Comments (0)

By Art Vandalet, December 9, 2009 12:21 pm

Tim Donaghy made a mess. The NBA referee’s gambling addiction hurt a family, a career, and a reputation. Like Shoeless Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, and Ben Johnson, Donaghy’s infamy will be widespread and possibly long lasting in sports history.

The throwing of major sports games for personal gain troubles fans who, watching for entertainment, expect fair play. People don’t follow sports for the scandal, they watch for the talent. Donaghy violated the trust of NBA fans when, as an official, he bet on NBA games.

In his new book, “Personal Foul,” however, Donaghy claims the infamy for more than himself.

Donaghy claims that he didn’t fix any games because he didn’t have to. His argument is that he simply used his knowledge of NBA politics to guess at the outcomes of games. The insider knowledge of the relationships between and tendencies of the different coaches, players, and referees lead Donaghy to an unheard of 70-80 percent success rate.

Donaghy got in deep. He almost had his kneecaps broken at one point by a prisoner that may have been associated with the mob. By the time it was spiraling out of control, the mob, the FBI, the NBA, and federal prosecutors were involved.

The implications for the NBA are the biggest issue at hand though. If Donaghy’s claims are true, the NBA has a few problems to work out. This book reveals a serious fault in their credibility as a fair and straight forward organization. The assertion that NBA games do not unfold on a level playing field, is enough to make any fan indignant, if not angry.

Clearly, Donaghy shouldn’t have bet on anything associated with the NBA. But he did. The point he makes in his book is that the inner workings of the NBA made it easy. The assertion that NBA referees are not honest brokers has profound resonance and may lead to some changes in NBA policy and politics.

Comments (0)

By Sports Addict, September 16, 2009 10:01 am

Slamball is one of the latest and greatest sports that exists. It is absolutely a rush of adrenaline for all those that participate. It is a combination of basketball, hockey, football, and gymnastics. Yeah, I know, pretty freaking rad, huh?

Slamball was invented in 2001by Mason Gordon, a sports enthusiast who wanted to turn real life into a video game. He started off with a few investors and a couple of guys that loved the game of basketball, and boom, they had themselves a couple of teams and a new league.

The rules of the game are similar to fight club. There basically are no rules. You can pretty much drill each other at any time, unless someone is in the air headed to a trampoline, otherwise, you can let loose and pretend you are Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The players that play this game are absolutely insane. However, they are very, very skilled at what they do. Some of the acrobatic moves that they pull off will leave all in the audience on their feet. This truly is a sport for our day.

I have added a clip of some of the best highlights of Slamball from a few years ago.