Every one of us has a vice. An NBA ref let his get out of control, and it got the best of him. And it might take the NBA years to gain the public's trust back after this one. But until we acknowledge that point shaving, mob ties and game fixing are not the real issue here, that someone's gambling addiction is, this ugliness will rear its ugly head again. Just the next time, none of us can act like we didn't see it coming. - Scoop Jackson, ESPN Page 2
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But if Stern wants to get serious about stopping organized crime from ever again rubbing dirty fingerprints on his tournament bracket, then the NBA needs to grow up and realize that sports gambling is not going away. The lone effective way to pry betting from the hands of crooks is to make betting legal far beyond Las Vegas, in cities across the nation, so our nationwide jones for action can be regulated, policed and taxed. - Mark Keszla, Denver Post
More Donaghy Scandal News
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Donaghy's actions were wrong. Terribly wrong. Criminally wrong. No one is saying that if convicted, he doesn't deserve every type of punishment he gets from the legal system, because he does.
What he doesn't deserve, however, is to be the face of sports betting, just like late St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock doesn't deserve to be the face of beer drinking. Hancock was killed in a car crash three months ago and was found to be excessively intoxicated at the time.
The 40-year-old wasn't making legal bets in Las Vegas casinos but rather was getting action from allegedly mobbed-up bookies. He then fell into such debt that bookies approached him about altering the outcomes of certain games.
This wasn't responsible gambling. This wasn't even irresponsible gambling. This was one horrendous decision, followed by another, followed by another and another and another. This was a crime. To lump in Donaghy with adults who choose to legally wager on sports, horses or anything else is to miss the point. -Sam Borden, Jacksonville Times-Union
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Every time there's a bad call now - in any sport - even fair-minded people will have Tim Donaghy's name flash through their minds. If the call is bad enough, reason and fair-mindedness could give way to wild accusations and assumptions. Except, well, can you think of anything now that's too wild to consider?
The next time Shaquille O'Neal gets three fouls in the first five minutes, was that a mob guy out there blowing the whistle? If there is a phantom holding penalty that nullifies a potential game-winning touchdown for the Bucs, will your favorite sports talk radio host scream the game had to be fixed?
If an umpire's strike zone shrinks during the baseball playoffs or he calls someone out when they should be safe, will it flash through your mind that he's just trying to keep Tony Soprano from cracking his thumbs? - Joe Henderson, Tampa Tribune
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Timothy Donaghy had something of a split personality, says his former neighbor and golfing buddy, and neither one was very becoming of a Catholic boy.
One minute, he was merely "out of control," frequently calling the police over neighborhood disputes, the next he was a "flaming maniac," threatening bodily harm to the guy who built his house, said Kit Anstey, a West Chester real estate agent who lived down the street from the embattled onetime NBA referee. -William Bender, Philadelphia Daily News
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So it's assumed the folks who get into trouble with the law – like Donaghy, a smaller fish in a U.S. federal investigation of organized crime, who hasn't actually been convicted of a crime – are the unlucky ones. And it's naïve to think the outcome of an NBA game has never, before Donaghy, been compromised by a participant with an eye on a betting line. Jack Molinas of the Fort Wayne Pistons was banned from the NBA more than a half-century ago for his involvement in game fixing. And today's observers of sports see too many inexplicable plays at game's end not to wonder aloud about whether everyone's on the up and up.
Finding proof's the tricky thing. So Donaghy's is a rare case that will likely only illustrate how easy it is to earn large sums of money with the power of a whistle. The truth is, many athletes and coaches are possessed of similar powers of influence over any given game. - Dave Feschuck, Toronto Star
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While the FBI continues its investigation into Tim Donaghy's betting habits, specifically whether the veteran referee gambled on NBA games and shared information with others for the purpose of improving their odds, Stern should respond with a forceful, symbolic gesture. Strike at the heart of the matter, at the very mecca of gaming. Divorce his league from Las Vegas, placing an immediate chill on what has become an increasingly warm, cozy relationship.
No more exhibition games. No more Olympic-qualifying tournaments. No more summer-league competitions. No more selling franchises to casino owners -- the Maloofs and other owners with existing casino ties are exempt -- and absolutely no more conversations with Mayor Oscar Goodman about the possibility of locating a franchise in southern Nevada. - Ailene Voisin, Sacramento Bee
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Referees were the enemy long before this Tim Donaghy scandal. You can watch an NBA game featuring one star accused of sexual assault versus another star who once started a brawl, and only encounter outrage when an official makes a call.
"You're horrible!" fans might shout.
To the ref, not the accused sex offender.
At the same time, the Donaghy scandal has humanized referees in a most unappealing manner. If they are capable of getting mixed up with the mob, couldn't they come to the game unnecessarily cranky because of an argument at home? Couldn't they have vendettas against players or coaches? Couldn't they miss a call while ogling someone in the stands? - Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times
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Then we have the other possible reality, the one that Stern will deny until the day it may become established fact. In this broader pratfall from Eden, Donaghy is just part of a large gambling nexus that has entangled several referees in recent years. And if this is true, then the whole league blows up around Stern. Everything he has built comes tumbling down. Nobody will ever want to talk to him about his salary cap again. - Filip Bondy, NY Daily News
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As much as the NBA diligently tries to watch for illegal activity, it turns out the league may not be looking in all the right places. The NBA's in-house security team takes great pains, Stern said, to monitor legal sports books in Vegas and remain in constant contact with federal agencies like the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency. But Stern gave no indication yesterday that the NBA independently goes the extra mile to monitor the billion dollar world of illegal gambling - where 95 percent of sports action takes place - in the same way the NFL claims it does by using an extensive network of sources the NFL has cultivated on its own. That's relevant because Donaghy reportedly placed his bets with illegal bookies. -Johnette Howard, Newsday