in a for a long summer.