I was about to link to this as well. So who do we think it was? Someone who was refereeing the Dallas-Miami finals and had money on Wade as series MVP?
Finally some justice for the Piston and the Suns. I knew it was too easy for the Spurs and the Cavs to get to the Finals.
This is what I have been saying for a while. It would just be too easy to affect the spread and not the win-loss outcome. No fans really care if their team is up six and only end up winning by 3, as long as they get the win (excluding Low). And it can be subtle. The ref doesn't have to do anything too obvious to make it happen, as long as he makes it happen more times than not. Now which ref was it?
Exactly. Especially at the end of games when things are in the bag. How bout call a few fouls that some refs would let go and then add to the spread with free throws.
It's like I've always said...these guys are either crooked or incompetent with some of the calls we see. ...Looks like crooked is a 2-1 favorite
Comon, Tay, leave Low alone. He has enough to worry about as it is. Now, on the other hand I'd love to know who that ref was. This is interesting stuff indeed. We've always talked about NBA conspiracies, and here may be a proof of something.
We will know soon enough. Stern cannot keep this one quiet. This is going to be a public relations nightmare for him. Yep, there is a silver lining in every cloud.
I think that this will turn out to be one man with a gambling problem and mob ties. We are not going to discover any hidden back-room where NBA referees are conniving up fixing schemes. However, I do agree that is very very bad for the NBA, and as soon as the official is identified, the flood waters are going to come pouring through the gates, any game that this guy has reffed in the last 5 years (or ever) is going to come under scrutiny, and teams are going to cry foul, especially if this happened with a playoffs ref. And what if the Pistons might have been affected? I know that speculating is evil when someone's reputation is on the line, but wouldn't Bennet Salvatore (spelling?) easily appeal to the typical stereotype of the vet ref with a gambling problem and mob ties (he is Italian, right?)
For the sake of the league I hope that's right. One guy, in money trouble, with some heavies leaning over his shoulder might be so idiosyncratic that the league could ride out the furor. And if the Spurs end up with another championship with an asterisk beside it, what the hey, they've already got one of those anyway. But, if max is right, and it is the tip of the iceberg, then it will take years for the league to recover. Hard to imagine there aren't lawyers right now poring over the fine print on those new TV deals looking for all the out clauses that you know are in there. An update to the article says that there will be an arrest next week.
So this potentially distorts the stats on whether Flip or LB had the higher point spread with the Pistons.
This is what a lot of the talk-radio types are saying: Mob ties. I hope that's all it is. That might mitigate the damage for Stern. Still, I would have loved to have seen the look on Davey's face this morning or whenever he found out.
Something here ain't right. I read somewhere that the ref was into the bookies for $50k. I'm pretty sure most refs pull down over $100k a year, some much more. $50k is a lot of money when you make $35k or $40k a year. But when you make over $100k, that kind of debt can be easily erased by a more legal debt.
Primarily, that's why I think this mob ties things is spin to keep the other refs who haven't been caught from participating. That's like saying MJ never gambled with any of his teammates, just because he was the only one who was made public. Mob ties? what is this the 50's?
