Originally Posted By DAR I'm sure many of you have heard of this. Referee Tim Donaghy was caught betting on games including those he officiated. Will this be a big blow to the league? Many people think some of the games are fixed to begin with.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper If it is one man...no, I don't think it will be a big blow. But, if it goes beyond him to other referees and players then all bets are off...so to speak. What is worse is that his family is now going to be threatened (he has 4 children) when they did nothing wrong. But, the mob is going to be after this guy to shut him up. He will be in witness protection before you know it...and that may not be good enough.
Originally Posted By SuperDry A couple of years ago, I saw Pete Rose signing autographs at the sports memorabilia store in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I wonder if he would have thought it funny if someone asked him, "Hey Mr. Rose, which way to the sports book?"
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I've been following it. I personally do not think the games are fixed overall but this is definitely not good. There's been a lot of controversy over the years about the placement of referees in playoff games, putting weaker teams of refs on a game the NBA office wants to go one way or another etc. I'm not sure I buy into all that. I personally think Stein is the best sports commissioner out there, it's going to be interesting to watch how he handles this.
Originally Posted By Mr X Anybody think it's true that when Jordan "retired" to play baseball, it was actually something the league forced him to do because of gambling issues? If so, I'd like to hear some elaboration (that never really made sense to me..."go away for 18 months, then come back", what would that solve?).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^ since that was news here 24 - 7 ( in Chicago) - yes that was looked at heavily. MJ had ( has ) a real love for gambling but it seemed more that the link trying to be established at that time was between his Dad and gambling ties ( and the circumstances around his death) - and I do think the league wanted to make sure it 'went away' for a while as their marquee star and drawing power certainly did not need to be dragged thru the mud. The quieted all the other MJ stuff - infidelity out the ying it seems ( now divorced ) - but the gambling issue could have been real trouble. So he went to pursue his 'passion' ( yeah I know he says golf is his passion) - baseball -- playing for the same guys - Reinsdorf - who owns the Bulls. I do believe this was one of the better cover jobs ever -- but I do believe the issue likely was more his Dad's betting - not Mj's - and the potential whispers of inside info as well as point spreads etc... many a Chicago sports writer took a lot of heat for trying to dig any deeper into the whole affair.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I was living in Chicago & NY during that era and I'd say you summed it up well. I have some friends in the NBA and that would be the stories I was told too.
Originally Posted By Mr X Interesting. Thanks. I wonder why he bothered to play baseball at all, just to keep his name "out there"? I hardly think that would have been necessary.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 According to this scenario, it wasn't to keep his name out there, it was to explain his sudden "retirement" from basketball, while still at the top of his game.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad I hear Pete Rose has no sense of humor at all. actually I have "met" him, well if you count a "hi Mr. Hustle" as meeting someone. But I was able to observe him for about 20 minutes, interacting with other "ordinary" people. I can't really speak to his sense of humor per se, but he had a very good dispositiion and a general sense of good nature among the common folk like myself. I never got the sense (in that brief 20 minutes out of his whole life) that he was anything but an all around nice guy. I will add that I am personlly biased in favor of Charlie Hustle, but I'll stop short of saying I think he should be in the Pro-Baseball Hall of Fame. I think, due to his past, that he has more fame, notoriety, and staying power among baseball fans BECAUSE of his chekcerd past, than in spite of it. As for the NBA, this is big. I hope it isn't any further than this one guy.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden There's a famous story about Pete and his infidelities back when he was with the Phillies. I believe he was still married to his first wife and was also dating an Eagles cheerleader. The Phillies were playing a day game at the Vet and Pete's wife was sitting in a section behind home plate. A plane was flying overhead carrying a banner with what amounted to some type of "code" about meeting when and where after the game. Apparently the girlfriend paid to have the banner flown over the stadium. Pete's wife came to realize the banner was meant for him. Pete comes up to bat and his wife runs down to the back-stop screaming at him, telling him she knows that plane is for him, etc. By this time Pete's at the plate, hunched over in his famous stance, looking at the pitcher but yelling back to his wife, "Bleep you", "Bleep you". And as Pete had done many times over his career, he got a base hit.
