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Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felonies in Federal Court in Brooklyn this morning, admitting to charges of conspiracy to defraud the National Basketball Association and conspiracy to transmit bets and wages. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the first count, five on the second.
At this writing, we don't know how many others were involved in the conspiracy - NBA Commissioner David Stern characterized Donaghy as a rogue and asserted that no other officials are involved, but also concedes that this is an extremely serious threat to the integrity of the game. Interestingly, Stern also said that reviews of the games that Donaghy called showed nothing suspicious - which suggests just how easy it is to get away with it.
Gambling scandals in sports date back at least as far as the Black Sox of 1919 and there have been repeated instances of point shaving in college basketball, going back to the CCNY team that won both the NCAA and NIT championships in 1950.
And the fact is, that gambling and sports are joined at the hip, and when so much money is involved, there will always be questions. Bookies, both legal and illegal, have as much interest in an honest game as the various leagues and conferences, but the temptations are enormous... just a few weeks ago, a sudden surge of bets on a professional men's tennis player - the underdog - prompted an investigation after the favored player withdrew due to injury in the middle of the match.
The high - many might say ridiculously high - salaries paid to pro athletes are thought to have insulated the players - why take the risk when you're already earning millions? But mid-ranked tennis players and officials don't earn anywhere close to that kind of money.
Today we'll Talk with Alan Schwarz of the New York Times about the culture of gambling in sports, and the fall out from the Donaghy case - might this, for example, lead to more use of technology - instant replay - to reduce the influence of referees and umpires on the outcome?

1:07 - August 15, 2007

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