Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil
Donaghy plead guilty, betting on games he himself was refereeing.
Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007[5] before reports of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegations that he bet on games that he officiated during his last two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games.[6] On August 15, 2007, Donaghy plead guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. However, he could face more charges at the state level if it is determined that he deliberately miscalled individual games. Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on July 29, 2008.[7] He served 11 months in a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida to spend the remainder of his sentence in a halfway house,[8][9] but was sent back to jail in August for violating his release terms. He was released on November 4, 2009 after serving out his sentence. |
Rather than using that as evidence of a conspiracy theory, it's actually evidence that the opposite is the far more likely scenario, that generally the league's we watch, high-end amateur and professional, are likely run as cleanly as humanly possible.
The above incident was severely damaging to the credibility of the NBA . . . . . and shows the damage even a single incident can do to the trust relationship a professional or high-end amateur league has with the only people that make it viable, the common fan.
Professional league or high-end amateur leagues can abuse their fans a lot without consequence but the one thing they cannot do is fix results.
That's just bad business and is the single reason, along with the number of people needed to fix a conspiracy AND maintain silence in PERPETUITY, why you should doubt it.
Cowperson
