As you've probably all heard by now, an NBA official is under investigation for betting on games and affecting their outcome.
This could be the death of the NBA, or it could be a rebirth. Either way, it is major, major news.
The last betting scandal of any major sports, the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, led to a marked decrease in attendance. This was a time when radio was first being used commercially and you didn't have a big fan base outside of the urban area, so revenue was driven entirely at the ballparks. The Black Sox nearly killed baseball until Babe Ruth arrived on the scene and became a one-man media sensation. Newsreels and radio broadcasts made the Babe the pivotal celebrity of the day. He, like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa a few years ago, generated enough interest in baseball to bring it back to life. We can call this the David Beckham principle.
The NBA does not have anything, or anyone, like Babe Ruth (or David Beckham for that matter) unless they can fund the creation of a time machine, go back to 1984, and bring that MJ to the present. If it comes out that Donaghy made a significant impact on a playoff series (and its looking like he had a lot to do with the Spurs/Suns Game 3 from this year), it is going to shake the fan base of the NBA to no end. I stopped watching NBA games when they moved the Hornets out of Charlotte, and I can't see any reason to start watching now.
Monday, July 23, 2007
On Tim Donaghy
1 comment:
The NBA has a perception problem in terms of officiating that has existed for years. I don't know if it predates Jordan, but superstars get the calls in the NBA more than in any other sport. Jordan, Stockton, Malone, Shaq, Kobe, Isiah, D-Wade, Lebron, they all get away with hand checks and positioning that Jobber McBenchwarmski fouls out on. ESPN.com's Bill Simmons made a lot of jokes about the rigged officiating in the 2006 Finals in his columns, to the point that he had to publicly back off of the comments (although he did make a good point that there are a lot of bad NBA officials who wilt under crowd pressure that can be utilized to the same ends as just outright telling a ref to blow calls or make cheap calls to one team's advantage). This story doesn't help things at all.
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