MLB Should Pay Close Attention to Donaghy
By Mike Silva ~ October 29th, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
The excerpts from Tim Donaghy’s book “Blowing the Whistle” appear to have nothing to do with Major League Baseball. Or does it?
Here are some of my favorite excerpts courtesy of Deadspin:
We had another variation of this gag simply referred to as the “first foul of the game” bet. While still in the locker room before tip-off, we would make a wager on which of us would call the game’s first foul. That referee would either have to pay the ball boy or pick up the dinner tab for the other two referees. Sometimes, the ante would be $50 a guy. Like the technical foul bet, it was hilarious-only this time we were testing each other’s nerves to see who had the guts to hold out the longest before calling a personal foul. There were occasions when we would hold back for two or three minutes-an eternity in an NBA game-before blowing the whistle. It didn’t matter if bodies were flying all over the place; no fouls were called because no one wanted to lose the bet.
You would think that the NBA would love a guy who plays such great defense. Think again! Star stoppers hurt the promotion of marquee players. Fans don’t pay high prices to see players like Raja Bell-they pay to see superstars like Kobe Bryant score 40 points. Basketball purists like to see good defense, but the NBA wants the big names to score big points.
Studying under Dick Bavetta for 13 years was like pursuing a graduate degree in advanced game manipulation. He knew how to marshal the tempo and tone of a game better than any referee in the league, by far. He also knew how to take subtle-and not so subtle-cues from the NBA front office and extend a playoff series or, worse yet, change the complexion of that series.
“If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that’s down in the series, nobody’s going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7,” Bavetta stated.
(Tommy) Nunez loved the Hispanic community in San Antonio and had a lot of friends there. He had been a referee for 30 years and loved being on the road; in fact, he said that the whole reason he had become a group supervisor was to keep getting out of the house. So Nunez wanted to come back to San Antonio for the conference finals. Plus, he, like many other referees, disliked Suns owner Robert Sarver for the way he treated officials. Both of these things came into play when he prepared the referees for the games in the staff meetings. I remember laughing with him and saying, “You would love to keep coming back here.” He was pointing out everything that Phoenix was able to get away with and never once told us to look for anything in regard to San Antonio. Nunez should have a championship ring on his finger.
Those excerpts are from the book that no one wants to publish. Of course David Stern and company will probably find a way to discredit the shamed former referee and come out smelling like roses. The NBA isn’t like MLB and they actually know how to run a business. The point is if NBA referees are prone to favoritism, lack of integrity, ego, and league mandates why not MLB? Are we to think that umpires have less of an ego than their NBA brethren? I think the answer is obvious.
We have seen strange things happen this season as seemingly innocuous calls have gone awry. The strike zone has become more style than substance and the egos of umpires are bigger than their waistlines. David Stern is going to investigate and take the proper course of action with this situation. I am confident the league will clean up any wrong doings, even the ones that may come from their own office. Do you have the same confidence in MLB?
The great things about sports is the purity of the outcome. We don’t know what is going to happen because it can’t be scripted by Hollywood. If it turns out that indeed we have been treated to another version of the Vince McMahon’s WWE in the form of the NBA, MLB, NFL, or NHL then what’s next? Will sports ever be the same? Will we have the same passion and desire to root for our team, spend disposable income, and waste countless hours that we can never recover? Maybe, but not definitely. How David Stern handles this is important because I guarantee you MLB is coming up next. You can just feel it after the postseason performance by MLB umpires. Somehow I see Bud Selig as more of an empty suit follower than a leader. That is why it’s so important for the NBA to nip this problem and turn it around right now. The integrity of our sports might be at stake.
