An Excerpt From Tim D's Killed Book

[goalmouth]

Shocking -- refs are human! I gave up on that excerpt, which was more boring than an NBA game.

 

[Small Town Guy]

BTW, the google ad generated on this page:

http://www.probasketballreferee.com/?gclid=CJjYxLWU450CFYVM5Qod60XW5Q

Right out of college I bought a "How to find a job in professional sports" book. One of the jobs was for pro wrestling ref (insert WWE/NBA jokes here). But it was delivered completely straight, and one of the qualifications was that you'd "have to learn to take punishment and be impartial."

 

[User 4332]

I think Deadspin is playing with fire more in this post than in the ESPN shenanigans posts.

They took 3,700 or so words out of that book and slapped it up on the web. That's got to be the heart of the book and, while I found it a fascinating read, I surely wouldn't bother to buy it now.

Dangerous stuff taking that much of an unpublished work.

The Nation got hammered when it took 500 words of Gerald Ford's unpublished biography so many years ago. There's some slight differences here, but I dunno.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

"Some players, even very good ones, were targeted by referees and the league because they were too talented for their own good. Raja Bell, formerly of the Phoenix Suns and now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, was one of those players."

Great, more reason for Raja freaking Bell to act like he's something special.

Those excerpts read like a guy who - shock of all shocks! - is trying to throw as many people under the bus as possible, while also trying to verify every single fandork/media conspiracy theory that exists about the NBA.

But as someone said . . . just like Canseco.

 

[Twoback]

Like I needed another reminder of why I don't watch the NBA anymore.

He pretty much confirms what anybody with a clue has known about the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

I'm not saying the refs are perfect in other sports, but I think the NBA and SEC football are the only places where it's consistently obvious that the fix is in.

Confirms? He's a convicted felon. And you believe him? Why?
Hey, he knows everybody thought the 2002 game was rigged, so he gets in there and says, yeah, it was rigged.
And everybody who thinks it was rigged now is convinced they have proof.
Come on, Mizzou.
I only know you through your posts, but I know you're smarter than this.

 

[dooley_womack1]

"Some players, even very good ones, were targeted by referees and the league because they were too talented for their own good. Raja Bell, formerly of the Phoenix Suns and now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, was one of those players."

Great, more reason for Raja freaking Bell to act like he's something special.

Those excerpts read like a guy who - shock of all shocks! - is trying to throw as many people under the bus as possible, while also trying to verify every single fandork/media conspiracy theory that exists about the NBA.

But as someone said . . . just like Canseco.

That was part of Donaghy's calculus too, I'm sure.

 

[Stoney]

I think Deadspin is playing with fire more in this post than in the ESPN shenanigans posts.

I just wonder if ESPN's lawyers might now be talking to the NBA's lawyers about a tag team designed to break Deadspin's back. Those are some mighty powerful bears that blog keeps poking with that stick, at some point you'd think it'll catch up with them.

 

[Stoney]

Hey, he knows everybody thought the 2002 game was rigged, so he gets in there and says, yeah, it was rigged.

Exactly. I had the same thought about his "revelation" that Javie was out to get Iverson. Those Javie/Iverson rumors were already out there because Iverson once went on record publicly declaring that Javie had it in for him. Some of these so-called revelations are just parroting the rumors and conspiracy theories that had already been floating about for years.

 

[Boom_70]

Like I needed another reminder of why I don't watch the NBA anymore.

He pretty much confirms what anybody with a clue has known about the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

I'm not saying the refs are perfect in other sports, but I think the NBA and SEC football are the only places where it's consistently obvious that the fix is in.

If that is not enough the fact that the Knicks are giving up on the 2009 season should be.

 

[playthrough]

Shocking -- refs are human! I gave up on that excerpt, which was more boring than an NBA game.

I probably won't watch one NBA game from start to finish this year but read all of that. There were alleged side bets in the dressing room, for chrissakes.

But I also wondered how Deadspin could run all of that without some repercussions.

 

[imjustagirl]

A hundred times more explosive than the Canseco book.

It should be, but as we've seen since this story came out, ESPN and the NBA will do everything in its power to bury this story.

Yep, definitely buried.

P1 play. Buried as hell.

 

[swenk]

And really...Donaghy is a scumbag of the highest (or lowest) order, but if he wasn't on to something, would the NBA have flexed its muscle and forced Triumph to bag the book? Wouldn't it just be easier to embark on a smear campaign and allow the book to have its two weeks in the sun before it finds its way to the remainder bin? Why give it more attention?

Actually, it's pretty hard to believe the book even got this close to being published. Kudos to the folks at Triumph for trying to get this done.

But you have an author who is a convicted criminal, making "his word against ours" claims. You have no one publicly substantiating his claims. You have a medium-sized publisher (Triumph) owned by a huge publisher (Random House) owned by a mega-conglomerate (Bertelsmann) who doesn't need the multi-six-figure legal bills and endless hours of manpower this would absorb.

Every publishing contract has a clause that says, basically, "if our lawyers say no, we're out." That is apparently what happened here.

It's rarely a matter of whether a book's content can be defended or proven. It's a matter of whether the publisher wants to deal with the hassle, eat up the Authors Liability insurance, etc, especially when the author has questionable credibility and the sales potential might not exceed the cost of litigation.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Great thing is.... now that pus-bucket Stern HAS to respond to this.

 

[CarltonBanks]

I think this removes all doubt LeBron will sign with the Knicks in 2010. /blue font

 

[BYH]

Great thing is.... now that pus-bucket Stern HAS to respond to this.

Oh yeah? Watch him not.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Aw, great. Validation for every delusional fanboi to scream, "See, the refs <b>hate</b> us."

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Who made that horse**** call on Bryon Russell, again?

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

Tim Donaghy is a complete and total clown.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Great thing is.... now that pus-bucket Stern HAS to respond to this.

Oh yeah? Watch him not.

Exactly. He doesn't have to respond at all.

 

[poindexter]

Great thing is.... now that pus-bucket Stern HAS to respond to this.

Oh yeah? Watch him not.

Exactly. He doesn't have to respond at all.

Wrong.

The NBA responded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/sports/basketball/30refs.html?_r=1

Go ahead and say anything you want about Donaghy. Too many specific details. My gut tells me there is a lot of fire behind that smoke.