Sportsfrog.com

Chris Sheridan has some absolute heat in his blog at espn.com this morning. I presume it’s Insider, so allow my summation to help you through the good stuff if you can’t go straight to the link. Basically:

1. With reports continuing to surface that Tim Donaghy is looking to cooperate with the Feds by naming name (including possibly other officials and maybe some players), how much more of David Stern’s credibility will be eroded since he has already claimed that Donaghy is the only ref at issue.

2. Apparently the NBA knew back in January that Donaghy was being investigated for possible gambling involvement. Quick, someone explain to me (or anyone) why the NBA didn’t immediately pull him from refing its games? Why was he allowed to ref up to and including playoff games this year? Including the infamous Game 3 of the Suns/Spurs series? Anyone? Please? Help a confused middle-aged man understand.

3. For those in the know, the NBA saw some weird moves in betting lines in some games Donaghy worked last season, and some curious ref decisions in some games to boot. Then there’s this:

“Donaghy led the NBA in technical fouls called, whistling 177 of them — 20 more than anyone else. Donaghy also ranked fourth in blowing personal fouls; was third in ordering free-throws, and second for fouling-out players for the 2006-2007 season.”

If you want to control over/unders and point spreads, going heavy to the whistle is one way to try and get there.

This is a horrible awful scandal, and David Stern, if he’s as good as people claim he is (and I am not one who worships at his alter) had best be at the top of his game now. The credibility of his sport is at stake.