Tim Donaghy To Appear On 60 Minutes

[fairweatherfan]

personally i was unaware that in their study of tapes of his games, the fbi ruled that his officiating did not affect the outcome of games he bet on.

let's say this is in fact the case. if he could pick winners with 80% success just by knowing who was officiating which players, and without putting his own 'stamp' on the course of the games himself, it says something pretty scary about nba officiating, doesn't it?

See, this is what I don't get - I'm assuming the 80% figure is his own, and I've read a lot of leaked passages from the book where he talks about "easy money".  But if he was such a great gambler, why the heck did he have to go tweak results for the mob (over-unders mostly I believe, not Ws and Ls)? 

I don't think a guy who was cleaning up betting on pre-existing ref tendencies would have any need to further risk his career and freedom by deliberately manipulating things himself.  I think quite a few of Donaghy's "sure things" fell through and his 80% figure and the general insinuation that he was making money because refs are so predictable is just a liar telling another lie.

[Fafnir]

personally i was unaware that in their study of tapes of his games, the fbi ruled that his officiating did not affect the outcome of games he bet on.

let's say this is in fact the case. if he could pick winners with 80% success just by knowing who was officiating which players, and without putting his own 'stamp' on the course of the games himself, it says something pretty scary about nba officiating, doesn't it?

See, this is what I don't get - I'm assuming the 80% figure is his own, and I've read a lot of leaked passages from the book where he talks about "easy money".  But if he was such a great gambler, why the heck did he have to go tweak results for the mob (over-unders mostly I believe, not Ws and Ls)? 

I don't think a guy who was cleaning up betting on pre-existing ref tendencies would have any need to further risk his career and freedom by deliberately manipulating things himself.  I think quite a few of Donaghy's "sure things" fell through and his 80% figure and the general insinuation that he was making money because refs are so predictable is just a liar telling another lie.

This article claims that the 80% claim is subsustainated by the FBI. (well that 60 minutes makes that claim)

He had a gambling problem, he gambled on things other than BBall I'm sure.

[jdpapa3]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

[Donoghus]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

Donaghy did say that which (despite what the FBI says), I find extremely hard to believe.  To be betting on a game that you're actively taking a role in and to not be influenced at all?  Seems far-fetched to me.  You're telling me that if you have $1,000 on the game and you have a chance to affect whether you win or not, you're going to stand still and do nothing?  Sure, they may not have been blatant, egregious calls but don't you think that, at some point, he did something?

[crownsy]

Love him or hate him, AI is spot on in that video.

Why does salvator care what the crowd thinks of him? This is my problem with a select few (and salv is one of them) officals, they think the game is about them and let the crowd influence them.

Just do your job NBA officials, and call the game. Don't worry about your "preformance" for the crowd. IF i know your name, it's a problem.

[RAcker]

Shouldn't he be afraid to talk if all of his claim of mob connections are true?  He seems to be chirping away like a little canary doesn't he?

[ssspence]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

Donaghy did say that which (despite what the FBI says), I find extremely hard to believe.  To be betting on a game that you're actively taking a role in and to not be influenced at all?  Seems far-fetched to me.  You're telling me that if you have $1,000 on the game and you have a chance to affect whether you win or not, you're going to stand still and do nothing?  Sure, they may not have been blatant, egregious calls but don't you think that, at some point, he did something?

i hear you, but he makes it clear he knew he had a very good gig going. the fact that he didn't need to step outside of the usual calls of the game kept him from getting caught to that point, or so he claims. the FBI backed this up saying they couldn't find evidence.

[Donoghus]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

Donaghy did say that which (despite what the FBI says), I find extremely hard to believe.  To be betting on a game that you're actively taking a role in and to not be influenced at all?  Seems far-fetched to me.  You're telling me that if you have $1,000 on the game and you have a chance to affect whether you win or not, you're going to stand still and do nothing?  Sure, they may not have been blatant, egregious calls but don't you think that, at some point, he did something?

i hear you, but he makes it clear he knew he had a very good gig going. the fact that he didn't need to step outside of the usual calls of the game kept him from getting caught to that point, or so he claims. the FBI backed this up saying they couldn't find evidence.

I'm just finding it hard to believe simply from a human nature standpoint.  That someone can exercise that much restraint (especially someone with sketchy makeup like Donaghy)and not have the fact that he had money riding on the game influence any aspect of the way he refereed things.

[Brickowski]

I find it strange that the FBI found no evidence that Donaghy made calls favorable to the teams he had picked.  What about non-calls?  Were those also evaluated?  And who did the evaluating? I hope it was experienced officials with no past or present ties to the NBA.

Also, it seems obvious that tapes of the 2002 playoff series between the Lakers and Kings never made it into the FBI's compilation. I believe that series was fixed.

[ssspence]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

Donaghy did say that which (despite what the FBI says), I find extremely hard to believe.  To be betting on a game that you're actively taking a role in and to not be influenced at all?  Seems far-fetched to me.  You're telling me that if you have $1,000 on the game and you have a chance to affect whether you win or not, you're going to stand still and do nothing?  Sure, they may not have been blatant, egregious calls but don't you think that, at some point, he did something?

i hear you, but he makes it clear he knew he had a very good gig going. the fact that he didn't need to step outside of the usual calls of the game kept him from getting caught to that point, or so he claims. the FBI backed this up saying they couldn't find evidence.

I'm just finding it hard to believe simply from a human nature standpoint.  That someone can exercise that much restraint (especially someone with sketchy makeup like Donaghy)and not have the fact that he had money riding on the game influence any aspect of the way he refereed things.

right, but i think the point is that he didn't HAVE to. he wasn't out making outrageous calls in games he bet on and reffed. the nba and its refs propogate preferencial treatment for players and teams. i don't think this is major news -- just scary to hear it become more or less certified by a government agency.

[Fafnir]

But didn't he claim that he didn't call the games differently when he was working them? It was tough for them to find evidence where he blatantly screws up calls to favor one team.

Donaghy did say that which (despite what the FBI says), I find extremely hard to believe.  To be betting on a game that you're actively taking a role in and to not be influenced at all?  Seems far-fetched to me.  You're telling me that if you have $1,000 on the game and you have a chance to affect whether you win or not, you're going to stand still and do nothing?  Sure, they may not have been blatant, egregious calls but don't you think that, at some point, he did something?

i hear you, but he makes it clear he knew he had a very good gig going. the fact that he didn't need to step outside of the usual calls of the game kept him from getting caught to that point, or so he claims. the FBI backed this up saying they couldn't find evidence.

I'm just finding it hard to believe simply from a human nature standpoint.  That someone can exercise that much restraint (especially someone with sketchy makeup like Donaghy)and not have the fact that he had money riding on the game influence any aspect of the way he refereed things.

I'm sure he did. They've found that refs end up favoring home teams slightly due to the crowd after all.

[fairweatherfan]

personally i was unaware that in their study of tapes of his games, the fbi ruled that his officiating did not affect the outcome of games he bet on.

let's say this is in fact the case. if he could pick winners with 80% success just by knowing who was officiating which players, and without putting his own 'stamp' on the course of the games himself, it says something pretty scary about nba officiating, doesn't it?

See, this is what I don't get - I'm assuming the 80% figure is his own, and I've read a lot of leaked passages from the book where he talks about "easy money".  But if he was such a great gambler, why the heck did he have to go tweak results for the mob (over-unders mostly I believe, not Ws and Ls)? 

I don't think a guy who was cleaning up betting on pre-existing ref tendencies would have any need to further risk his career and freedom by deliberately manipulating things himself.  I think quite a few of Donaghy's "sure things" fell through and his 80% figure and the general insinuation that he was making money because refs are so predictable is just a liar telling another lie.

This article claims that the 80% claim is subsustainated by the FBI. (well that 60 minutes makes that claim)

He had a gambling problem, he gambled on things other than BBall I'm sure.

Thanks for the info - TP.  Still strikes me as odd that he'd wind up in the predicament he did if he was so successful, but if it matches, it matches.

[jdpapa3]

Shouldn't he be afraid to talk if all of his claim of mob connections are true?  He seems to be chirping away like a little canary doesn't he?

Well, I'm pretty sure he threw them under the bus already when he cooperated to get a minimal sentence. So at this point it is probably best to go extremely public to call more attention to it. If he gets killed/dies suspiciously, the public will call for investigative scrutiny.

[RAcker]

Shouldn't he be afraid to talk if all of his claim of mob connections are true?  He seems to be chirping away like a little canary doesn't he?

Well, I'm pretty sure he threw them under the bus already when he cooperated to get a minimal sentence. So at this point it is probably best to go extremely public to call more attention to it. If he gets killed/dies suspiciously, the public will call for investigative scrutiny.

Would the fact that after you were murdered there was an investigation comfort you at all? It wouldn't me.

[KCattheStripe]

Shouldn't he be afraid to talk if all of his claim of mob connections are true?  He seems to be chirping away like a little canary doesn't he?

Well, I'm pretty sure he threw them under the bus already when he cooperated to get a minimal sentence. So at this point it is probably best to go extremely public to call more attention to it. If he gets killed/dies suspiciously, the public will call for investigative scrutiny.

Would the fact that after you were murdered there was an investigation comfort you at all? It wouldn't me.

I think the point was that the mob would be hesitant to kill him because they would be immediately implicated because of the media circus surrounding him.