In Personal Foul, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy argues that the subjectivity of calls is a significant problem with the league’s officiating. He then states (p.238) that an additional issue concerns “the friendships and hatreds between the referees and the players, coaches, and owners.” In this regard, Donaghy adds:
Because (NBA) referees are able to make calls or ignore violations with impunity, they can hide a whole lot of love or hate for players or a team with their calls.
Couldn’t this logic be used to illustrate why it would have been possible, indeed easy (assuming he is correct), for Tim Donaghy to fix games? That is, let’s take Donaghy at his word, and simply apply Donaghy’s arguments to his particular situation vis-a-vis the possible altering of game outcomes in advance of his betting propositions:
Because Tim Donaghy was able to make calls or ignore violations with impunity, he could – depending on which side he bet that evening – hide a whole lot of ‘love’ or ‘hate’ for players or a team with his calls.
Reasonable, no?
