Last week, former professional basketball referee Tim Donaghy was sent to jail for 15 months for his role in an illegal gambling scheme.
It's a bit unclear to me precisely what Donaghy did, but, prior to his sentencing, he had:
admitted he traded inside information on games in 2006 and 2007 for cash payments from James Battista and Thomas Martino, friends of his from high school. (Source: Seattle Times.)
Donaghy, apparently a compulsive gambler - not a good addiction for someone associated with pro sports to have; just ask Pete rose - had wagered on 100 games that he'd been involved in as a ref. Did he provide undisclosed information on injuries? Did he ever actually throw a game, where the W-L outcome was determined by bad calls? Did he finagle things to accommodate the point spread he was betting on? Or did he "just" bet on games which he reffed, thus giving himself an unfortunately way-too-vested interest in the game's outcome. An interest that could certainly have an impact on his judgement, even if he convinced himself he wasn't really cheating.
So now he's doing time, plus providing restitution to the National Basketball Association to the tune of just under $100K for each game where he didn't provide "honest services." If that's 100 games, that looks like almost $10M, a lot of walking around money for someone whose job, while interesting, certainly never paid the amount that the mega-stars (or even the journeymen players) rake in. Oh, yeah, and his wife left him.
There are still rumors of "more to come", with at least one other referee implicated in questionable activities and with ongoing blogosphere rumors of long standing about explicit or tacit league pressure to prolong the length of playoff series (best-of-five, I think, in the first round; best-of-seven in the rest) so that TV revenues can be maxed out.
Who knows where this will all lead - or if it will lead anywhere at all, or just kind of end up like the baseball steroid investigations that periodically heat up, then die out.
Meanwhile, a 41 year old man 13 years into the career of his dreams - and maybe of his father's dreams as well: Donaghy's father was a college basketball ref - is going to be spending at least 12 months in prison. This will take him through pre-season, high season, the playoffs, and beyond, during which he will have plenty of time to think about some of the worst career moves a human being can make, i.e., those that involve integrity.
Let's face it, in terms of re-hire-ability, those who have been exposed as liars, cheats, and thieves are probably less desirable than someone who mows the CEO down in the parking lot. Not that I'd want to hire either, but somehow violence is easier to see as a one-shot aberration, a wiring problem, something that you can get over "with help". Hand in the cookie jar stuff, on the other thing, comes across as a more deep seated character flaw.
Donaghy will obviously not be refereeing any basketball games - except, perhaps, pick-up games in federal prison - any time soon. Then he's got those fines to pay off, which I'll wager account for more money than he ever managed to make gambling.
Sure, someone sympathetic will set him up in a business. (And people 20 years on will vaguely recognize the name and ask him, 'didn't you used to be....' questions.) Maybe he'll write a book - cautionary (probably boring) or tell-all (wildly interesting). I'm sure that the NBA is more than a little nervous about the prospect of a juicy tell-all. Maybe he'll do self-help seminars. Maybe he'll find a place of sports-talk radio.
But Tim Donaghy is not going to be following any direct path on the career trajectory he started out on.
All because he got sucked into something that was illegal - and stupid, stupid, stupid. Stunningly bad career moves, on and off the court.
What is with these guys? If they don't have any scruples about behaving immorally in the workplace, does it not occur to them that someday they just might get caught?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
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