F U, Tim Donaghy

“This is rigged,” I said to my couch bum friends, disgusted but merely joking after witnessing questionable calls and dubious administrative decisions throughout this year’s NBA playoffs.

Tim Donaghy

After a controversial call may have won the Miami Heat the title in ’06, I had the right to be skeptical. And this year’s playoffs didn’t do the league any more credit, either; the Suns were unnecessarily forced to play without Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in a Game Five that would decide the series and other dubious calls abounded (a ridiculous amount of flop calls and LeBron James’ three-point shot to tie Game Three of the Finals when he was clearly fouled, just to name a few).

Although I joked, I never actually thought the League was rigged. It was just a joke. Tongue-in-cheek. Not meant to be serious.

Oops.

With the recent development that NBA referee--now former NBA referee--Tim Donaghy was involved in an organized gambling ring, my worst nightmare had finally come true.

Although much is left to be discovered, it is suspected that Donaghy bet on games that he was officiating. It’s one thing to compromise a sport’s integrity in the first place; it’s a whole other thing to be betting on the very games that you’re officiating.

Now ubiquitous in the world of sports (let’s not let Michael Vick off of the hook just yet), the FBI is currently conducting its investigation into exactly what happened.

As NBA Commissioner David Stern suggested on Tuesday, Donaghy may just be a “rogue” who needed to cover his gambling debts and made a bad decision. But if it is revealed that there were other referees or even NBA officials involved in the scandal, then you better believe that the shit’s going to the fan. The possible ramifications are mind-blowing to the point that I don’t even want to think about it. And even if it is true that the Donaghy scandal was an isolated incident, the damage may already be done.

Because this isn’t the only incident. Donaghy might be the only one, or he might not be. Regardless, though, these kind of dysfunctional and concerning symptoms are not “rogue” to the League in recent years.

From the ugly brawl in Detroit to horrible calls in the playoffs to the controversy over the new dress code, Stern and the NBA have been tainting what I know to be the greatest game on earth.

I was outraged after Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for Game Five, a horrible decision that ruined one of the best playoff series in decades. And it’s not exactly pleasing to hear that an NBA referee was betting on the very games he was officiating. As a fan of the game, I can only cringe. More than any sport, the NBA features world-class athletes yet a mediocre product. It’s frustrating to watch on so many levels, and the Donaghy debacle may be the last straw for a lot of avid basketball fans like myself.

Because you know why? We’ve got something better.

It starts on October 15th around college campuses every year, a feeding frenzy and roller coaster of emotion and excitement that doesn’t end until the beginning of April. It takes its way from a tiny gym in Maui for a preseason invitational tournament to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the Final Four.

College basketball is what I’m talking about, and for years it’s dwarfed the NBA in importance on my radar. Sure, the best athletes in the world might be in the League, but I’m sick and tired of watching a slow, unexciting and now corrupt game.

As a basketball guy, it’s depressing to see all this happening with my favorite sport. But at least I have my escape while David Stern and all the bureaucratic higher-ups can sift through this mess.

As for me? I‘m trying to fight off the sweltering July heat, but March feels like its right around the corner.