What is happening in sports today? When someone from a sport does something wrong, things seem to spiral out of control, and it turns into a full blown scandal. It happened a few years ago when Jose Canseco admitted using steroids, and turned into a rat by accusing many other players of using steroids and HGH. Baseball is still feeling the ill effects. In the NFL, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was accused of spying on opposing teams, and before we knew it, we had spygate. In both instances, Congress got involved. The NFL is still feeling the effects as well. Now we have the latest scandal...this one involving former NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Only this one, is far worse than the other scandals. This one involves fixing games which is a serious crime. Using HGH or steroids is cheating. Sure, it's illegal, but not on the same level as game fixing. Spygate involved possible cheating, but it wasn't a crime. However, the latest scandal has rocked the sports world, and the NBA isn't going to be able to sweep this one under the rug. This one has extreme consequences that could result in many arrests. This one could cost David Stern his job. This one....won't go away any time soon. But Stern himself may have played a part in this scandal escalating as it has.

Donaghy said two referees known as "company men" worked the controversial Game 6, when the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the final quarter and scored 16 of their last 18 points at the line in a 106-102 victory. That is huge! Most sports columnists who remember the game in question absolutely agree that something was very wrong that day. It's not even questionable. Writers and columnists are outraged thinking back to that game in question and knowing just how bad the officiating was during that game. Former players who appeared in that game agree that something was definitely wrong with the officiating. We also have to keep in mind, that if Donaghy is lying, he could face more jail time. Why would he risk it by making false allegations? Well, perhaps it's because he is not lying.

Here is the problem with sports today (the latest "victim" being Stern). When a player is accused of wrong doing, the Commissioners and/or powers that be totally distance themselves and alienate the disgraced figures. That is a normal reaction, and is to be expected...but don't go off and rip the guy and knock him as a man, because he's going to fight back. His dumb actions have already tarnished his reputation...so why add fuel to the fire by totally trying to rub his face in the mud further? It's not going to work! Now I'm not saying that the sports bigwigs need to embrace the disgraced sports figure, but when trying to save your sport by "ripping" the sports personality a "new one", there are going to be consequences. MLB blew off Canseco and steroids early on, calling him a liar, and it ended up costing them. Canseco, feeling abandoned by the sport he once loved, turned baseball upside down with his allegations. And many of them were true. Could that have been averted if Commissioner Selig sat down to discuss the allegations made by Canseco? Could his input have been used in a way to help improve and control steroids and HGH use in baseball? If Canseco were offered a chance to help baseball with the steroid problem, would it have escalated as much as it has?

Brian McNamee seemed willing to stick by Roger Clemens when the steroid issue found its way to Clemens. When Clemens alienated McNamee by taping a phone conversation the two had, and played it on national TV, that's when McNamee fought back ...and to an extent, helped tarnish Clemens' reputation further. Was Clemens so worried about his "then" stellar reputation, that he was willing to throw Mcbamee under a bus...at all costs? Didn't he think McNamee would fight back when backed into a corner?

And now, we have Donaghy. Perhaps he would not have said anything else, and he would not have tried to take anyone down with him had the NBA and David Stern used a little tact. But during a television interview, Stern ripped Donaghy, and accused him of being a bad father and a desperate man. At that point, Donaghy did the only thing ke knew he could do to get even..and that was to create a scandal, so that the tables were turned...and now Stern has turned into the desperate man. And you can bet that Congress will get involved with this, and it will get worse before it gets better.

Sure, many will discredit guys like Canseco, McNamee, and Donaghy...but Congress didn't. And what we found out, was that there were truths to their accounts and allegations. For the record: you can bet that if Bill Belichick had been thrown out of football and had been alienated by his sport, that he'd have brought down many with him as well. That's the way it works. Now of course, we can't expect the respective commissioners and players to embrace the disgraced stars and tell them "it's okay, it'll be alright. We thank you for ruining our sport". But they can remain silent, and dish out the standard company line, such as, "we feel bad that this has happened, and we will have to wait and see how this plays out." And they should leave it at that. But when a man's integrity is bludgeoned, as was the case with Canseco, McNamee, and Donaghy, they are going to fight back.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...but a disgraced sports star hath just as much fury...if not more. Don't you miss the old days when a sports scandal simply involved an Olympian having her knee whacked with a lead pipe?


Court Adjourned!