“Come on Donaghy…what were you looking at!”  As a taunt from an over-served and irate fan at an official during a sporting event it was unremarkable.  We have heard them and probably uttered them on countless occasions.  What made this different was that the official being harassed was not named Donaghy, but rather was respected baseball umpire Tim McLelland.  Officials from all sports are getting used to the reference to disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy who was banished from his profession and jailed for gambling on games he was officiating.  As the details of his conduct emerged, the shock waves were felt on an increasingly wide scale and the ramifications for all officials have been significant.  Suddenly, every call is being scrutinized not just for accuracy but in trying to determine if the referee or umpire has a hidden agenda, a secret bias or even (gasp!), a monetary stake in the result.  Veteran NFL referee Ed Hoculi reported death threats and constant harassment about his “motive” when he kicked a crucial late-game call between Denver and San Diego, a call that gave Denver a victory and had viewers everywhere thinking about Donaghy.

On their own, Donaghy’s actions while officiating could be explained and even to a degree, understood.  Society has come to the realization that gambling is a serious illness and the extent to which inveterate gamblers will go to satisfy their habit is limitless.  The well-documented case of former NFL and Ohio State quarterback Art Schleister is familiar to all sports fans and points to the powerlessness that addicts feel under the weight of their disease and the completeness of their self-destructive behaviour.  But where Donaghy’s actions really cross a previously unapproached line is in his odious claims that the entire roster of officials in the NBA –and by extension, all professional sports- is corrupt.  Donaghy claims that fellow refs regularly influenced the outcome of games because of pre-existing grudges and personality clashes with players and coaches.  He claims to be able to predict the outcome of “80% of NBA games” just by knowing the identity of the crew working any particular game.  The implication is that the outcome of the vast majority of games is pre-determined by the officials.  

At first blush, Donaghy’s outrageous claims can be dismissed as the delusional ravings of a man determined to justify his own criminal behaviour.  But the problem is that they plant a seed of doubt and are subtle enough to be unable to completely disprove.  In a sport like basketball or football, most of the decisions of the officials come down to judgment and we inherently accept the objectivity of the men and women who make those decisions. The sport of figure skating was recently rocked by a similar set of accusations, that judging was pre-determined and outcomes assured in advance.  But in that sport, national allegiances were the obvious motivators and we could rationalize the pressure that the judges were under to “fix” the results.  What is the motive Donaghy is suggesting here? It’s not money, as the disgraced ref acknowledges that he knows of no other officials that are involved in gambling. Donaghy is trying to make the case that simple pique is driving this process.  Grown men are making decisions because their feelings were hurt or they are angry at one or more of the participants.  By eliminating from the equation qualities such as integrity, pride and professionalism –traits that are held in high esteem by officials in all sports- Donaghy is making the simple mistake of projecting his own failings and lack of moral character onto his colleagues.  It is the most pathetic aspect of this whole, tawdry mess.  There is also a practical element here that is being missed by those who tend to accept Donaghy’s shocking story.  It is estimated that basketball officials make between 7 and 10,000 individual judgments over the course of any one game!  These decisions are therefore happening in a fraction of a second and are described by all top officials as being instinctive and reactionary.  There simply is no time when adjudicating a tough block/charge call to factor in the personal histories of the players or teams involved and it is in hundreds of these decisions that any effect the officials have on the game are felt.  The best officials get these calls right at a staggeringly-high percentage.

At the start of this NBA pre-season, the regular officials were on the sidelines and replacement refs worked the game.  Ostensibly, this was the result of a Collective-Bargaining impasse that came down to a dispute over pension contributions and accessibility.  There was even the suggestion that Commissioner David Stern was taking a “hard-line” with the officials to send a message to the players that the economy of the NBA has taken a hit and to be prepared to make concessions when their deal ends after next season.  What was really at work was Stern re-establishing his authority over the officials in the wake of this scandal and the fact that the officials effectively caved under the pressure and accepted the NBA’s offer is an indication of the lack of leverage they now have.  They now work under the shadow of the accusations being made by one of their own and this has made an already incredibly difficult task almost impossible.  Donaghy’s motives are clear, he is trying to sell books and he has sold his soul in the process.  The effects of his actions are being felt in all sports and have called into question men and women striving in one of the last pure aspects of professional sports.  For that most of all, shame on Tim Donaghy.