The NBA, Cheating: Where Do I Begin

Despite all of the grotesque things we have witnessed humans do throughout the course of our respective lifetimes, we often choose to disregard them or turn a blind eye, particularly in matters involving television. I speak particularly of sports, and secondly of the media in general. In this day and age, I'm finding myself more and more disillusioned to the integrity of the media. Gone are the days of Woodward, Bernstein, and "Deepthroat," replaced by Spygate and Tim Donaghy. Apples and oranges? Not necessarily. In the end, it's integrity. The media is paid to do one job: report the news objectively. Less of it is "just the facts ma'am" type reporting, and more of it is speculative, opinionated, garbage. A fist-pound between Barack and Michelle Obama is not news (and it's not time to add in your editorial, garbage, and uneducated / ignorant opinion). It has little to do with his campaign. The point at hand is the media has become more and more of a format for controlling what the casual watcher does and does not watch or care about.

Truehoop had an excellent story on the Donaghy betting scandal, even interviewing a professional gambler. Now, before you start saying "what credibility does that guy have," realize that a professional gambler has the most at stake. It's no different than attempting to trade stocks or buy and sell currrency. And, betting is legal in most states and jurisdictions, just not bookeeping.

A quck excerpt from a long and detailed interview:

I can say with a large degree of certainty that this game was one of the more blatant fixes. That Phoenix vs. New York game was a game that I was told was bet by the crew associated with [alleged Donaghy co-conspirator James "Baa Baa"] Batista, it was also a game where Phoenix shot 14 free throws in regulation and New York shot 36.

There aren't that many games in the last five or six years where a team had a 20 point free throw edge. In a sample of 6,373 games I show there being 167 games where the home team shot 20 more free throws than the visiting team, and 78 where the visiting team shot more. I hate trotting out numbers to prove my point because you can cherry-pick whatever statistics you want, but I think if someone with an objective eye goes and watches this game, focusing on Donaghy especially they'll come away thinking that it was pretty clear the Knicks got a huge advantage in the game.

To me, this piece is very interesting. Again, I say a professional gambler can be likened to one who buys and sells stocks or currency. He does the research, he knows the trends, he understands the statistics because he peruses through the statistics. And with sites like 82games.com tracking back to these statistics isn't quite so hard as one might think.

He also offers this:

What do you think about how the NBA has handled the Tim Donaghy investigation?
From a league perspective they have done a great job sweeping this scandal under the rug, and downplaying it.

I keep on reading how Donaghy "provided information" as though this was the crux of the scandal.

The guy fixed games. He didn't "provide information" he bet on games he was working, and made calls to insure he would win those bets. It's pretty basic stuff but the NBA has somehow turned the focus of the whole investigation away from this and instead focused on the "inside information" angle.

I understand what the league is trying to do, I think in this instance the truth doesn't jibe with the league's best interest. In that respect the League and the Commissioner have done a great job of downplaying the scandal.

Interesting. What's even more interesting is that after this piece was published Donaghy came out and said he wasn't alone. He even claimed that the NBA front-office worked with referees to fix playoff games. (?!?!) Of course, Stern comes out and immediately rebukes this notion, and says these claims are baseless. But what else did you think he was going to say.

The problem is in searching for major coverage on Donaghy's claims, there isn't much out there. But then this story pops up. Ex-FBI Agent vouches for Donaghy's claims. And we're not talking about just a run-of-the-mill FBI Agent:

The man who put away John Gotti, baby-sat Sammy (Bull) Gravano, raided an Al Qaeda bomb factory and helped uncover the NBA betting scandal says Tim Donaghy told the truth.

Philip Scala, the recently retired FBI supervisory special agent in charge of the Gambino squad, which uncovered Donaghy's scheme of betting on basketball games he had officiated, said he believes the disgraced referee's claims that other refs were dirty.

Interesting...Your move Commissioner Stern. Does it hurt to investigate? Yes. But in this world integrity is EVERYTHING. And since you were once a lawyer (insert lawyer jokes here) you should know better. Plus the fact that you run a multi-billion dollar organization. We need transparency.

Retrospective

A personal retrospective is on the way. But for now, a yahoo! retrospective will have to suffice.

Obama '08. I never thought I'd be writing these words, but he essentially sealed the deal. Now Clinton has few options left. But, she seems unwilling to concede. I guess time will tell. In talking amongst friends, there has been a myriad of feelings. Some think it's just a matter of time, I think she's trying to leverage something. I also tend to agree with my friend James, who thinks that she (and Bill) will attempt to undermine Obama, but she sees it as her only viable way to get into the White House in '12 or '16 (that would be CRAZY if he wins this year, and is re-elected, but lets not get too far ahead). It does far more for her than it likely does for him.

Regardless, this will be an interesting election season. I think McCain will come out swinging for the fences. Has anyone noticed his voice makes him sound like the guy selling Smuckers' Jam back in the day? But McCain has experience, and a ton of it, so that's a pretty sound platform. Thankfully their respective platforms are night and day. In 2008, America will decide where it will go for the long-term. Lets hope we make the right decision.

...Before I See a Black Man as President

The ultra-nice flat screen TV at work is tuned to Foxnews. Fine by me, it's not like I'm sitting there at work. Ironically I watched CNN this morning while eating breakfast. Then in the bathroom, someone left some printout about the biased liberal media. I think it's funny since both liberal and conservatives have their platforms, CNN and Foxnews respectively. But both sides love to moan and complain. I figure people pick their sides more or less and chose to turn into whichever media outlet they ideologically ally with. Whatever, the media, to me, is more business than service. Half of the stuff we watch isn't news. But I digress. It was meant to be a political day, with my evening based on the decision of Brown v. Board of Education. So I was walking by the work after grabbing a pack of paperclips from storage, and what do I hear, but the inflammatory comment this "lovely" woman made.



The title is what she forgot to say at the end of the sentence. And now, you tell me racism doesn't still exist. Go ahead, tell me. Please....I'm waiting.

I anticipate the Republican Apologist will interject sooner rather than later, via comment. Sometimes it takes something like this to motivate you into finding the time to write on things.

More Delays

There has been a serious lack of posting here for well over a month now, and I apologize if you're still reading. Such delays can be attributed to:
1) house hunting
2) the new job
3) mock trial academy
4) taking on an assignment as a research assistant
5) overall laziness

hope everyone is doing well. I'll write again, soon enough

Tomorrow Is a New Day

After this long period of down-time, I begin my venture into the corporate world. A bit nerve racking, as I want to do well and start to build contacts for the future (I'm going to need them). Thankfully I don't have to wear a suit and battle the Texas heat (I'm a sweaty guy). The first day of a new job always yields to needless anxiety. Of course I want to be on time, of course I don't want to get lost, and of course I want to get along with my colleagues. So, Ill be updating on how that goes sometime in the near future.

On a side-note, new poll up if you care to vote.

The Extended Layoff

Haven't really felt like blogging much lately. Not that there's not a lot to talk about, but I guess I've been feeling the need for down-time. Anyway, since school has been out, it's been semi-eventful. More gym time, caught a few shows, and have been spending time relaxing. Also, a bit of a disappointment as grades were returned. But that's life, right? Work starts Tuesday, so I'm doing my best to enjoy what's left of this little layoff. Anyway, here's life in pictures.

Grand Theft Auto IV

I purchased this as a reward for enduring finals (although now I don't feel that I deserved it quite so much). I wasn't so excited about it once I actually bought it, but now I've put a few dozen hours into it and I've been enjoying it thoroughly. A lot of thought was put into this game and it's pretty sick.

Radiohead




The Pavillion in the Woodlands is a pretty decent venue for a larger-sized venue. It looks like we were further away then we were, although we were pretty far away. Great show. Played all of In Rainbows, and mixed in some of the older stuff. Probably a better set list than two years ago in Berkeley.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club




This was the second of two shows that we saw them play (the first one had my phone dying, hence no crappy quality pictures to post). They played two awesome shows, although the Austin show was crowded with douche bags. Really, really annoying douche bags. The second show was in Houston and was free (!). Jack Daniels put on a free show, and even gave out two free drink tickets, as well as $3 you-call-its. Just a good night, except Butters (Paul) tried to give the lead-singer advice, post-show and made us all look like clowns.

Saturday was Mani's birthday whiffle ball championship game, and unfortunately we (the Red Sox) lost to the D-Backs (read: D-BAGS). But it was all in good fun, and lets not forget who actually won the world series. I also lost the much hyped up beer-off, another unfortunate moment in an ever-disappointing month that began, literally, with a car accident. But I'm eager to put it behind me, and it's almost over.

Standing Firm

I stand firm that horse racing should be abolished. Now, an anonymous commenter (I know who you are fellow Asian) accused me of being a PETA-Kool Aid drinker. Couldn't be further from the truth. I love animals, yes, but do I value them more than human life? No. Do I think that PETA's tactics resemble intelligent planning? No. Do I think that race horse owners are terrible people? Not necessarily. Unfortunately in this polarized world, people feel the need to categorize others. So if you're not in favor of horse racing because it seems kind of cruel, you're a PETA-loving hippie. I guess people forget that there is a gray area. And then stories like these drop.

So Big Brown's trainer, winner of the Kentucky derby, admits to giving the horse steroids on the 15th of every month. Um, wait, what? So now you're telling me that we're injecting animals with steroids to get a competitive advantage? And don't even start by validating this practice because there is a lot of money on the line. There is a thing called integrity, and clearly horse racing is lacking this. If it is so bad to make illegal modifications to a race car to get an advantage, clearly there is an issue with injecting a horse with steroids. A horse that does not have a choice. It's one thing for an athlete to decide to inject him or herself with performance enhancing drugs, but to force it upon an animal who did not chose to be a race horse is absolutely despicable and a moral outrage.

So again I say, it has to end.

And saying that horses like to run so what's the big deal about horse racing is a five cent argument at best. Horses may naturally run, but lets not forget they are being whipped all for entertainment purposes. By no means am I saying that the whipping is what makes it a cruel sport, but rather the fact that this is not natural if you're forcing the horse to run. This would not be a horse in its natural state.

Baseball

It's almost time for me to care about baseball again (and blogging for that matter). At this point in the season, I'm a casual fan at best. Why? NBA PLAYOFFS of course. Nothing trumps basketball, not even the mighty Red Sox.
On a side note, I was at a bar the other night, and some old guy asked why I had a Red Sox hat on. "I went to school up there, sir," I replied. Then his female companion proceeded to tell me it was not a real Red Sox hat because the logo was crooked (I wear my hat tipped to the right side). I responded with "would it be better if I wore my hat straight? would that make it a "real" hat?" then she realized her mistake and felt kind of dumb. Actually, I at first thought she was mocking me wearing my hat crooked, whereas in reality, she was just dumb and thought that crooked hats were now in mass production.

Anyway, here's footage of David Ortiz and Terry Francona goofing around. enjoy.

Manny Being Manny

so I'm basically ripping this post off from withleather who does a much better job at blogging than I ever hope to do. Classic footage of Manny being Manny. Although the last one STILL creeps me out.

Quick Thoughts on the Day

Why did Vanilla Ice have to forever ruin "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie? I feel a great embarrassment in ever playing this song where others can hear it. Doesn't mean the song isn't sick though.

I think the caffeine overdose finally caught up with me. 3 or 4 Red Bulls per day just can't be healthy. "Kick-Start My Heart" by Motley Crue should be the theme song for caffeine. [Kick start my heart, hope it never stops....]. Anyway, severe heartburn hit this morning after 2 Kolaches and an orange juice,

Yesterday I smoked a pack of cigarettes. Meaning I opened them in the morning and somehow finished them off before I went to sleep.

I discovered an extremely long gray hair on the top of my head the other day.