How would Goodell have handled this situation??

[BPF]

Watching the C's and Stern was on at the half totally dismissing this report and stating that this former ref and his legal team are making up stories as sentencing gets closer. It's my strong belief that Goodell would have botched this thing up as well. I wish we had a strong commissioner like Stern during "spygate" and we wouldn't have endured all that went on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

 

[Disco Volante]

To be fair one reason this hasn't been as big a scandal is because the NBA doesn't get half the media attention the NFL does.

But I agree David, hell Howard Stern would have handled SpyGate better than Roger.

 

[Jackson 2]

Watching the C's and Stern was on at the half totally dismissing this report and stating that this former ref and his legal team are making up stories as sentencing gets closer. It's my strong belief that Goodell would have botched this thing up as well. I wish we had a strong commissioner like Stern during "spygate" and we wouldn't have endured all that went on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

You are, my friend, right on the money...

 

[Willie Andrews23]

My question is where is Specter on this one? Didn't he say that he wanted to be sure fans were watching sports played fairly...la la la?
Well, go get em Senator.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

My question is where is Specter on this one? Didn't he say that he wanted to be sure fans were watching sports played fairly...la la la?
Well, go get em Senator.

I wouldn't be so fast to give kudos to Stern on this one. Supposedly he unleashed this phase by demanding $1 million in restitution from Donaghy for the investigation into Donaghy's activities. Donaghy's lawyers' responded, "okay prove you spent $1 milion by showing us the results so we can see if you were investigating other officials and what the results were....."

 

[cblesz]

I have been waiting on a thread about this. Where the heck is the outrage? Where is Arlen Specter now? Is there an asterik next to the Laker 2002 championship? Hmmmm, I wonder.

Curious how Matt Walsh gets all kinds of credibility, yet nobody listens to Donaghy. Why aren't the Sacramento Kings asking for their championship ring as it was stolen from them?

Utterly ridiculous double standards.

 

[goz421]

Let me present this at a different angle. I'm an ex basketball player and a coach and happened to be disgusted by Stern. I have watched a lot of basketball and firmly believe Donaghy. The NBA is crooked on many levels. Same as the NFL. It is very easy for a knowing ref to swing momentum in a game same as the NFL. I never will forget how to refs tried to take the medias pumped up Steelers game from us n the first superbowl. I'm still amazed we won that one. Big money has ruined proffesional sports.

 

[BadMoFo]

I have been waiting on a thread about this. Where the heck is the outrage? Where is Arlen Specter now? Is there an asterik next to the Laker 2002 championship? Hmmmm, I wonder.

Curious how Matt Walsh gets all kinds of credibility, yet nobody listens to Donaghy. Why aren't the Sacramento Kings asking for their championship ring as it was stolen from them?

Utterly ridiculous double standards.

Matt Walsh has credibility. Maybe to Mike Fish, John Thomase, Arlen Specter and a few others. But for the most part, everyone thinks he's a joke.

 

[captain stone]

Why aren't the 2002 Sacramento Kings asking for their championship ring as it was stolen from them?

Or the 2000 Portland Trailblazers?

That the Fakers are this close to having as many titles as the Celtics sickens me.

Stern is trying to sweep all this under the rug by besmirching the credibility of his accusers; otherwise, what is known by some will be known by all: NBA zebras are clearly the most corrupt game officials in sports, even more than MLB umps.

 

[Rob0729]

Although I am not going to defend Goodell, I think Stern has handled the refereeing scandal horribly. The fact of the matter is that the refereeing in the NBA is horrible and biased and Stern is sweeping it under the rug without removing the air of doubt. The NBA is in serious danger of becoming the WWE.

Has anyone been watching this NBA playoffs this year. The refereeing has been scarily one-sided from game to game. One team will get fouls called against them for looking at the opposing player funny while the other team can molest the other team's players and not get a single penalty.

Personally, I hold a little more weight of what Tim Donaghy has said because you can see legitimate evidence to support his claims in virtually ever NBA playoff game. Every radio station you turn to, they are talking about the refs.

I think Stern has done the exact opposite as Goodell, but he is heading for just as big of a nightmare as Goodell had. It will be on a smaller scale since no one really cares about the NBA anymore. But the NBA's credibility is in serious danger of being completely shattered.

Too bad that Specter isn't a Sixers fan or maybe he would be a thorn in their side too.

 

[godef]

Watching the C's and Stern was on at the half totally dismissing this report and stating that this former ref and his legal team are making up stories as sentencing gets closer. It's my strong belief that Goodell would have botched this thing up as well. I wish we had a strong commissioner like Stern during "spygate" and we wouldn't have endured all that went on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

Give this time. If there is any truth to any of this, Stern will be falling flat on his face.

We've all seen evidence of this, hell, they talked on 'EEI all day long about how refs wink-wink their way through the playoffs, knowing when to lean on or lean away from particular teams. All the former ref is doing is saying there is far less wink-wink and much more actual collusion.

Truth or not, the accusations are far too explosive to sweep under the rug. And comparing Stern to Goodall is non-sensical: we hate Goodall for over reacting/reaching in the spygate thing, whereas the implications of this alleged NBA scandals potentially puts the commish himself on the stand.

 

[BelichickFan]

How about the media's handling of it :

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25087755/

"Timing of accusations seems like attempt to ruin NBA Finals"

Hmmm. That sounds awfully familiar. However it's not overwhelmed the media coverage like something did 4 months ago.

 

[dhamz]

It is remarkable how similar this and the Walsh SB walkthrough tape:

Timing is similar both done to disrupt the league's showcase event
Accuser is not credible in either case
Accusations long known to the league in both cases
Both leagues said they already had looked into the allegation

Where it differs is really only in the response on the commish.

Stern says none of this is a new allegation to us, we investigated when it came up a year ago, and why would we want to talk to a guy with no credibility about it after we already looked into it?

Goddell said we heard this back in September, looked into it, found nothing, but I'd love to talk this guy with no credibility.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

It is remarkable how similar this and the Walsh SB walkthrough tape:

Timing is similar both done to disrupt the league's showcase event
Accuser is not credible in either case
Accusations long known to the league in both cases
Both leagues said they already had looked into the allegation

Where it differs is really only in the response on the commish.

Stern says none of this is a new allegation to us, we investigated when it came up a year ago, and why would we want to talk to a guy with no credibility about it after we already looked into it?

Goddell said we heard this back in September, looked into it, found nothing, but I'd love to talk this guy with no credibility.

As far as the timing goes, this one may well be entirely the NBA's fault. Apparently, last week, they decided that they were entitled to $1 million in restitution from Donaghy for the costs of their investigation. Unfortunately (for whom is yet to be determined), as Lester Munson notes:

As a cooperating witness admitting guilt and showing contrition, Donaghy was well on his way to a reduced sentence. Then the NBA makes its demand for $1 million. If Donaghy cannot make restitution, his jail sentence could be extended.

So, effectively, this is a nice F.U. from Donaghy to the NBA for trying to put the screws to him--and, frankly, a far more effective one than Matt Walsh's attempts (assuming they were such).

 

[NEPatriot]

Goodell should not involve in this situation because he worked for Jets. It's conflict of interest.

 

[upstater1]

This article is even more disgusting.

Here's Adrian Wojnarski, a guy that KILLED Belichick, advising the NBA to just shut Donaghy up by not demanding damages.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-sternref061108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Essentially, Wojnarski thinks Donaghy's charges should be swept under the table.

What a hypocrite Wojnarski is.

 

[NEPatriot]

Cheating is one thing but fixing games is a SERIOUS matter. In 2002, Lakers had 70 free throws. Stern privatedly sued Tim 1 mil for investigation according to foxsport radio. Stern knows that Tim couldn't pay but he sued him any way because he wanted Tim to stay in prison for a long time. What an ashole.! Lucklily, Tim's attorney is not dummy.

 

[BradyManny]

Watching the C's and Stern was on at the half totally dismissing this report and stating that this former ref and his legal team are making up stories as sentencing gets closer. It's my strong belief that Goodell would have botched this thing up as well. I wish we had a strong commissioner like Stern during "spygate" and we wouldn't have endured all that went on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

Stern is an atrocious commissioner. He's allowed the game to be turned into this slow, plodding, candy-ass, call a foul every two seconds, flopping everywhere, call double technicals anytime two players argue, every time someone falls to the ground is a flagrant foul, fine everybody for anything, etc. type league. He's obsessed with the league's image, is against change, and has never accepted that a fair share of players in the NBA have certain roots and come from a certain background with a certain culture which he is afraid/ignorant of. Seriously, David Stern has gone a long way to ruin basketball, but thank goodness the sport is such a great one to begin with that even he can't f**k it up.

As for the Donaghy stuff - I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the game he referenced was a horrendously refereed game. Aside from that, I think there's certainly some truth to the idea that coaches and GMs go to the league and have them signal out players and certain infractions - without informing the opposing team of their intentions.

 

[dhamz]

Aside from that, I think there's certainly some truth to the idea that coaches and GMs go to the league and have them signal out players and certain infractions - without informing the opposing team of their intentions.

And that differs from every other sport in what way?

 

[signbabybrady]

Goodell would handle it just the way the public wanted.

He would fire the ref....

Then he would Susbend BB, fine the Pats, and take a pick away.