Better Than a Movie

I was ready to crown the Michael Vick dog fighting story as the sports story of the decade. Less than a week after his indictment, a new story has emerged that may blow that story away. I'm not going to pretend to be an NBA die hard, but you really don't have to be one to understand the implications of Tim Donaghy helping to fix games for the mob. If you saw this in a movie, it would be fun to watch...but there is no way you'd ever believe it would happen. The only other time sports has imitated art this much that I can remember is Kirk Gibson's dramatic home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. To say the least, this is nothing like that. The Tim Donaghy scandal (we need to come up with a creative, fun name for this) is the NBA's worst nightmare. A league that desperately needed something good...some ray of hope, now has to face the fact that every marginal call from now on will be rightfully questioned by fans. Was the ref in on the fix? I never thought I'd live in a world where this is a reality.

For years there have memorable contests in all the major sports where a questionable call or two seemed to change the outcome of the game. Throughout my life, I recall many people whom I considered uneducated or stupid, saying that some of these games in question were fixed. My thoughts were: "Yeah right", "Humans make mistakes", "What other conspiracies does he believe?". Maybe I was wrong? If Donaghy was able to possibly fix this many games, what other people have fixed games that we haven't found out about? David Stern has his work cut out for him. This is the nightmare scenario for a league that badly needed some good publicity.

This last year, the NBA All-Star game came here to yours truly...Las Vegas, NV. It was the hardest ticket in the history of Las Vegas sports. The game was taken off the board here in the sportsbooks to ensure there would be no ties to gambling. Since the handle on a contest like this was far less than what the casinos made on visitors who came in that weekend, they obliged. There were serious problems here in Vegas that weekend (good for another blog), but the weekend itself was something we needed to do to try and get a professional franchise here. Now, who knows? Was this enough to scare every major sport from coming here? As Las Vegas residents, this story is also a nightmare because it could have major consequences on our efforts to lure a team into coming here. This is simply not fair.

Most people associate Las Vegas with gambling and it's mob past. One of the last frontiers in the wild, wild west. Anything goes. What happens here stays here. You get the picture. While it's true this image often plays itself out every weekend, the mob has no part in it. I'm not saying they don't exist; I'm saying they don't have the power they once had here. Every major casino here is corporate now. No skimming in the back rooms...it's all legit. The reason that's important: because of the highly regulated and highly watched ways Las Vegas exists, a scam like Tim Donaghy would not happen here. If it was attempted, it would be caught far before 2 years. For those that want proof, google the 1994 Arizona St. point shaving scandal. You want to eliminate sports fixing? Eliminate the back alley bookie or the online casino. Although it's not yet known how/where Donaghy influenced the action on his games, it's nearly impossible that it happened here in legal sportsbooks. So now that Donaghy has screwed the NBA, hopefully he didn't also screw us here in Vegas. Only time will tell.

I said it before, I'm not a big NBA fan. The league has far too many problems which I've documented before. When this story broke, I couldn't have been more shocked. This isn't just horrible for the NBA, it has major implications for every sport and my city as well. Although the NFL will act like it isn't true, it's popularity has skyrocketed with the advent of more gambling outlets such as fantasy football and online sportsbooks. The NFL is a league that won't even let NBC advertise it's hit show "Las Vegas" during Sunday Night Football telecasts. This is the degree to which it wants to try and separate gambling and it's product. I completely understand the concept, but now many of their irrational fears have become somewhat rational. As Las Vegas residents, we will now have to pay the price for having legal, regulated sports betting more than ever before. In a world where you can place a bet that is completely unregulated with two clicks of a mouse, Vegas should not be the enemy. How many years will it take for one of the suits of any major sport to figure that out? With the help of Oscar Goodman, David Stern was almost there. We've already submitted our proposal to gain an NBA franchise. Although it's not official yet, we should have a new sports arena open by late 2010. With a population of 1.9 million, we're ready. No word has come yet...and now, we're probably screwed! F Donaghy. Seriously, F him. The damage he's done can't be measured in dollars. The integrity of the game, for truly the first time, has been called into question. As a sports fan, this makes me sick. As a Vegas resident, I'm beyond mad. I can't write about this anymore tonight as I feel my blood pressure rising beyond the levels of the great Lady Madden. I'm going to pop a Percocet and head to bed. Turning the television off now and...

Wait, Jodi Sweetin got married here in Vegas this weekend at the Little Church of the West. Anybody ever watch her show Pants Off Dance Off? I couldn't begin to name the channel it's on. TIVO it. Best show nobody has ever heard of. Now that I know she is married, I can rest easy. Local news always has the best reporting.