You've been duped.

[kgiessler]

Greetings Celticsbloggers:

Last season and in previous years I was a pretty big Celtics fan and a regular here, but over time I've shied away from the NBA.  I catch a game here and there, but it isn't the focus it once was for me where I have to watch every game in full.

The thing that made me abandon my habits was the poor refereeing.  At some point in time I proposed a conjecture that I could not get over.  It went something like this: 

If the NBA has the resources to solve problems with its officiating, and they are aware of problems with their officiating, the only reason those problems continue to exist is because they choose to let them.  And the only motivations that would cause them to choose to let them exist are nefarious.

Part of this requires an understanding of the magnitude of the finances of these games.  Millions, and even tens of millions of dollars, are represented by individual games.  Expenses on the order of tens of thousands per game and on the order of millions for capital investments are more than reasonable if the league had an interest in maintaining the integrity of the sport.

Unfortunately they don't.  Even to new fans, inconsistencies in officiating are more than apparent.  To seasoned fans they are frustrations that overshadow every game.  To the die hards, they become a flaw that is accepted as part of the game and overlooked, sometimes being justified that it all equals out in the end. 

But they aren't part of the game.  It is an artificial inclusion the NBA interjects for whatever reason. And that I cannot accept.  I was duped, you've been duped, and we all continue to be duped.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened last night.  Unfortunately, the only solution that exists is to turn the game off if you don't want to be subjected to the intelligence-insulting officiating the NBA provides to you each game.  It was tough for me to get myself to do it, but it is significantly better than being a frustrated fan who invests myself emotionally and wastes my time watching a game whose outcomes are phony. 

I still visit celtisblog regularly and enjoy the level of discussion that occurs here.  In many ways, that is almost better than the game.

[Prof. Clutch]

Welcome back kglessler, I haven't seen your name here in quite a while.  You should stick around with us, I'm sorry you came back when things are on a negative note.

It's gonna get back to a positive again real soon though!

[Lucky17]

I've had similar passing thoughts about the league as well, k. I don't think I've reached the level of frustration you have, but I wonder if I soon will.

This article was published yesterday morning, BTW, and speaks to your fundamental conjecture:

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/short-playoff-series-and-the-salary-cap/?ref=basketball

Ironically, it's my belief in Stern's desire for money that buoys my hopes of a Celtic return to the Finals, since the league will make much more money with a large-market team like Boston participating than it would with Orlando.

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, my prayer is that one day - one of these refs will call something against one of the League's Pampered Stars - Kobe, Wade, or Lebron - and it will be on a National Stage and have so much attention on it that it would cause Congress to want to get involved.

Congress already dragged the NFL and MLB before their halls, correct? It is only a matter of time before it happens to the NBA.

[Mr October]

And sadly, entities like ESPN would never ever conjecture that there is anything crooked going on. They have too much money at stake. 

Money corrupts.

[Q_FBE]

I did myself justice and walked away from the tavern TV at the 8 minute mark of the 4th qtr. It was a thoroughly horrible game to watch. The Celtics actually did a good job considering the circumstances and I still feel very good about closing out tomorrow night. I just need to find a luckier bar.

[Frezz]

People say "If you know the games are predetermined why do you even watch!?". And if only it were that easy. I love the Celtics too much. But at the same time, I really do want to just walk away. That's what's so evil about this whole thing. David Stern knows that we know. But he also knows we're not going anywhere.

[kgiessler]

Welcome back kglessler, I haven't seen your name here in quite a while.  You should stick around with us, I'm sorry you came back when things are on a negative note.

It's gonna get back to a positive again real soon though!

Thanks for the sentiments.  I am here nearly every day, but I hardly ever post.  I am going to get back into the habit of it I think.

Ironically, it's my belief in Stern's desire for money that buoys my hopes of a Celtic return to the Finals, since the league will make much more money with a large-market team like Boston participating than it would with Orlando.

And that to me is problematic.  If the Celtics make it to the finals, I don't want it to be due to some external influence.  It's probably worse to know they got there from corruption than to know that they weren't able to.

People say "If you know the games are predetermined why do you even watch!?". And if only it were that easy. I love the Celtics too much. But at the same time, I really do want to just walk away. That's what's so evil about this whole thing. David Stern knows that we know. But he also knows we're not going anywhere.

And of course that is the other side of the coin. Over the past few days, many people here are saying the NBA is turning into the WWE.  I just think its time people start recognizing that it already has.  You seem as if you understand that and your OK with that.  I was just under the assumption that most fans are not OK with it.

For me it is an issue of integrity.  I can't support an industry that is falsifying their product.

[kevbo]

Ah cathartic thread for me. My experience parallels that of the OP, and the murky inconsistency of the reffing more often than not overshadows my ability to enjoy the games. I have at points tried to eschew the NBA entirely, but I love basketball too much and its almost impossible at this point for me to not check Celticsblog every time I open a browser, something I started doing in 2002-3 (though I rarely post). Lately, I've expressly tried not to care. To view the games a spectacle and entertainment, a diversion having no bearing on my life or well-being. But that of course, runs counter to the experience and state of fandom, and trying to watch basketball this way seems almost like trying to suffocate my love for it. Which proves impossible for me to do ultimately.

So where does that leave me? In this bind where the game I love to watch is degraded under the stewardship of a regime that either blatantly disregards the alienating effects of poor officiating, refuses to think of creative means to address it, or worst of all, perhaps has fiscal incentives to engender such game management.

Last point I'll make here is that for those who think talk of such series-extending referee schemes are for quacks and paranoid fans, I have no real retort. But I can also point to a growing body of academic literature chronicling bias in officiating, and to this topic, interested parties should consult the paper published in December 2009 by economists John Price, Marc Remer, & Daniel Stone titled "Sub-Perfect Game: Profitable Biases of NBA referees."

[Birdbrain]

People say "If you know the games are predetermined why do you even watch!?". And if only it were that easy. I love the Celtics too much. But at the same time, I really do want to just walk away. That's what's so evil about this whole thing. David Stern knows that we know. But he also knows we're not going anywhere.

TP for encapsulating my feelings.

[liam]

TP

For this thread. I'm just about to walk away. I can't take it any more. It just gets worse and worse.