I think he should have gotten more than 15 months.
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=439684The decision of Judge Carol Bagley Amon to send former NBA referee Tim Donaghy up the river for 15 months closes the book on one of the most troubling chapters in the history of professional sports.
But maybe it shouldn't.
This is a book the NBA and every other sports league should study, if not memorize. The fact the NBA wasn't able to spot that Donaghy was, as claimed in sentencing documents, a compulsive gambler whose habits caused him to corrupt the sport that employed him should be an alarm to the NFL, the NHL, MLB and (perhaps most significantly) the NCAA.
It might not be easy for the powers-that-be to spot the referees who might have gambling problems. But the importance of maintaining the integrity of the games should require something more than merely keeping an eye on the officials for signs that they're trying to make money in unethical and illegal ways.
In most contexts, the use of polygraph testing by an employer constitutes a gross invasion of privacy. In some settings, however, it's a critical tool for ensuring that employees are worthy of the responsibilities with which they are trusted.
So why not use polygraph testing for every referee, umpire, linesman and other official who works at the professional or collegiate level? If the questions were focused only on gambling, it would keep many gamblers from applying -- and it very well could catch those who think they can use their best poker face to beat the machine.
For those who get in, periodic testing also should be used, along with unannounced reviews of the officials' finances to uncover signs of unexplained cash infusions -- or inexplicable shortfalls. This process wouldn't actually nail many gamblers, but the presence of such measures would deter gamblers from trying to become officials and/or deter officials from gambling.
It's naive to think that Donaghy is the only guy who ever got himself so deep into gambling that he allowed it to influence the outcome of games. Whenever discretion is involved in the decision-making process, the potential for shenanigans exists. In baseball, the strike zone can change at the whim of the home-plate umpire. In basketball, fouls can be called almost every trip down the floor. In hockey, players' actions can constantly prompt a ref to give a critical one-man advantage to one of the teams.
And in football, officials can impact a game simply by throwing (or, as the case may be, not throwing) a yellow flag onto the field.
Though the NFL likely has a fairly firm grip on its relatively small roster of game officials, the far bigger concern should be college football. With 120 Division I programs (thus often more than 50 games per week), it's impossible for the NCAA to have a high degree of confidence regarding the skills, abilities and integrity of the striped-shirted men, who, frankly, often create an impression that falls far short of the image exuded by NFL-caliber officials.
So, when it comes to officiating, is there a certain degree of incompetence at the college level? Sure. It's also very possible that there is a certain degree of corruption. With so many officiating jobs available, it's easier for a gambler to infiltrate the college ranks, and it's more likely for a non-gambling official to become one.
The same theory applies to college basketball. Given the sheer number of programs and, consequently, games that are played, gambling is something about which the folks who run the NCAA should be concerned -- especially if the organization lacks the resources to smoke out potential problems.
If it happened so brazenly at the NBA level, it could easily be happening at the college level, too. And that's why the challenge is to come up with strategies to keep this element out of sports.
Fans can overlook a lot of things. But if/when it becomes apparent that our pastimes are being undermined by officials who are rigging games, fans will search for other things to which to devote their time, money and attention.
Hey, how about gambling?
