dogma
Premium
join:2002-08-15
Boulder City, NV
| The NBA is a fraud run by NIKE and...the Mob
said by Sports Illustrated--> »sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/b···dex.html :
Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was attacked in prison by a fellow inmate who claimed he had ties to the New York mob, a spokesman for Donaghy said Thursday.
"Verbally, there was a comment made that they were going to shoot him in the head and break his knee caps," Zaranek said.
While in prison, Donaghy has begun working on a tell-all book on "how he picked those winners 70 to 80 percent of the time and about the knowledge of the special relationships that exist between referees, players and coaches," Zaranek said.
"To understand his addiction, what transpired, you have to understand what led up to it during his 13 years in pro basketball and the whole culture of what he perceived as fraud and manipulation in the NBA," he said.
Kobe/Labron puppets and clearly biased playoff officiating aside, could this guy get whacked for what he knows? Especially if he names names.
I don't think it is at all out of line to question the integrity of the officials after the Donaghy scandal. The NBA's reputation as a fair and balanced league has been in question dating back to the Knicks & the NBA fixing draft lottery to land Patrick Ewing. |
|
tao
Chaos Impends
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Lansing, MI
 ·Comcast
| Hard to say what is happening here. I find it interesting that anyone got attacked at a minimum security prison, so this might be something of a publicity stunt.
I am not a fan of the NBA and do not watch games. In the past, I have watched games and concluded that the game is rigged by foul calls/non-foul calls. The traveling foul was routinely ignored to favor more dramatic dunking displays. So it did not surprise me that a ref was fixing games, since the league routinely did it as a marketing tool.
I find the college is much more fun to watch, but is not surprising that apparently someone took a SAT test for one, or more, players at Memphis, and amazing the coach knew nothing about it. Good luck at Kentucky, Calipari.
I am really a hockey fan, it is much more gritty and physically demanding than basketball. I have played both hockey and basketball and know which is harder.
--
I play darts: »www.triple20dartingsupplies.com | »www.adaoflansing.com
I support unions: »www.1099alldrivers.org www.1039atu.com
|
|
Rfsjr2
Shop on Top
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Ferndale, WA
clubs:
|  reply to dogma
said by dogma  : The NBA's reputation as a fair and balanced league has been in question dating back to the Knicks & the NBA fixing draft lottery to land Patrick Ewing. You lost me with that crap.
--
*Frank* Comcast HSI. D-Link DWL-G132 wireless 108G USB adapter connected to AirPlusXtremeG network. |
|
dogma
Premium
join:2002-08-15
Boulder City, NV
| said by Rfsjr2 :You lost me with that crap. I can be a NBA conspiracy theorist. But perhaps you are too young to remember "The Infamous 1985 Draft Lottery Scandal!" Here is the video showing David Stern reaching into the drum for the alleged "frozen envelope" and NY GM (at the time) Dave Debusschere showing a Ewing jersey already made up. Dog-eared set-up.
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TgJE7C5wiU
Pick it up at the 5:00 min mark.
Read the whole thing here: »books.google.com/books?id=qroMDg···PPA45,M1 |
|
alamarco
o.O
join:2003-06-18
Windsor, ON
clubs:
| reply to dogma
The worst is that announcers, in every game, you'll hear them say something along the lines of "Oh that's a shame, if he had Lebron's reputation he would of gotten that call".
Hell, one game last season the referee blew his whistle before any contact was even made. He just assumed there was going to be a foul and blew his whistle. It was ridiculous and both teams were confused.
Basketball is a great game, but if they want to become better they need consistent refereeing. Not star players getting the call and non-star players allowed to be pushed around. It really makes the league look stupid. |
|
tao
Chaos Impends
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Lansing, MI
·Comcast
| Hmmm, basketball is a team sport, somehow, someway, it is...
We are seeing the NBA effect in hockey with Gary Bettman trying to starify a team game. If only he could tweek the rules so that six players could play the entire game so the NHL could have stars like the NBA, then David Stern would have to respect him. |
|
sailor
Merry Whatever ..R.I.P. dadkins
Premium
join:2003-10-21
Long Island | reply to dogma
I've learned many years ago that when there is big big money involved in something, there will be fraud. |
|
Chillin
No i7, no care.
Premium
join:2002-04-22
Schwenksville, PA
| said by sailor :I've learned many years ago that when there is big big money involved in something, there will be fraud. This.
--
Graphic Disorder |
|
zaldy
join:2007-12-07
 ·OneSuite
| reply to dogma
said by dogma :said by Rfsjr2 :You lost me with that crap. I can be a NBA conspiracy theorist. But perhaps you are too young to remember "The Infamous 1985 Draft Lottery Scandal!" Here is the video showing David Stern reaching into the drum for the alleged "frozen envelope" and NY GM (at the time) Dave Debusschere showing a Ewing jersey already made up. Dog-eared set-up. (youtube clip) it up at the 5:00 min mark. Read the whole thing here: » books.google.com/books?id=qroMDg···PPA45,M1 Well..I can say the same thing with Lakers and Magic right now. For sure both team have some NBA Champions made out just in case they become a champion they got something to wear right away. You can't say a fraud because NY GM has an NY Jersey fir Ewing already made. |
|
tao
Chaos Impends
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Lansing, MI | I think the jersey is a minor coincident to the lottery, throw the tainted referees and you have, what do they call that in college, oh yeah, 'lack of institutional control'. The corruption starts at the top and taints the entire sport. |
|
pfqdrx
join:2002-11-23
Whitehall, PA | reply to dogma
The NBA will be a fraud until they re-instate rules 10.3 and 10.14, which is never. |
|
Eagles LoveR
Dawkins is a true Eagle
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Trenton, NJ | If they were Frauds they would have had a Kobe vs Lebron finals |
|
KeepOnRockin
Music Lover Forever
Premium
join:2002-11-08
Beaverton, OR
·Comcast
| said by Eagles LoveR :If they were Frauds they would have had a Kobe vs Lebron finals Indeed. The key to any fraud to to not let people suspect it to be so.
The Magic beat the Cavs soundly. If somehow Cleveland had won the series, I think the Lakers would have still won the championship. |
|
Eagles LoveR
Dawkins is a true Eagle
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Trenton, NJ
| said by KeepOnRockin :said by Eagles LoveR :If they were Frauds they would have had a Kobe vs Lebron finals Indeed. The key to any fraud to to not let people suspect it to be so. The Magic beat the Cavs soundly. If somehow Cleveland had won the series, I think the Lakers would have still won the championship. Yes, but the finals ratings would have been out the roof if it would have been Lebron vs Kobe... almost everyone would have watched that series.. The Lakers winning didn't give them sky rocket ratings... if it were the Lakers vs Cavs it would have been sky rocket ratings - which both of them weren't... the NBA did NOT get what they wanted
--
"I done wrassled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale, only Last week I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, hospitalized a brick, I'm so mean I make medicine sick!!"-Ali |
|
tao
Chaos Impends
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Lansing, MI
·Comcast
| Maybe the NBA did not get what they 'might' have wanted. However, as to that television deal, it was still a win considering it was Disneyworld versus Disneyland. So the parent company to ESPN (where nary a word was stated about the NHL, BTW) made out okay in park exposure.
Summer tie-ins to come later. |
|
dogma
Premium
join:2002-08-15
Boulder City, NV
| reply to Eagles LoveR
The larger problem as I see it is the NBA focuses its brand on celebrity first and not competition. Those stupid NIKE puppets are a testament to that.
Back in the 70's, after first competing with, then absorbing a more exciting ABA, the NBA finals were broadcast as tape delay after the late news. But the good thing was any franchise could win, including the smaller ones like Portland, Seattle, and Milwaukee. The NBA did a piss-poor job of marketing themselves.
Along comes Magic and Bird, not by design mind you. But the way that rivalry played out during the 80's, (and all of the underlying associations: White vs. Black, East coast vs. West coast, Hollywood vs. the "average joe", etc.) the NBA began seeing massive growth in their product.
Some of you may remember when an NBA games' point total averaged 225. Players would heave up shots with 14 seconds left on the 24 second clock. Very exciting.
Unfortunately, what happened was Stern confused great competition with celebrity worship. There is an entertainment market for celebrity worshipers, look no further than Paris Hilton. Many people are so dissatisfied with their own pathetic lives, they find some joy by identifying themselves with celebrity. But for a professional sports league, that road has diminishing returns.
This concentration on individuals, vs. team evolved into allowing preferential VIP treatment from the refs to such superstar players such as Bird, Jordan, Ewing, and a few others. (ever see Ewing get called for traveling? Jordan foul out of a game? Jordan push off?). Furthermore, the NBA got addicted to major TV markets...the 4 largest population centers [read: TV & merchandising markets]: NY-Boston-NJ-Philly, Houston/San Antonio, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Thus, since 1980, for the past 30 years, the NBA champion has come from these 4 population centers 25 out of 29 times. Almost 90% of the time. These are the facts.
It's like having 4 or 5 Harlem Globtrotter teams and 25 Washington Generals clubs. Between filling these handful of clubs with ringers, and referees who understand what side of the bread their butter is on, we get a virtually fixed league. One that effectively guarantees a predetermined outcome based on television market size, and has done so almost 90% of the time for the past 30 years. Vegas sports books love those odds.
Thus the NBA finals TV ratings are lackluster when compared to other sports entertainment products, especially the NFL and the NCAA Mens-B & Football. The NFL markets their brand with TEAMS first, competition second. So it really doesn't matter which teams play in the Superbowl, the viewership will remain the same. Almost 15 times more viewership than the NBA. The NCAA Basketball tournament has between 3 and 4 Times the viewership of the NBA playoffs and finals.
And guess what:
The five games on ABC between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic averaged an 8.4 rating. The second worst ratings since 1982. So mentally add a down line to the end of the graph above.
This I think proves my point. The NBA has made itself into a sham entertainment product that at the end of the day, only celebrity worshipers will want to watch it. If LaBron leaves Cleveland, for ...say...i dunno....NEW YORK, it will only hasten it's descent into the ranks of roller derby.
Someone tell the NBA that parity [not greed], is good. True sports fans live for competition. Guys that reside in their mothers basement live for Paris Hilton,... and the NBA. |
|
Rook008
Miles To Go
join:2002-02-05
Far Rockaway, NY | Nice post. |
|
sonofjay
Mission Accomplished - Bush May 1, 2003
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-14
North Attleboro, MA
·Vonage
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
1 edit | reply to dogma
dogma , just curious, where did you get the graphs?
edit: n/m found them at »tvbythenumbers.com
--
Mission Accomplished |
|
tao
Chaos Impends
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Lansing, MI
·Comcast
| reply to dogma
said by dogma :This I think proves my point. The NBA has made itself into a sham entertainment product that at the end of the day, only celebrity worshipers will want to watch it. If LaBron leaves Cleveland, for ...say...i dunno....NEW YORK, it will only hasten it's descent into the ranks of roller derby. Yes, very nice post.
I am old enough to have seen the Harlem Globetrotters play basketball. Oh, they are still around, but the tricky game they played was incorporated into the NBA over the decades of 1960 and 1970. Used to be the NBA was a team sport where the basketball was passed around to find the open man for a shot. Dunking was not allowed, in fact you could not touch the rim, nor have your hand inside the cylinder. The 'cylinder' was an imaginary circle made by extending the rim upwards. So basically, you had layups and a variety of jump or set shots. The Harlem Globetrotters could dunk, and did dunk, and did produce a very entertaining product that essentially was rigged for the Globetrotters to beat the Generals every time.
When the NBA started allowing dunking, it became clear that successful basketball players would need to be tall and the taller the better. Over the past 30 years, the NBA has moved from a team sport to a half court matchup sport.
--
I play darts: »www.triple20dartingsupplies.com | »www.adaoflansing.com
I support unions: »www.1099alldrivers.org www.1039atu.com
|
|
Solid_Snake
Snakeonia
Premium
join:2002-01-14
Fort Collins, CO
clubs:
| reply to pfqdrx
said by pfqdrx :The NBA will be a fraud until they re-instate rules 10.3 and 10.14, which is never. which are?
--
F=m*(dv/dt) |
|
